The TATA IPL 2023 season will begin on March 31, 2023. The tournament is a two-month-long fiesta of cricket. With that being said, the best batters in the world will be present in the tournament. Over the years, opening batters like Matthew Hayden, Adam Gilchrist, Gibbs, Bairstow, and Gayle have been integral parts of the tournament. An opener has a crucial job as he sets the pace of the innings. If the start is laid back, it is laid back, and if it is a quick-fire one, it is quick-fire! Here is a look at the top 5 openers that the league has ever witnessed:
Rohit Sharma is One of the Best Openers in the History of the TATA IPL.
Rohit Sharma is one of the best openers in the league. Season after season Sharma has scored runs. He is also a part of the top run-getters in the TATA IPL. Sharma plays with a decent strike rate of 120 to 130 in the first 10 to 15 balls. Post that the strike rate inflates to 150. He has been an asset to the Mumbai Indians. As a captain, he has led them to 5 IPL victories. He does have a weakness against spinners in the powerplay and left-arm pacers as well, but if Rohit manages to get past the 10-ball mark, the opposition needs to start praying.
Chris Gayle is One of the Best Openers in the History of the TATA IPL.
The TATA IPL was synonymous to “Chris Gayle” in the 2011 and 2012 seasons. It was a season of sheer dominance by the big Jamaican. He was the poster boy of the TATA IPL. The fans love Chris Gayle because he is not just a batter but an entertainer. He makes sports interesting. One can never forget his whirlwind 175 runs against the Pune Warriors India. On his day, Chris won the game single-handedly. He was a strike force scoring at a strike rate of 150 and averaging 39.7.
KL Rahul is One of the Best Openers in the History of the TATA IPL:
KL Rahul has assured dominance in the league since he was promoted to open the innings for the Punjab Kings. Before that, he was considered a fringe player with a lot of potential. But the Punjab Kings management helped him to grow. And since then, Rahul has had 4 IPL seasons in which he has scored more than 500 runs each. Now that’s an amazing thing to do! Season after season Rahul scored runs. At times his class is such that he appears to be India’s best T20 batter. Rahul has played 109 games scoring 3889 runs at an unreal average of 48 and strike rate of 136.8
Shane Watson/ Shikhar Dhawan:
Shikhar Dhawan and Shane Watson have also left a mark on the league as openers. The most impactful performance of Shane Watson came when he opened the innings. In the 2018 TATA IPL final, Shane was too good. The same was the case in the 2019 IPL final. He played with stitches in his knees and was batting exceptionally well. Shikhar Dhawan on the other hand is a blue-chip stock. He is a player on whom the team management can always rely. The short ball outside off-stump is his strong point. He has played 206 games and has scored 6244 runs at a strike rate of 129. Watson is on the list not because he has scored the most runs as an opener but because he has had a massive impact as an opener itself.
David Warner:
David Warner is in the heart of every SRH fan. He won the orange cap 3 times and every time he was opening the batting for the Sunrisers. He was the backbone of their batting. David Warner took the Sunrisers Hyderabad to glory in TATA IPL 2016. He is one of the most dominant batters. On his day, he can flip the game in the team’s favor in a matter of a few overs. His timing is elite and he has a strong bottom hand. He is technically very sound. Warner has amassed 5881 runs at a strike rate of 140.
To know more go to TATA IPL 2023: Top 3 Historic Games in TATA IPL History. Best Matches of TATA IPL.
Read more such articles at Mohammed Siraj: The Rise of World Number 1 Pacer. From the Streets of Hyderabad to Being Best in the World.
To know more go to the official website of the BCCI.
