The year 2020 is about to end, and people are nothing but relived. The coronavirus pandemic took the world by storm and completely changed the meaning of normal. There isn’t even one field which is unaffected by the global health scare. Sports was one area which had a drastically affected by coronavirus with many major tournaments and competitions being cancelled or postponed. Hence, cricket action was also comparatively less in comparison to other years. Nevertheless, a decent amount of cricket still took place which saw a great battle between the ball and willow. Below, we’ll look at five batsmen who made a mark in 2020! Latest ICC Test Batsmen Ranking.

With the bat sizes being huge and small boundaries, the modern-day cricket is known to be controlled by batsmen. However, scoring runs at the highest level is indeed not a bread and butter task. Also, one must not forget that all it takes to dismiss a batsman is one mistake. Hence, a player needs to be at his prime the whole time to play a significant knock. Nevertheless, there are still many batters who shone this year. As 2020 is about to get over, let’s look at five standout players. Steve Smith Scores Third-Fastest ODI Century for Australia.

1. Steve Smith – Australia

The top-ranked Test batsman already was a nightmare for bowlers in the longest format of the game. This year, however, the Australian talismanic also proved his mettle in white-ball cricket. Batting at number three, Smith didn’t just play many significant knocks but also scored runs at a rapid pace. With 858 runs, in fact, the 31-year-old is the third leading run-scorer in international cricket this year.

2. Marnus Labuschagne – Australia

If 2019 saw Labuschagne emerging onto the scenes, 2020 saw the Australian’s ability to thrive any challenge. While he scored a career-best 274 against New Zealand in January, the youngster also proved his mettle in white-ball cricket. He scored 473 runs in 13 ODI innings which also includes his maiden ODI ton. All these factors indeed justify Labuschagne’s place in this list.

3. Ben Stokes – England

Although the talismanic all-rounder can deliver in many departments on the cricket field, he has been truly exceptional with the bat this year. The southpaw scored 767 in 13 games across formats with two centuries and as many half-centuries. Although the numbers are impressive, what stats don’t show is the situation in which these runs were scored. Stokes indeed rose to all the departments and is arguably the most impactful player going around.

4. Babar Azam – Pakistan

Leadership certainly has brought the best out of Azam as his recent numbers have been nothing but spectacular. While he scored runs at the rapid pace in limited-overs cricket, he showcased remarkable resilience against the red-cherry in England. The 26-year-old, in fact, is the only player to feature in the top five of ICC batting rankings in all formats. In total, he scored 835 runs in 15 matches with two tons and seven fifties.

5. KL Rahul – India

After a long time, we see Virat Kohli not being India’s standout batsman at the end of the year as 2020 belonged to KL Rahul. Interestingly, the dasher’s side in the playing XI was under the scanner in 2019. However, he evolved his game and emerged as the cornerstone of India’s batting line-up in limited-overs cricket. While the wicket-keeper batsman played several astonishing knocks at the top order in T20Is, he delivered in the middle-order in ODIs. Henceforth, he finished 2020 as international cricket’s third-leading run-scorer with 847 runs in 20 outings.

Fortunately for the fans, the cricket calendar is busy in 2021 and if another global calamity doesn’t take place – we are set to witness great action between the bat and ball. If speculations are true, the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020 will take place in India in summer while the ICC T20 World Cup 2021 will be played in the same location in winters. So, cricket lovers should brace themselves and mark the dates on the calendar.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Dec 29, 2020 07:00 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).