When we talk about the big names in cricket, the ones that come to mind at least from the modern era are players like Virat Kohli, Steve Smith, Pat Cummins, and James Anderson. These cricketers are well used to the spotlight and generally thrive under it.
If they perform up to expectations, the fans adore them and put them on the highest pedestal. If they fail, they’ll be equally admonished and buried under the ground. However, there are a few cricketers who fly under the radar and do the job at hand, in other words, the ones who are under-rated. Here we have a look at the top 5 such players in the game:
5) Graeme Smith
The South African is regarded as one of the greatest Test captains on all time. He holds the record for having played the most matches as captain, with 53 wins from 109 matches. He became the captain of South Africa at the young age of 22. However, when it came to batting, he was criminally under-rated.
In 117 matches for South Africa in the longest format, Smith has scored 9265 runs at an average of 48.26, with the highest score of 277 against England at Edgbaston. In this duration, he has scored 27 centuries and 38 fifties as well.
His best innings came at the home of Cricket aka. Lord’s, where he scored 258 off 370 balls, at a strike rate of 70. South Africa beat England in the match by an innings and 92 runs. They eventually went on to win that series in England under Smith’s captaincy.
4) Ajit Agarkar
The former Indian fast bowler Agarkar had great potential but never lived up to his billing. A string of inconsistent performances over the years sent him down the pecking order. However, that didn’t stop him from providing inspiring performances for the team now and then.
He stands in third place among the highest wicket-takers for India in the ODI format. With 288 wickets, he’s only behind Anil Kumble and Javagal Srinath. He picked them up at an average of 27.85 and an economy rate of 5.07. As a bowler who specialized in death, these are very respectable stats.
With the bat in hand, he had impactful performances in the lower order. His best innings came at Lord’s, where he scored a 109* and although India went on to lose the match, his knock is etched in the honors board at Lord’s.
3) Rangana Herath
After Muttiah Muralitharan’s retirement from international cricket, a big void was left to be filled in the Sri Lankan bowling line-up. Rangana Herath eased into this gap and bolstered the attack with his left-arm tweakers. More than unplayable deliveries, his consistency with his line and length is what reaped him rewards.
Herath’s best performance in Lankan clothes came in a home match against Pakistan at Colombo. After Sri Lanka posted 320 in their first innings, Herath ran through the batting line-up of Pakistan grabbing 9 wickets for 127 runs, in what was a spectacular effort from the spinner.
He has proved his ability to perform overseas as well, with a best of 9/128 against South Africa in an away tour which was also pivotal in Lanka winning their one and only game in South Africa. Before retiring from the longest format, he had picked up a staggering 433 wickets that included 34 five-wicket hauls.
2) Ross Taylor
From Stephen Fleming to Brendon McCullum, New Zealand have produced some sensational batsmen over the years. One batsman who doesn’t grab the attention as much is Ross Taylor. His longevity given his unconventional technique is a testament to how good he has been over the years for the Kiwis.
He has been extremely good in all the 3 formats and continues to be a vital cog in the Kiwi batting order, alongside Williamson and Latham. Taylor averages 45+ in Tests and ODI’s, with a best of 290 and 181* respectively. He has a combined 40 centuries in his career and usually prefers the leg-side boundary while batting.
In 108 matches in Tests, Taylor has scored 7506 runs at an average of 45.77, while scoring 19 hundreds. In the 50-over format, he has played 217 innings, scoring 8581 runs at a very good strike rate of 83.42.
1) Shivnarine Chanderpaul
The most underrated batsman of all time is arguably Shivnarine Chanderpaul. Under Brian Lara’s shadow, he was never fully embraced by the cricketing fans. But he remained unfazed and gave his best for the West Indies in a career spanning 21 years.
With a batting technique that’s imitated by kids all over the world, Chanderpaul thrived in the 2000’s amassing 11867 runs in a record 164 matches for the Windies. He averaged 51.37, something that’s very rarely seen among the batsmen these days, and scored 30 hundreds in the process.
Although he’s not known for his ODI performances, he has a great record in that format as well. With an average of 41.60 and a high score of 150, Chanderpaul has amassed 8778 runs in 268 matches. Before he retired in 2015 from International cricket, he left a lasting mark on the game with his quiet but effective demeanor on the cricketing field.