Xtra Time Web Desk: Does strike rate really matter in cricket? This question has been in the minds of the people, that they believe it doesn’t matter a lot in Test cricket. but the batsmen, who score at a high strike rate in Test matches, give their team that much of extra time to dismiss the opposition twice which is all that you need to win a Test match.
Out of all the batsmen who have scored 5000 or more runs in Test match cricket, here are the 5 batsmen with the highest strike rate –
Virendra Sehwag: Former Team India opener, Virendra Sehwag was one of the most outstanding cricketer who scored high runs for India and he did that over 104 Test matches which was unbelievable.
Sehwag finished his Test career with a total of 8586 runs which he scored at an average of 49.34 and a strike rate of 82.23.
Adam Gilchrist: Adam Gilchrist had same talent as Sehwag, his batting position was placed at No. 7 in the Australian team, where he used to come strong and hard to the bowlers which used to take the game away from them.
Gilchrist scored 5570 runs in 96 Test matches for Australia at an average of 47.60 and a strike rate of 81.95.
Kapil Dev: This man made history in cricket where under his leadership, the team won the first Wrold Cup in the year, 1983. He was known for his fast bowling style, his ability to swing the ball away from the right-handed batsmen and the fact that he was the first Indian fast bowler to cross the tally of 400 wickets in Test cricket.
As good as a bowler, Kapil was terrific with the bat as well.
The impact that he made batting at no. 7 for India was incredible.
Kapil maintained a strike rate of more than 80 over his 16-year long Test career.
David Warner: Warner’s batting sttle is similar to Sehwag, he bats on top of the order, and mostly finds himself in testing circumstances.
Despite batting relatively freely against the new ball, Warner has still been able to be fairly consistent in Test cricket. His average in Test cricket is 48.94, to go with his strike rate of 72.85.
Vivian Richards: Vivian Richards is the only batsman whose Test average is more than 50 and Test batting strike of more than 70. The former West Indies captain was superb against all types of bowling in all conditions!
Richards played 121 Test matches for West Indies between 1974 and 1991 and scored 8540 runs with 24 hundreds and 45 fifties.