![\"Martin](\"https:\/\/kyrosports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Rohit-Sharma-2.jpg\")
\nNot calling Martin Guptill a great of his time, this, mind you, is the force behind New Zealand\u2019s highest individual ODI score of 237, doesn\u2019t increase the price of fish.
\nRest assured, it doesn\u2019t threaten the existence of the Sky Tower in Auckland.
\nBut what\u2019s a bit surprising if one were to think about it is how infrequently rather less has a batsman of Martin Guptill\u2019s caliber achieved.
\nWhile clearly there aren\u2019t many in New Zealand who can club a cricket ball as powerfully (and absorb pressure as an opener) as Martin Guptill, one wonders whether the Aucklander would be satisfied with his own ODI average of 43, especially when he\u2019s been on song particularly since 2015.
\nFans of white-ball cricket may never have to be reminded about a knock that bypassed the mighty Chris Gayle- that 237; 11 sixes at Wellington in the 2015 World Cup- with the Jamaican actually looking more of a clueless spectator that day than an opponent.
\nSixes flew at free will and brute batting identified on Martin the bird that\u2019d make the Windies fly off the ground.
\nIt was 2015.<\/p>\n
Nearly, half a decade has passed on from that.<\/h3>\n
Do you know how Guptill- then, McCullum\u2019s general and now, Williamson\u2019s most reliant bat (alongside Ross Taylor) has fared?
\nImplicit in this half a decade long period – where Guptill struck nearly 3000 of his 6400 plus ODI runs- rest both, a tribute to his caliber and just why despite such lofty standards his batting average isn\u2019t yet 45.
\nIf you\u2019ve followed those fluent knocks- the unbeaten 189 against England 2013, the 180 not out against South Africa in 2017, or the 138 that demolished Sri Lanka in early 2019- you\u2019d know just why Martin Guptill\u2019s a batsman who can even average 50 in ODIs and conjure worldwide acclaim.
\nThis could very well be of the form the likes of Rohit Sharma and Hashim Amla have gathered, albeit in very different styles.<\/p>\n
And in here lies the Martin Guptill enigma.<\/h3>\n
It’s a case study of sorts, one defined by statistical opulence but pigeonholed by some questions, pointing to a sense of incompleteness about the batsman he can be as also, the force he already has become.
\nThe fact that the right-hander behind 1489 ODI runs in 2015, followed by 727 at an average of 42 (2016), 384 at 48 (2017), and finally, 423 at 47 (2018)- isn\u2019t considered an ODI \u2018great\u2019 says something.
\nThese numbers, however, point to a batsman who\u2019s been hungry for runs and been attacking in his accumulation of those like a tiger out on a prowl.
\nAnd that he isn\u2019t yet the king of the jungle called international cricket points to the incompleteness that only Martin Guptill himself can fill.<\/p>\n
Well, who won\u2019t be happy if the Kiwi bird takes that even mightier leap?<\/h3>\n
Martin Guptill is among the rare talents that can threaten to take the game away from an opposition as much as he can dull hopes by throwing away his wicket once he\u2019s given his side a start. There are batsmen who do just about enough to get on by. They\u2019ll win matches for their sides occasionally. There are also those who by pure rigor, rather let\u2019s say, love for hard-work makes it big. Dravid serves up an example. Then there are those who don\u2019t have to face sleepless nights despite suffering a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":7761,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[563],"tags":[1933,1934,1935,1936,1937,1938,1939,1940],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kyrosports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7760"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kyrosports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kyrosports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kyrosports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kyrosports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7760"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kyrosports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7760\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kyrosports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7761"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kyrosports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7760"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kyrosports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7760"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kyrosports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7760"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Martin](\"https:\/\/kyrosports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Guptill-and-McCullum-2.jpg\")
\nTo that end, there\u2019s less to deride about Guptill\u2019s game than there\u2019s to rejoice, the reference to the context being those muscular pulls that don\u2019t salivate for Insta-hungry attention, the punchy strokes toward the off and the flick-ish hits over deep square leg.
\nYou\u2019d rely any day on Guptill vis-a-vis a Colin Munro even as the former Hockey player can beat the blues out of an attack. You\u2019d more likely witness a great pairing in him and Taylor as what you\u2019d with Williamson joining his senior teammate in the middle.
\nBut can he be utterly relied upon to change the complexion of a game particularly against spin?
\nFurthermore, can Guptill hold his nerve in intense situations of the kinds Kusal Perera exhibited just a few hours ago in executing arguably Test cricket\u2019s biggest upset in the past 5 years?<\/p>\nThe transformation<\/h3>\n
\nWe saw shades of excellence in the ICC Cricket World Cup, a tournament he made headlines in albeit giving the West Indies\u2019 \u2018so-called\u2019 match-winning seniors a thing or two to introspect about their tag.
\nIn the years before, Guptill, rose to attention for being a stable batsman who could hold on to his own before the fiery batsman residing inside would burst with energy, and hence wane down opponents- an image that\u2019s stuck by him.
\nYet, in order to fully assess \u2018Guppy\u2019, who charms as much as he disappoints, one would have to dwell more.
\nOne would have to introspect about a batsman, who, at the back of a terrible form against India- not even 50 runs from 4 ODIs- suddenly arose with 2 back-to-back hundreds versus Bangladesh (117, 118 so far) compels you to meander in the realm of what might.\u2019
\nEver wondered, what might happen if the 32-year-old, who\u2019s both at the peak of his fitness and form, and now with considerable decade-long experience were to further raise his game?
\n![\"Martin](\"https:\/\/kyrosports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Martin-Guptill-form-in-2018-2.jpg\")
\nFor starters, there\u2019s nothing better than Martin Guptill himself would want. Maybe his greatest critic, one who realized his son\u2019s potential, his late dad, would smile from the heavens, as would his fans.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"