Hashim Amla

[ZCFOutkast]

I've just been through this table of 20&above ODI centurions, and realised that in 111 matches Hashim Amla has 20. Dilshan&Ganguly played exactly 200 more matches than him and they have 21 & 22 centuries respectively.

Fair enough there's been rule changes, lower quality of bowlers, enhanced equipment etc, but the fact that Amla has opened for his entire career means he faced the best of the worst, and they were freshest in their first spells and he conquered them all.

Surely that means we can look at that 200 ODIs gap in its right. This man is unbelievable.

He is the greatest ODI player ever in the whole world (till Kohli grows up ), and personally I feel he will become SA's greatest Test batsman as well.

Kallis was 38 when he retired so Amla has another 6/7 years to get to 45. The fact that he's the joint fastest to 6000 runs along another true great Graeme Smith(and is set to be by far the sole fastest to 7000 Test runs and beyond), means he stands a chance.

In my opinion he will fail to get to 45 tons and retire sooner, maybe end up with around 38 tons, but the decision to drop down the order to 4 (something I disagree with very strongly), means he will no doubt have a Test average in the 70s, second only to Bradman.

Still I find it disturbing that right now he is comparable to Ken Barrington after the exact same number of Tests , so he will have to work very hard to reach Kumar Sangakkara in order to qualify to be counted among the true Test greats.

Hashim Amla! Take a bow!

 

[MickeyD]

108 innings - 20 centuries.

He is not being afforded the praise he deserves.

Pure class.

 

[satanboy]

Amazing player.

 

[ZCFOutkast]

Looking at our batsmen's T20 form over the last 12 months, I think he has a shot at being our best T20 player too.

He's worked on his T20 game a lot. His SR is the same as everone else, while his average better than AB, despite being an opener. If he were to reach 60 matches, his figures would look equally as attractive as his Test&ODI stats.

 

[MickeyD]

FROM: http://www.firstpost.com/sports/wor...as-hashim-amla-at-your-own-peril-2133149.html

World Cup 2015: Forget South Africa's Hashim Amla at your own peril

by Dennis Freedman Mar 3, 2015

Cricket is a game of truth.

Test players are generally not suited to the white ball. Your Test batting average should be higher than your ODI one. The best South Africans play for England. Graceful players are not the best sloggers.

Hashim Amla has taken these false gods and smashed their little porcelain heads all over the floor.

Today, 'The Hash' became the fastest ever player to reach 20 ODI centuries.

It only took him just a paltry 108 innings. That's a hundred every 5.5 times he bats. That's better than what AB de Villiers can muster. It's faster than Virat Kohli. The concord never went at this breakneck speed.

Amla doesn't initially strike you as an ODI bezerker. He's the mild mannered Clark Kent of cricket. Soft spoken. Avoids the media. Humbly religious. The anti South African. No bravado.

His rise to the Test captaincy raised a few eyebrows. Not because he isn't a leader of men. And not because he beat out De Villiers for the role. But because he put up his hand in the first place. Proof that he harbours ambition on a grander scale. Not that it is overtly obvious. Not that we ever doubted it was there. We just didn't consider it. Amla never speaks to us or shares his inner workings. He is hidden. We forget about him.

Hashim has an ODI batting average better than his Test one. Interesting in its rareness. Remarkable given his red ball number is 52.78.

But the surprises don't end there. He has scored only 1000 less ODI than Test runs, despite facing almost 7000 fewer balls.

If Amla is a Test great, what does that make him in the ODI sense?

It is easy to get lost in the South African wizardry of Dale Steyn and De Villiers. Both may possibly end their careers as the best ever in their craft. However, the quiet Durban native is just as special, smoother and definitely the least ODI looking of the trio.

An Amla cover drive doesn't belong in the 48th over of a run chase. It belongs in the first hour after lunch. But somehow he has made it fit. Mark Waugh had a similar quality but without the raw numbers to underpin it. Amla has no such issue.

In the era of iPhones, T20 and instant gratification, Amla represents the yesteryear. He is the telegraph, untimed Tests and patience. These traits are diametrically opposed to performing well in coloured clothing. They certainly are not attributes of a modern legend. Yet in his case, they are.

Forget Hashim Alma at your own peril. One day he won't be playing. You probably will not even notice he has gone.

No one remembers the glide through slips for four or the gentle flick to to mid wicket boundary. Instead, today's youth insist we measure the length of maximums and rejoice at reverse sweeps. These truly are lesser pleasures.

It's the difference between a one night stand or a life long commitment.

You will tell your mates about one of them at the pub. You will gain true pleasure and contentment from the other.

 

[ZCFOutkast]

108 innings - 20 centuries.

He is not being afforded the praise he deserves.

Pure class.

He is though Mickey. Maybe not so much on this forum, but he's a peerless God in PAK&IND cricket forums. Spoken of at the same level as Kumar Sangakkara, albeit rather unfairly&prematurely.

Amla is like Graeme Smith on this forum. I don't think people quite realise that he too is arguably our greatest Test batsmen. Bear in mind that Kallis' "renaissance" came comparably at a later stage than Smith retired. But between 7000-9000 runs they were toe to toe in terms of pace.

 

[MickeyD]

I remember being on a hockey tournament in Durban (many moons ago!).

Middle of winter - which is not really winter in Durban...

Two youngsters were in the nets, spent hours there.... throw downs and taking turns to bat.

One of the Natalians remarked to me that the one youngster is going to be a great player when he gets older....

Guess who?

