Shai Hope Eclipses Viv Richards and Gordon Greenidge To Attain a Unique Milestone
Shai Hope in action [Source: Twitter]
Stylish Barbados batter Shai Hope has been an integral part of the West Indies ODI team for quite a while now. Hailed for his elegance and game awareness, Hope has proved himself as the mainstay of the Caribbean batting lineup, showcasing incredible consistency in 50-over cricket.
Meanwhile, the 29-year-old has eclipsed legendary former cricketers- Sir Viv Richards and Gordon Greenidge- to record the highest-ever average among batters with minimum 1000 runs to their names for West Indies in ODI cricket.
Highest batting average for West Indies (minimum 1000 runs)
- Shai Hope: 50.00*
- Sir Viv Richards: 47
- Gordon Greenidge: 45.03
- Ramnaresh Sarwan: 42.67
- Shivnarine Chanderpaul: 41.60
Since debuting against Sri Lanka in 2016, Hope has established himself as a vital cog in the Caribbean batting lineup, amassing 4542 runs, including 14 hundreds and 22 half-centuries. He has been in sublime form, which is why West Indies need him to step up in the ongoing ICC World Cup qualifiers and help them make an entry into the main event scheduled in India later this year.
Talking about West Indies, they managed a 39-run victory over USA in their first fixture of the World Cup qualifiers.
They are currently playing against Nepal, placed third with a solitary victory in two appearances. As of writing, West Indies are 54 for two, with Hope and Brandon King batting on 21* and 32*, respectively.
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