Ranking most successful left-handed batters in ODI cricket

A Left-hander batter brings variety to a batting line-up. In international cricket, there are some teams who don’t have enough left-handers in the team. Meanwhile, some scientists have said left-handers are more responsive towards a game. Also, not to forget, a left-handed batter in the team bring different sets of problems for a fielding side.

For example, a right-arm pacer has to pitch it really to trap a left-hander for lbw. Also, a left and right-hander combination forces the fielding skipper to change the field constantly if they are rotating the strike. Meanwhile, in this listicle, we will rank the best three left-handed batters in the history of the ODI cricket

Three most successful left-handers in ODI cricket

1. Matthew Hayden

The former Australia opener made his debut in 1993. However, despite doing well, he got limited opportunities in 50-over cricket till the year 2001. After this, the left-hander started getting more opportunities and cemented his place in the team.

Thanks to his batting, the Kangaroos used to get explosive starts in ODI games. Talking about his career, the two-time World Cup winner played 161 games and has 6133 runs to his name at an average of 43.80 including 10 hundreds and 36 fifties.

2. Sourav Ganguly

The former India skipper Sourav Ganguly was a middle-order batter in the early phase of his career. However, when he started opening, he formed a memorable opening pair with Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar. Meanwhile, talking about the former, he played 311 ODIs.

The left-hander amassed 11,363 runs at an average of 41.02 and a strike rate of 73.70 which also included 72 fifties and 22 centuries – with the highest score being 183. He used to dominate the left-arm spinners and right-arm leg spinners a lot. 

3. Brian Lara

The only man to score 400 runs in Tests and 500 in First Class cricket, Lara also makes it to the list. His high backlift came to a good effect in ODI cricket. The former West Indies skipper played 299 ODI in his career.

During this, he amassed 10405 runs at an astonishing average of 40.17 and a strike rate of 79.51 which also include 63 fifties and 19 centuries with the highest score clocking 169.