The game of cricket has evolved rapidly over the years. After the advent of slam-bang T20, the face of cricket has changed drastically. The modern-day players have become innovative and more dynamic in their approach towards the game of cricket. There is a vast difference between now and in the way cricket was played in 80’s and 90’s. However, there were few players from the 80’s who could have been a success in the modern era. Lets cast our mind back to 80’s and find out those great individuals.
Viv Richards :
He is probably the first name who comes to our mind when we talk about aggression and power play in the game of cricket. Richards was player of a different league, he had that swag and all the skills to play in the T20s. He could hit the ball as hard as anybody and had all the shots in the book. Richards played some outrageous innings in his illustrious career. He scored 6721 runs at a strike rate of 90.00 in ODIs. Along with his batting prowess, he was quite useful with his off-spin bowling and took 118 wickets for West Indies. He would have loved to play T20 cricket in this day an age. And could have been a huge success had he got the chance to play in T20s.
Ian Botham:
Botham is another player whom cricket fans around the world would have loved to see in the modern era of T20 cricket. His all-round capabilities would have been handy in T20s. A genuine stroke player, who had the ability to hit sixes at will. Apart from his batting skills, he was terrific with the ball as well. Botham could bowl at a pace of 140km along with his lethal swing. Who could forget his heroics in 1981 Ashes, where he performed brilliantly both with the bat and ball. Botham is the best English Cricketer to have played the game. He took 382 wickets and scored 5200 runs with a healthy average of 33.55 in 102 Test matches.
Kapil Dev :
One of the great all-rounders of his time. He could do just about everything in the field of cricket. No wonder he was called the Haryana Hurricane. Kapil was the first genuine quick bowler to have played for India. In a way, he was quite the trendsetter in his time. Along with his skills with the bat and ball he was a gun fielder. Indian fans would never forget the catch he took to dismiss Viv Richards in 1983 World Cup Final. Kapil was a charismatic player and a terrific leader. All the attributes of Kapil Dev would have come handy in T20 cricket. In Test matches, he was the highest wicket-taker at one point in time with 434 dismissals in 131 Test Matches.
Wasim Akram :
We have seen that left-arm fast bowlers are always difficult to hit in T20’s. And if we talk about the left-arm swing bowlers, there is none better than the great Wasim Akram of Pakistan. He tormented many great batsmen of his time. He was the king of reverse swing bowling. Akram’s toe-crushing yorkers would have been useful in the death overs of a T20 match. Wasim took 502 wickets in ODIs. He was capable with the bat as well in lower down the order, which is quite necessary for T20s.
Desmond Haynes :
One the most destructive batsman of his time, Haynes had got all the flair and class to deliver in a tough situation. Haynes partnership with Gordon Greenidge was hailed as one of the most fearsome opening pairs of cricketing history. Haynes would have been perfect in the modern era in that opening position. He scored 8648 runs at an average of 41.37 in ODIs for Windies.
