5 Players who changed the game of cricket for ever

Sanath Jayasuriya

Sanath Jayasuriya playing for Sri Lanka during the 2007 World Cup

Once upon a time, opening batsmanship was all about being cautious and playing out the initial overs without losing wickets so that the middle order batsmen could build on it and launch the innings to achieve a respectable total.

But then things changed when Sanath Jayasuriya came walked onto a cricket field.

No longer was opening about being cautious. Now, it was about smacking the ball over the fielders and exploiting the fielding restrictions. Jayasuriya didn’t give one care about where the ball was pitched, all he cared for was about hitting the ball out of the park.

Be it the off side or the leg side, his bat was like an all-consuming magic wand that ripped the ball – and hearts – of bowlers apart. These days, aggressive opening batting is a very common sight – more common than signing with auto-tune – and the Sri Lankan is the man to be thanked for that.