Top 10 away performers in 2014

You can judge the true character of any player in cricket by how he plays away from home because it’s only when a player is thrown in deep waters does his temperament and attitude shine through.In more ways than one, 2014 was a year where stereotypes were disbanded; Australia beat South Africa in South Africa, Sri Lanka beat England in England and South Africa performed quite well in the spinning tracks of Sri Lanka.All these would not have been possible had it not been for some freak performances from individual players.Let’s have a look at the top 10 away performers in 2014:

#10 Murali Vijay

“I have learnt a lot from my dad, especially how to handle tough situations in life. He gives me a lot of strength” – Murali Vijay on his humble roots

Vijay is India’s next VVS Laxman in the making and has shown great promise in 2014. One of the few positives from India’s tour of England, scoring 402 runs with a highest score of 146, he carried that form into the ongoing Australia series pacing up the innings in Adelaide by scoring 144.

In the 3 matches so far he has scored 378 runs at an average of 94.50 and is slowly developing into India’s pillar of strength at the top. The Tamil Nadu batsman is already 30, but if we can give India a solid five years at the top, he would have done the team a lot of good.

#9 Rangana Herath

Rangana Herath makes it to the list primarily because of his knack of ‘buying’ wickets. In England, he picked up 8 wickets in 2 Test matches including a 4 wicket haul at Lord’s.

The 36-year-old had a pretty decent year, picking up 21 wickets in the 5 away matches that he played in England, UAE and Bangladesh. His ability to bowl long spells and put pressure from one end helped the Sri Lankan team grab the series against England.

#8 Ryan Harris

“My body is done. My knee is ready for a cleanout. That out there was proper Test match cricket. That was bloody hard.” – Ryan Harris after the Centurion Test

Ryan Harris is the workhorse in the Australian squad, one of the finest the team has had in the last decade and a half and a captain’s delight. The 35-year-old took 10 wickets in the three Test matches against South Africa and 7 of those came in the last Test at Centurion.

We will remember him for how he defanged AB de Villiers and those 3 critical overs in the Cape Town Test, and he did all those with busted knees.

#7 Hashim Amla

“I'm not even the second-best batsman in my team” – Hashim Amla when asked about his world rankings

South Africa had won only a single ODI in Sri Lanka out of the 13 played since 2000, and in 16 ODIs against the Lankans in the Island nation, the Saffers had only one century to their name. That Hashim Amla scored two centuries in a 3-match series this year and helped them win the series says a lot.

In addition to his ODI exploits, his 382-ball 139 in the second Test match saved the game for the visitors – looking at it in hindsight – and win the 2-match series 1-0. The 31-year-old carried this form to the ODIs against New Zealand scoring a brisk 119.

#6 Virat Kohli

“I love watching Virat Kohli bat. He looks to me like an individual of my own heart. I love his aggression and serious passion that I used to have. He reminds me of myself." –Viv Richards on Virat Kohli

It is a travesty of sorts that Kohli’s twin centuries at Adelaide, one of the finest overseas efforts in recent memories, will be remembered as the one made in a losing cause and one which ended due to a horrible shot selection. But for once India had a batsman who was ready to chase a 350+ score on a last day pitch and not shut up shop.

His personality reflects the instincts of a jaguar and the aggression of former Indian captain Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi. However, his true test would be to do it consistently.

#5 David Warner

“You'll be a better Test cricketer than you are a Twenty20 player” – Virender Sehwag to Warner in 2009

When Sehwag made this statement, Warner had not even played a single first-class game. It was considered ridiculous to even debate about him being able to play Test cricket because of his ‘T20 specialist’ tag.

Scoring runs away from home in a Test match when your side needs them the most is something that differentiates good players from the average ones. Australia were down in the dumps after being beaten by a resilient South African attack at Port Elizabeth.

And then in Cape Town, Warner came to the party. The left-handed opener showed a different dimension to his game scoring centuries in both the innings at strike-rates of 89 and 93 respectively.

#4 Angelo Mathews

Angelo Matthews has been a run machine for Sri Lanka this year. He scored a total of 306 runs in the Test series against England, which saw consecutive hundreds against a potent pace attack, and 339 runs in the ODI series against India towards the end of the season.

In addition to his batting exploits, he also picked up 8 wickets on the England tour at an economy of 4.14 in ODIs and 2.67 in Tests. That he captained the team, as well, speaks volumes about his performances this season. Mathews’ unflustered attitude has rubbed off on the team, which is starting to reflect in their performances.

#3 Dale Steyn

“He likes fishing, horror movies, all the gory stuff, you know. I think it comes out in his bowling sometimes” – Graeme Smith on Dale Steyn

There’s only one thing which separates the great bowlers from the good ones, and it’s the surface on which they play and pick up wickets. Whether the pitch is green or flat or as dull as ditchwater, a great bowler will run hard and always manage to find ways to get through the opposition.

His performance at Galle against Sri Lanka, where he picked up 9 wickets in the match (highest in the ground), was the one of the finest in subcontinental conditions. Also, his track record in the Asian conditions since 2007 reads something like this: 10 matches, 58 wickets at an average of 17.63 with 4 five-wicket hauls and 1 ten-wicket haul. Need we say more? I think not.

#2 Kumar Sangakkara

“I play keeping paramount in my mind my Sri Lankan identity: play the game hard and fair and be a voice with which Sri Lanka can speak proudly and positively to the world” – Sangakkara at the MCC Spirit of Cricket Lecture.

Kumar Sangakkara is one of those players who has always upheld the spirit of the game. He had a massive 2014, and it’s a shame that he has announced he would retire from ODIs after the 2015 World Cup. He scored a staggering 342 runs in the two Test matches in England at an average of almost 85 including the century at Lord’s which was the highlight of the tour.

For a player of his stature, it is only fitting that he will go out on a high and have one last chance to try and be a 50-over World Champion.

#1 Mitchell Johnson

“Sometimes it is the people no one imagines anything of who do the things that no one can imagine” – Anonymous

Mitchell Johnson’s comeback during the 2012-13 Ashes prior to the South African series left many cricket pundits in awe of his performance. He took his game to another level after the Centurion game where he left the South African team bruised and dismembered.

Johnson ran through the South African batting unit like an angry wild cobra raring to bite anyone on its way. The left-arm fast bowler snatched 12 wickets in that Test against the No. 1 Test side on their home ground, and the psychological impact on the batsmen was much higher by the blows he dealt on them physically. It was one of the most lethal bowling spells that you could ever witness. At the end of the series, he had 22 wickets in his bag at an average of 17.36.