Dean Jones was one of the best ODI batsmen, at par with Vivian Richards, reminiscences Ravi Shastri

Having seen Dean Jones donning the hat of cricket pundit for Star Sports select dugout show the day preceding his untimely and unfortunate passing away, in all cheerful and passionate avatar, it has been heart-wrenching to come in terms with the sad news for all his colleagues as well as fans of the game. Indian head coach Ravi Shastri paid rich tributes to the great Aussie batsman, who is believed to be head and shoulders ahead of the rest in his heydays for Australia in ODI cricket. 

"Dean Jones was among the best One-day batsmen in the world, on par with Viv (Richards) and Javed (Miandad). He was ahead of his time in the 50-over format, had an attacking style, his running between the wickets was excellent and he was right there at the top," Shastri was quoted as saying by TOI. 

"His 210 at Chepauk, battling the heat and humidity, was an exemplary effort. In my opinion, it ranks as the second-best innings ever played by an overseas Test batsman in India, after Kevin Pietersen's Wankhede innings in 2012," Shastri said.

Jones' colleagues Scott Styris and Brett Lee also poured in their tributes for the former Aussie batsman. While Lee said that Deano was a legend and he would have liked us to carry on with the work, Styris stated that Jones considered the dugout show as his own and came up with new ideas everyday. 

“He thought this to be the Deano show really. He’s on to me every day with new ideas on how we can make it better. So I think it’s the right thing to do to be here, it’s gonna be hard but we hope t make him feel proud tonight,” Styris said.