Hashim Amla

If South Africa are to find batting success in the World Cup, so much will depend on the platform Amla can set

The Cricketer | 08/05/2019 at 10:05

Born: March 31, 1983

Role: Right-hand bat

High-class Hashim. A top-class cricketer who sits stationed at the top of the order for his country.

The opener is rivalled by few in ODI cricket with the South African the fastest to 2,000, 3,000, 4,000 and 5,000 runs in one-day internationals. That offers a fair indicator of the batsman’s supreme talent.

The Durban High School product had a breakout ODI year for his country in 2010, hitting 1,058 runs and five hundreds in 15 matches. Amla has been scoring runs ever since.

In 2014, a century against Australia at Canberra saw him become just the fourth batsman to score a one-day international ton against all Test playing nations.

Herschelle Gibbs, Ricky Ponting and Sachin Tendulkar had all managed the feat before hime, but in terms of innings taken, Hashim had blitzed them all.

There were question marks over whether Amla - a batsman coming into the tournament with 27 ODI hundreds to his name - would be a part of South Africa’s World Cup squad at all. The Proteas have stuck with pedigree.

If South Africa are to find batting success in the World Cup, so much will depend on the platform Amla can set.

SOUTH AFRICA PLAYER PROFILES

Hashim Amla

JP Duminy

Quinton de Kock

Andile Phehlukwayo