5 players who revolutionized modern-day cricket

Cricket is an ever-evolving sport, and has seen many changes in the way it is played over the years. Modern-day cricket has seen the introduction and incorporation of many new tactics and styles. We look at five players and their playing styles which have revolutionized modern-day cricket.

#1 Martin Crowe

In modern-day cricket, captains have taken on a more proactive role in deciding team tactics and strategies, with many open to trying out new ideas. In the 1992 World Cup, while leading his team in a run to the semifinals, New Zealand skipper Martin Crowe successfully used two new tactics which were soon adopted by other teams and are now commonly used in limited overs cricket.

In order to take advantage of the fielding restrictions early in the innings, Crowe instructed Mark Greatbatch to bat aggressively – something which proved very effective. Greatbatch can be considered as one of the first “pinch-hitters”, and the tactic was adopted by Sri Lanka who used Sanath Jayasuriya and Romesh Kaluwitharana (both middle order batsmen) as openers as the duo led the charge of the Lankans to winning the trophy. Use of attacking batsmen to maximize the scoring during the fielding restrictions is now a common practice.

Another radical idea which Crowe implemented was the use of a spinner – Dipak Patel – with the new ball in an attempt to stop the opposition batsmen from hitting the ball over the in-field in the first 15 overs. The tactic proved to be a masterstroke as well, and teams were unable to score much off the bowler, and use of spinners with the new ball and in fielding restrictions period is now commonly used by captains.

#2 Saqlain Mushtaq

The spinner’s “mystery ball” is now relatively common, with the likes of Harbhajan Singh, Ravichandran Ashwin, Saeed Ajmal, Sunil Narine, Ajantha Mendis all having developed a trademark surprise delivery of theirs to fox the batsmen. But the credit to popularizing this concept goes to Pakistani spinner Saqlain Mushtaq who developed the “doosra” (the second one) – a delivery bowled by an off-spinner which spins in the opposite direction to a conventional off-break.

Saqlain mastered the delivery and used it as a potent weapon to confuse the batsmen. He later went on to develop more mystery balls, but a large part of his success can be attributed to the doosra. The name doosra was given by Pakistani wicket-keeper Moin Khan who would tell Saqlain from behind the stumps to bowl the delivery.

While Saqlain brought the doosra into the limelight, he wasn’t the first player to use it. West Indian Sonny Ramadhin had the ability the spin the ball either way back in the 1950s, and Indian off-spinner Rajkumar Sharma is credited to be the first known finger-spinner to bowl a doosra in the 1980s.

#3 Virender Sehwag

If Mark Greatbatch, Sanath Jayasuriya and Romesh Kaluwitharana popularized the tactics of aggressive batting by openers in limited-overs cricket, Virender Sehwag took the concept to another level in Test cricket.

It is a bit ironical that Sehwag - an explosive and aggressive batsman who has always played with the intention of taking the attack to the opposition – has a better record in Test cricket than limited-overs cricket. The first Indian to score a triple century in 2004 against Pakistan, Sehwag followed it up with another triple century in 2008 against South Africa (he is still the only Indian player to score a triple century). What is remarkable is that he continued his attacking style of play even as he approached the landmark scores of 300 in each innings. In fact this has been the characteristic of Sehwag throughout his career and he has always looked to score runs at a fast pace.

A middle-order batsman who transformed himself into a successful opener in Test cricket, Sehwag has changed the way opening batsmen approach their batting in the longer version of the sport. It is now common to see openers looking to score at a quick pace in Test cricket – the likes of Chris Gayle have done it successfully. Sehwag’s impact on the sport was summed up by former India coach John Wright who described the player as "the limited overs batsman who revolutionized Test cricket".

#4 Wasim Akram

Just like the doosra for the spinners, the popularity of the art of the reverse-swing by fast bowlers can also be attributed to the Pakistani bowlers. Reverse-swing, the swinging of the old ball towards the opposite side to the natural swing, is now commonly used by bowlers, especially the end overs of an innings to confuse batsmen and prevent them from scoring runs.

Wasim Akram famously used reverse-swing in the 1992 World Cup final against Allan Lamb and Chris Lewis to clean-bowl them off consecutive deliveries, in a match changing performance which won the World Cup for Pakistan. Akram, along with his fast-bowling partner Waqar Younis, is considered to be the finest exponent of reverse-swing bowling and an inspiration for current bowlers to master the art.

The art of reverse-swing finds its roots in Pakistan, and it is believed that Salim Mir first discovered it, and passed on the tricks to Sarfraz Nawaz, who first used it in international cricket. Nawaz taught the art to Imran Khan who passed on his knowledge to Wasim and Waqar.

#5 Jonty Rhodes

While fielding has always been integral to the sport of cricket, it wasn’t given due importance for long. There were safe and reliable fielders in the sport, but players often focussed only on batting or bowling, and didn’t work much on the fielding considering it more of a thankless chore activity.

Then Jonty Rhodes, a South African batsman and brilliant fielder, arrived on the scene, and made the world notice the benefits of good fielding. Rhodes came into prominence after the spectacular runout of Inzamam ul-Haq with a full-length dive at the 1992 World Cup. Rhodes started making match-winning contributions for his team from the field as the runs he would save would often end up being the difference between a win and a loss for the side. Teammate Clive Rice once said: “He made you look good when you were bowling. He could even cut off runs from bad balls.”

The art of fielding became fashionable soon after and teams started putting in more time to develop the fielding skills of their players. The high standards of fielding that we see in world cricket nowadays can be attributed partially to the trend started by the South African. As one newspaper headline said for the famous Inzamam run out: “Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it’s Jonty!”