 

[ZCFOutkast]

No one remembers the glide through slips for four or the gentle flick to to mid wicket boundary. Instead, today's youth insist we measure the length of maximums and rejoice at reverse sweeps. These truly are lesser pleasures.

It's the difference between a one night stand or a life long commitment.

You will tell your mates about one of them at the pub. You will gain true pleasure and contentment from the other.

Thank you for the article. That part sums up what's so great about him.

If Amla is a Test great, what does that make him in the ODI sense?

Far from being a Test great right now though.

It is easy to get lost in the South African wizardry of Dale Steyn and De Villiers. Both may possibly end their careers as the best ever in their craft.

I can undestand Steyn, but of those with "best ever" next to their names, I think we'll struggle to statistically justify AB being there. All of Warner, Maxwell, Kohli, Steve Smith , Rohit etc retain the ability, and have lots of time, to score the fastest ever 50, 100, 150 and even 200 in T20s, ODIs & Tests. What then?

 

[ZCFOutkast]

I remember being on a hockey tournament in Durban (many moons ago!).

Middle of winter - which is not really winter in Durban...

Two youngsters were in the nets, spent hours there.... throw downs and taking turns to bat.

One of the Natalians remarked to me that the one youngster is going to be a great player when he gets older....

Guess who?

Natalian = MickeyD; one of the youngsters = Amla?

 

[MickeyD]

Natalian = MickeyD; one of the youngsters = Amla?

No, I've always been an East Caper... Natalian was one of my mates.

Yep, Ahmed and Hashim.

 

[Mk786]

Hashiem's one the best. There's no doubt about it. Did you see that ball he caught in today's match? Reminded me on Jonty!

 

[George Cloney]

He's also the fastest to ....
2000 OIDI runs
3000 OIDI runs
4000 OIDI runs
5000 OIDI runs

Kohli who was first to 6000 runs took 136 innings to get there. Hashim is on 5616 runs after 101 innings.

 

[ZCFOutkast]

Hashiem's one the best. There's no doubt about it. Did you see that ball he caught in today's match? Reminded me on Jonty!

Seriously . Amla's fielding boet in discussing his "greatness"?

 

[stefan9]

Thank you for the article. That part sums up what's so great about him.

Far from being a Test great right now though.

I can undestand Steyn, but of those with "best ever" next to their names, I think we'll struggle to statistically justify AB being there. All of Warner, Maxwell, Kohli, Steve Smith , Rohit etc retain the ability, and have lots of time, to score the fastest ever 50, 100, 150 and even 200 in T20s, ODIs & Tests. What then?

Maxwell, you must be smoking something very good. The no show averages 30 in odi cricket....

 

[Mk786]

Seriously . Amla's fielding boet in discussing his "greatness"?

Lol ofcourse! Would you prefer I mention his batting skills? just read the other posts for that

 

[Pegasus]

Viv Richards is the best ODI batsmen of all time.
Hash has some way before being called a great.

Some other great ODI batsmen I can think of who changed the game are Dean Jones and Sanath Jayasuriya.

 

[ZCFOutkast]

Lol ofcourse! Would you prefer I mention his batting skills? just read the other posts for that

Amla looks ugly everywhere but at the crease. His running is ugly, his fielding is ugly. He's your typical Russell Peters bashed Indian. You get concerned when a ball rolls towards him or he has to complete a catch. So when someone mentions Amla's fielding and references Jonty it's impossible to take that seriously. To be honest my first action was to check the number of your posts&I joined date. I don't know if you still stand by your statement but I don't think Amla has any fielding skills. There's an article Mickey posted, strangely it mentioned that one wouldn't expect him to be an ODI great due to his style of batting, but nothing was said about his fielding. I'll check it again, but it can be a liability. He's improved a lot, and that in itself says something.

 

[ZCFOutkast]

Viv Richards is the best ODI batsmen of all time.
Hash has some way before being called a great.

Some other great ODI batsmen I can think of who changed the game are Dean Jones and Sanath Jayasuriya.

I agree with you, on the condition that no other batsman qualifies to be termed a great too. Batting is a problem because we all have our preferences. Given a choice my greatest top 7 would be Hayden, Sehwag, Ponting, Lara, KP, AB, Gilchrist(Akram, Warne, McGrath, Ntini). I know they would thump everyone, but statistically only Ponting&Lara qualify as greats, and I've left out other statistic greats. That's why stats are impotant. This is not like football where we hail innovators like Cruyff&Beckenbauer subjectively. This is cricket. Runs, against who, where & how consistent. On that basis Amla has no rival - past or present. We should be glad he's South African.

 

[AthenianOwl]

Amla's pretty good but I wouldn't consider him as one of the cricket greats of all times like Don Bradman and Sachin Tendulkar. Far from it. A few years ago, Alistar Cook was widely considered to be the next Sachin Tendulkar

 

[George Cloney]

I agree with you, on the condition that no other batsman qualifies to be termed a great too. Batting is a problem because we all have our preferences. Given a choice my greatest top 7 would be Hayden, Sehwag, Ponting, Lara, KP, AB, Gilchrist(Akram, Warne, McGrath, Ntini). I know they would thump everyone, but statistically only Ponting&Lara qualify as greats, and I've left out other statistic greats. That's why stats are impotant. This is not like football where we hail innovators like Cruyff&Beckenbauer subjectively. This is cricket. Runs, against who, where & how consistent. On that basis Amla has no rival - past or present. We should be glad he's South African.

That isn't a South African team so you dont have to have Ntini in there. On what merit is he in there?
Ntini makes your team ahead of Pollock, Ambrose, Waqar, Donald, Hadlee, Marshall, Steyn, Walsh?