Top 10 batsmen with most nineties in ODI cricket

This is the list of batsmen who were too close yet too far from the triple figures in ODI cricket. The Top 10 batsmen who have the most number of nineties registered to their name.

These batsmen have either got out, falling prey to the psychological pressure of being in the ‘nervous nineties’or stayed not out in the last digit of the double figures. There is literally no batting record complete without the mention of the batting master from India Sachin Tendulkar. He tops the list here as well with 18 scores of ninety.

Batsmen tend to slow down, once they enter the nineties, as the fact that they are so close to a hundred is running at the back of their minds. They cut down on the instinct to hit the bigger shots, opposition captains are smart enough to bring in the extra fielder in the circle to build up the pressure. This is actually where the problem lies, someone like Virender Sehwag or David Warner and be it ViratKohli for that matter just play their natural game even then and that is the reason their conversion rate is as good as any bodies in the game.

Sachin made it a rather bigger affair for himself, there was also a lot of Umpiring calls to add to his woes. He was given out on multiple occasions when the decision was not convincing enough. The umpire at that end was usually Steve Buckner, who was later pulled out due to similar issues raised over a period of time. But, another perception is had Sachin converted these 18 nineties the World record for 49 ODI tons would have been a much bigger number.

Those who follow up are GW Flower the Zimbabwean though second still is well behind the 1st in terms of the number of scores. Flower has 9 scores in the nineties, although he could not convert them into hundreds. There is no doubt that Flower is among the best batsmen the country has produced and under his reign Zimbabwe cricket was at its all-time high.

Following up with the top 2 are NJ Astle, PA de Silva, with an equal number of nineties as Grant Flower. Jacque Kallis has himself a distinct identity here as well standing proud in the top century scorers he is 5th here as well, with 8 scores inside hundred.

Mohammad Azharuddin, MD Crowe, DM Jones, MJ Clarke and AB de Villiers forms the latter half of the series. They have 7, 6, 6, 6, 6 nineties registered to their names in international cricket. AB would not love to but, he is the only active cricketer in here and has the chance of rising above in the ranks.

Don’t underestimate them just for the fact that they have lost their wicket in the nervousness of the nineties. These batsmen are among the greatest that have played cricket for their particular countries.

Here is the tabular form:

Stats updated till 13th July 2016