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Best finisher Michael Bevan has redefined the attitude of batsmen

That is former Australian cricketer Michael Bevan for you. Arguably one of the finest one-day cricketers in recent memory who in a way demonstrated to the cricketing world that runs in one-day cricket can well be scored by taking sharp singles and converting them into twos, not necessarily by big hits.

He redefined the attitude of a batsman and his stunning average 53.58 from 232 one-dayers scoring 6,912 runs is testimony to this fact.

Bevan feels that most of the teams in contemporary cricket have a defeatist attitude when they face Australians while the Aussies present an immense desire to win.

“It is the attitude which matters more than anything else. There is a definite element of intimidatory approach in the Australian team and they complement it with a high level of consistency.”

“No doubt, they may not be as dominating as they have been for close to 15 years now once the big guns retire. But the transition should be really smooth as there are quite a gifted cricketers ready to face the challenge.”

Comparing this Indian team with those he faced earlier, Bevan feels that the Twenty-20 World Cup title-triumph is a major pointer of the emerging ‘Young Brigade’ of Indian cricket. “But again, consistency is the key and hallmark of any great team,” he added.

For someone who is considered as one of the best finishers in the one-day history, Bevan modestly says that he never considered himself on those lines. “I think players should understand the importance of playing well in any order they are asked. In my case, I enjoyed batting lower down the order. I was always comfortable.”

Rating the 1999 World Cup victory under Steve Waugh, the last-ball win against West Indies in a 1996 triangular series when he hit Roger Harper for a four as some of his most memorable experiences in one-day cricket, Bevan regrets being out of contention at 27 itself.

“I was playing well and was terribly disappointed to finish the way I did,” he added. “Well, the big regret of my life is that I have not played too many Test matches. I thought I was suited for that version of the game also,” he said, referring to his Test record of 18 matches scoring 785 runs.

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