Richard Hadlee names his favourite all-rounder from the 80s

Former New Zealand cricketer Richard Hadlee has revealed his favorite all-rounder out of the 4 famous all-rounders from the 80s era, with the likes of him alongside Imran Khan, Kapil Dev and Sir Ian Botham.

One of the best all-rounders of his generation, Hadlee played 86 Test matches and 115 One Day Internationals (ODIs) for New Zealand and scored 3124 runs in Tests and 1751 ODI runs. He also claimed 431 Test wickets and 158 wickets in ODIs.

Hadlee said that the four had a fierce competition as they used to follow each other’s performances through newspapers and/or radio reports. “Kapil, Imran, and Botham were good all-rounders and we had a fierce competition. Those days we used to follow each other’s performances through newspapers or radio reports,” he recollected.

When asked about the most influential player out of the four, he opined, “Though Kapil and Botham were outstanding all-rounders, I maintain that Imran had an edge as he was a versatile batsman and a potent strike bowler who could swing at good pace early on and later get reverse swing.”

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Despite making his debut as a fearsome pace bowler, later became a swing bowler with a lot of control in his line and length. “I broke Botham’s record in India and later took my 400th victim in the form of Sanjay Manjrekar. I also have fond memories of Wankhede Stadium where we won the Test match.”

While Imran Khan is the one with the highest Test batting average among the four – 37.69, Hadlee possesses the best bowling average of 22.29.