‘There is nobody who can get close to…’ – Sanjay Manjrekar picks his favourite ODI cricketer of all time

Former cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar has chosen Vivian Richards as his greatest ODI batter of all time, overshadowing India’s batting maestros Sachin Tendulkar and Virat Kohli. Many consider Tendulkar to be the greatest batter of all time because of his ODI and Test statistics.

During his illustrious career, he scored 100 international centuries, and Kohli appears to be the only player with a chance to repeat the feat. The 34-year-old, however, still needs 26 centuries to match Tendulkar’s total.

Kohli has been the most consistent performer with the bat in ODIs since his debut, scoring 12,773 runs at an average of 57.79 and ranking among the top five all-time run scorers in the format. He is four centuries short of tying Tendulkar’s record for most ODI centuries.

Manjrekar believes that while Kohli is undoubtedly the best ODI batter in the last 20 years, Viv Richards is the all-time best. “When you look at the modern era, in the last 20 years or so, Virat Kohli is right up there. Tendulkar is also one of the time all-time greats. Virat Kohli, in my book just fits in as a pure one-day player. MS Dhoni is another player that comes to my mind,” Manjrekar told Star Sports.

“But, all-time one-day batter, there is nobody who can get close to Sir Vivian Richards. Now, this might seem a little old-fashioned,” he added.

Manjrekar emphasised Richards’s records during his playing days, claiming that the gap between him and the second-best player of his era was significant. “Viv Richards played from 70s to 90s in a time when all top-class batters, people like Gordon Greenidge averaged about 30 and strike rate in the 60s. Viv Richards, from 70s to 90s, including a World Cup final hundred, averaged 47 and a strike rate of 90. The second-best in his era was second-best by a long way.”