Iceman
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Feb. 14: There’s nothing remotely carnivorous about Hashim Amla’s strokeplay. If he didn’t have an ODI strike-rate of close to 94 to back him, it would have been hard to picture him as a batsmen playing the short-version of the game, let alone an opening role.
It is a position that is these days owned and dominated by world’s most audacious strokeplayers — Virender Sehwag for India, Chris Gayle for the West Indies and Shane Watson for Australia. Amla’s shots have a touch of grace — be it his text-book cover drive or the pull often executed on a bent knee — probably due to a high back-lift. It all feels very Test match-like, until you see the scoreboard and realise that he’s reached his half-century at faster than run-a-ball.
Strengths
Controlled aggression: South Africa made the mistake of making him wait for his ODI debut until three years after he had played his first Test match. The argument was that he would not be able to score at a pace that is required in this version of the game. His six hundreds in the last 11 months, five of them scored at a stike-rate of over 100 alone should be an embarrassing slap to the face of whoever conspired to keep him out.
What Amla has brought to the Proteas’ ODI set-up is not just quick runs, but a consistency at the top that former openers including Herscehelle Gibbs failed to provide.
His calm head coupled with a solid technique ensures he can adapt his game to fit any situation. Need an explosive start? Amla can do it. Consolidation, the need of the hour? Amla can get that done as well.
Values his wicket: He puts a high price on his wicket and rarely throws away a good start. It’s one of the traits he has brought from his Test game onto the ODI arena. In the demanding conditions of the sub-continent where dehydration, cramps, tiredness, fatigue, spasms and mental exhaustion can often claim batsmen, expect Amla to last the distance. His wicket will be one among the most wanted during the World Cup.
Weakness
Bouncers: Amla ended the recent ODI series against India at home as the only batsmen from South Africa to score a century. His average of 62.50 towered above anyone else’s. However, the Indian pacers did not test him with short-pitched deliveries which was once considered as the easiest way to take his wicket. He has rectified his technique and is now a solid puller, but a few good quick deliveries directed at his throat could still be a good strategy from a fast bowler’s perspective.
Trivia
Ranked No. 1 in ODI batsmen’s list, over 100 points ahead of second-placed Virat Kohli.
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