Cricketdude
Chairman of Selectors
Rahul Dravid IMHO is the best Test batsman since Bradman. Just always does the job.
Nah, I have to disagree there. If a player is exceptional as a certain skill that puts him ahead of the 'bits and pieces' players, then he is no doubt a better cricketer.
If we go by your logic, guys like Flintoff will be ahead of batsman like Lara, Tendulkar, etc.
But of course you have to weight everything up, like Bradman is considered the best ever cricket player even though he has never played an ODI game or taken wickets. But because he simply dominates in Test batting so much, it overtakes other skills.
Rahul Dravid IMHO is the best Test batsman since Bradman. Just always does the job.
No batsman 'always' does the job.
Why not create a sub forum called Sachin Tendulkar? Or just a whole other forum, where you can fight about when you want to give him a blow job.....
Why do every discussion about former great player tends to bend towards sachin vs rest debate and end up being closed due to flame wars
Sir Bradman was the greatest batsman and Sir Sobers was greatest allrounder. Just accept the fact and move on. Do not compare former with the current player as there are far too many unmeasurable quantities playing their part that it is impossible to compare them on paper.
It would be better if we just compare players from a decade or at most from 2 subsequent decades.
So Bradman is best of his time, Then after him you can compare Border and gavasker for 80's, compare Sachin/lara/Sanath in 90's, Ponting/Sachin/K.P/Sangakkara in 2000's ....
Such a comparision would be valid coz players would have played in almost similar conditions and same set of international bowlers. You cannot predict how Gavaskar would have played Brett Lee on a overcast Lords morning just based on his record. Who knows he might score a gritty 80 or 100, on the other hand he might get out for duck to a ripper from lee.
It is cricket and it just take a single ball to dismiss a batsman. That ball might be from brett lee or brandon maccullum. Even greats like border/gavaskar can get out on bad days.