Five legends from past generation who would have been T20 superstars

The T20 format is fast, and in the entire duration of the match that typically lasts around 3-3.5 hours, the excitement and the adrenaline rush is unparalleled. There have been several T20 stars in the current era who have entertained the fans. But then, there are a few cricketers of the past generation who could not feature in the T20 format. And if they had, they would have set the stage on fire. In this article, let us take a look at 5 cricketers who did not play the T20 format, but would have excelled if they had.

5. Nathan Astle

In the 1990s and the 2000s, this man was a formidable force with the bat. Nathan Astle played 223 ODI matches for his country and scored over 7000 runs in coloured clothing. Astle also holds the record for scoring the fastest double century ever in Test cricket off 153 balls. However, he could not play T20 cricket for his country as well as in any of the popular T20 leagues of the modern era. And, if he had done so, he would have been wonderful to watch out for.

4. Mark Waugh

The Australian right-hander was a flamboyant cricketer, had all the shots in the book, and was a man whose audacious stroke play made the bowlers shudder. Mark Waugh scored over 8000 runs in both ODI as well as Test cricket and was an asset for the indomitable Australian side throughout the 1990s. Waugh retired before the era of T20 began, and if he had played the T20 format, he could have destroyed several bowling attacks.

3. Waqar Younis

He started his international career in 1989, and over the course of the next 14 years, Waqar Younis emerged as one of the most feared pacers in world cricket. There were very few bowlers who could master the art of reverse swing the way Waqar did, and his accurate Yorkers at pace unsettled even the very best batsmen of his time. Younis played 262 ODI matches for his country and picked up a mammoth 416 wickets. He also featured in 87 Tests and picked up 373 wickets. However, he retired from the sport in 2003, before T20 cricket started gaining prominence. And, without a doubt, he would have made life difficult for the batsmen with his accuracy, pace and his ability to swing the ball at will, if he had played T20 cricket.

2. Wasim Akram

He is perhaps the most complete fast bowler the game has ever seen. Wasim Akram could swing the ball in, he could swing it out, he could bowl the leg cutter and the off-cutter with precision, and he could get the ball to reverse as well. And, in his 19-year career, the left-arm pace bowling great piled up glittering numbers.

Akram played 104 Test matches and 356 ODI games. While he took 414 wickets in the whites, he scalped 502 wickets in the coloured clothing for Pakistan and is only the second bowler (the other being Muttiah Muralitharan) to have scalped over 500 ODI wickets. He retired in 2003, much before the era of T20 cricket. And with the kind of skills that he had, if he had played the T20 format, he would have been lethal.

1. Brian Lara

Is there any question as to whether this man would have succeeded in the T20 format? Brian Lara scored 11953 runs in Test cricket and over 10000 runs in ODI cricket. He tore apart several world-class bowlers, including the likes of Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath, Shaun Pollock, Muttiah Muralitharan and Chaminda Vaas. In fact, Lara will rank as one of the finest willow wielders ever, to have played the game. He did not play a single T20I for his country, neither did he play the IPL.