Hashim Amla – Highs and lows of the batting maestro
The South African batting legend, Hashim Amla announced his retirement from international cricket on 8th August. The marathon run-getter bids away from the game with 9282 Test runs and 8113 ODI runs at a sterling average of 46.64 and 49.46 respectively. The bearded monk retires as South Africa’s only Test triple centurion. He has also scored the most ODI centuries for the nation which demonstrates his batting calibre as exceeded regardless of the format.
Amla leaves a rich batting legacy behind for the upcoming young Protea batsmen. The 36-year old retires as the second-highest run-getter in South Africa’s Test history. With 28 Test hundreds, he is only behind Jaques Kallis in terms of the milestone. He is the third-most capped player in the South African Test history alongside being the only triple centurion.
In ODIs, Amla has been a greater force as his extraordinary average suggests. In 178 innings, he has slammed 27 centuries in the 50-over format. Displaying his versatility, Amla has been a great success in the IPL as well. In just 16 appearances, he has two centuries and three half-centuries. In 44 T20Is for South Africa, Amla has more than 1,200 runs with seven half-centuries.
Batting with an unorthodox technique, Amla has enjoyed a glorious fifteen-year stay at the crease. He made his Test debut in one of the most intimidating cricket grounds in the world – Eden Gardens, Kolkata. His ODI debut came after four years. Here are his best and worst phases as a batsman.
Amla passes fifty with flying colours
Tests
For the first 30 Test matches, Amla averaged below 40 despite scoring six centuries. His performance against Bangladesh at home in 2008 propelled his average above 40. However, the defining series for the South African batsman took place in 2010 against India in India. His 253 not out at Ahmedabad, followed by 114 and 123 not out in the Kolkata Test proved the pedigree of the batsman to score in adverse conditions.
Two years later, Amla posted 311 not out at the Kennington Oval which pushed his Test average beyond fifty for the first time. For the next four years, his average stayed above fifty, going as north as 52.79 in January 2015. However, the batsman lost steam after November 2016 and ended up at 46.64 after a steady decline.
ODIs
Incredibly, it took only 25 ODIs for Amla to consistently average above 50 in ODIs. Once again, 2010 was his golden year where he ended up scoring 1058 runs from 15 matches with five centuries and four half-centuries. He reached his zenith in November 2010 – averaging 61.13 after 35 ODIs. Despite a few troughs, Amla kept plundering runs in white-ball cricket. Thus, he still holds the record of being the fastest to 2K, 3K, 4K, 5K, 6K and 7K ODI runs.
It was in August 2018 that Amla’s batting average dropped below 50 for the first time since May 2010. Despite a few tall scores in the following months, it eventually ended up at 49.47.
Amla’s decline
Tests
Starting from 2010, Amla enjoyed five sterling years at the top where he consistently churned out runs in the five-day format. 2015 was his first lean year as a senior batsman. His major struggle was in India, where he ended up accumulating only 118 runs in seven innings without passing fifty even once. His average that year was a dreadful 22.81.
Amla recovered from the fall with a double century at Newlands against England at the start of 2016. After another two good years with the bat, the batsman struggled to remain consistent. His consecutive tons against Bangladesh in late 2017 felt like a second wind but it proved to be his final flourish. Amla did not score any hundreds after October 2017. In his last 15 Tests, he ended up scoring 704 runs at an average of 26.07 which included 6 fifties. The lost series against Sri Lanka in February 2019 shall remain his last.
ODIs
It took a year for Amla’s bad patch in Tests to translate into the ODI format. Near the end of 2015, he recorded four single-digit scores in five innings. The Protea batsman did fight back with few a tall scores but he wasn’t the same run-scoring monster which he previously was.
The 2019 World Cup had to be Amla’s swansong unless he revived himself. The bearded batsman scored 123 runs in the first six matches. He was also dropped for a match in between. In what turned out to be his last ODI, Amla scored 80 not out alongside his captain Faf du Plessis in the winning cause. The lean patch culminated in his final ODI average being 49.46, second-highest for a South African batsman with 1,000-plus runs.
