Just a few days ago former Australia spinner Brad Hogg was in India for the Road Safety World Series representing team Australia Legends led by former pacer Brett Lee. But due to Coronavirus pandemic, the series got postponed, and now Hogg has returned to his home.
Nowadays, the former Aussie is often seen interacting with his fans and followers on social media platforms. In the process, he takes questions from his fans and gives his views on various topics related to cricket.
On Friday, Hogg uploaded a video on his YouTube channel where he picked three best batsmen in the Indian Premier League (IPL) who excelled in the powerplay overs.
For those who aren’t aware, a power play is mandatory fielding restrictions which are imposed on every fielding side for the first six overs of the 20 over innings. It means that only two fielders can stay outside the inner circle, which makes the batting comparatively easy.
Hogg started the proceedings by choosing his countryman David Warner. The destructive opener had been phenomenal in the lucrative league. In 126 games, Warner has accumulated 4706 runs which is the highest by any overseas player in IPL.
Warner has scored 1959 runs in powerplay overs with an average of 45.6 and a strike-rate of 151.2. Hogg opined that since Warner is good in rotating the strike and runs quickly between the wickets it helps him to maintain pressure on the bowlers.
“Thing I like about David Warner he is powerful on the leg side but equally good on the leg side as well. He’s little weak on the top of the off and middle when the ball is swinging in, but he tackles it by taking the singles and converting them in the doubles. He is a busy batsman,” spoke Hogg.
At number two, Hogg picked arguably the best Indian player in the shortest format of the game, Suresh Raina. The southpaw has clubbed 5368 runs which is the second-highest in the history of IPL. He has 38 fifties to his name – highest amongst Indian players and second-best overall.
In powerplays, Raina has scored 1503 runs with an average of 36.7 and an awesome strike-rate of 136.8. Hogg said that Raina comes at crucial situations and helps his team to post big totals.
“The thing I like about Raina is that he sums up the opposition bowlers, he targets certain bowlers and those who are strong against him, he rotates strikes, so he is very clever in that regard. I like him at number two; he’s one of my favourites,” Hogg said about Raina.
In a bit of surprise, Hogg went with England wicket-keeper batsman Jos Buttler at number three spot. As per the stats shown in Hogg’s video, Buttler has scored 536 runs in powerplay overs with an average of 48.7, but he has a fantastic 162.9 strike rate.
“He stands tall and uses the pace. He tries to pierce the field rather than going over the top under pressure in powerplay phase. He backs his timing and if he’s on the song and bowler is a bit of defensive, he’s got the ramp shots. So I just love him for his versatility,” said Hogg.
Hogg also came up with honourable mentions, in which he picked Shikhar Dhawan, Gautam Gambhir, and Chris Gayle.
For Dhawan and Gambhir, Hogg said that they are a bit slow as compared to the ones he picked. If they had a good strike-rate, then they would’ve been at the top.
For Gayle, the former chinaman opined that he takes a bit more time in the powerplay to get into the rhythm which puts pressure on his batting partners.
