Back in May we asked if Hashim Amla was the best batsman in the world. That was after he followed up his stunning performances in India with an encore in the ODI series with the West Indies in the Caribbean.
Since then Sachin Tendulkar has put that one to bed at least where Test cricket is concerned (see Sachin Tendulkar’s Annus Mirabilis) with his annus mirabilis proving even more impressive than Amla’s.
But the South African continued his extraordinary performances in ODI in 2010 with another stellar performance in South Africa’s narrow two run win over Pakistan this week, batting through the innings for an unbeaten 119 off 126 in a low scoring encounter.
After belatedly cementing a place in the ODI side in the home series last autumn with England, Amla hasn’t looked back and in 2010 his record is staggering. In 13 matches he has scored 986 runs at 82 with five hundreds and three fifties and all this at a strike rate of 103.
His overall ODI record is unsurprisingly hugely impressive too with 1834 runs in 35 matches at 61 and six hundreds and nine fifties at a still superlative strike rate of 92.5. Amla's test record in 2010 is none too shabby either with an average of 80 in seven matches with three hundreds and two fifties.
Given Amla’s love of playing on the sub-continent – in the two test series in India at the start of this year Amla batted for 23 hours and 22 minutes, scored 494 runs and was only out once - he is a good bet to be the leading run scorer in next year’s World Cup. Perhaps even more so than the Little Master himself.
Where next?
Amla the magnificent: Much more than a beard
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