"He Will Destroy You": Ricardo Powell Names The 'Cleanest Hitter Of The Ball'

Ricardo Powell graced international cricket at a time when clean hits were not a regular affair. As a result, the former West Indies batsman Ricardo Powell, stood out as the cleanest hitter of the ball of his generation. But with the inception of the T20s, cricket has evolved, and powerful hitting have been a regular affair.

In 1999, at the Singapore Challenge, Powell took some of the finest India bowlers under the likes of Venkatesh Prasad and Anil Kumble to the cleaners. Stepping in to bat in the middle-order, he hit a blitzkrieg 124 off 93 balls, laced with nine boundaries and eight hits over the fence to help the West Indies clinch victory with 14 balls to spare. It was one innings that defined him as a batsman.

Ricardo Powell: No matter what, Andre Russell will destroy you

Andre Russell was arguably the most valuable player in IPL last season. He dispatched almost everything that came his way and looked to throw the kitchen sink at everything that came his way. Although, Powell believes clean hitting has become a regular affair now, players like Chris Gayle, AB de Villiers, Chris Lynn, Rohit Sharma or Virat Kohli are among the finest strikers.

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However, he singled out swashbuckling West Indies batsman Russell as someone, who can destroy the opposition with his prowess. Powell also added, it hardly matters, what someone bowls to him. He can dispatch almost everything.

“In this time, I would just be another player, because we have so many talents, skills, powerful hitters of the ball. Chris Gayle, Andre Russell, AB de Villiers, Chris Lynn. Rohit Sharma does not hits the ball hard, he hits it enough to clear the ropes. When you look at Virat Kohli, Pandya all these guys have so much skills that, you cannot just look at power. There are so many skills that come along,” Ricardo Powell said.

“When you talk about savage, somebody who will really destroy you, no matter how you put the ball to him, everyone speaks about Andre Russell,” he added.

Russell enjoyed a fine run for Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) last year. He hit four half-centuries with the high score of an unbeaten 80 and had an outstanding average of 204.81 in the tournament.