The Greatest ODI Batsman: Tendulkar vs Richards

[AkshayS]

At least for me-Sachin.(I don't want any comment mud-slinging on me that my all posts are about Sachin, I would report it to the mods)
Reasons:200 in ODIs. played more than 700 innings with much consistency.
47 tons in tests and 46 in Odis. Have been the lonely warrior for India in the 90s. Playing in T20s quite well. Having many 5 150s in ODIs. & Much more.

 

[khalek]

Viv Richards, his average and strike rate is good enough to convince me that he's the greatest ODI batsman ever. Which batsman in the 80s averaged over 40 in ODIs and maintained a strike of 80+ at the same time?

 

[chiranjitpathak]

i would go for Sachin because he played for a longer time. With the latest technologies one can find out their technique of playing,but Sachin have given answer to everything they tried at him.

 

[Bublu Bhuyan]

Viv Richards, his average and strike rate is good enough to convince me that he's the greatest ODI batsman ever. Which batsman in the 80s averaged over 40 in ODIs and maintained a strike of 80+ at the same time?

Zaheer Abbas averaged 47.62 with a strike rate of 84.80

 

[SciD]

:rtfl:rtfl Is this a joke? Two examples -

1. He was placed at the #7th spot back in 2001 in ESPN's '25 Greatest Cricketer's of All Time'. The list was compiled by 15 men, most of them being former greats and a few of them being highly respected cricketer analyst. Here's the link - ESPN Legends of Cricket - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

2. He was placed at the #9th spot recently in 2009 by Christopher Martin Jenkins in his '100 Greatest Test Cricketers of All Time. Here's the link - Don Bradman's star would shine in any era - Times Online


Not to mention he found a place in Bradman's Dream Team, ahead of Viv Richards at the number 4 spot.


P.S. He also found a place in Richie Benaud's Dream Team - Murali misses out in Benaud's Greatest XI | Cricket News | Global | Cricinfo.com

Read the post again and this time uses glasses. The post is for all those who just don't give him his due.

 

[Bublu Bhuyan]

Read the post again and this time uses glasses. The post is for all those who just don't give him his due.

What am I supposed to believe from the post below?

Well Sachin may be not in peoples top 50 all cricketers list or batsman list, but he is in a league of his own in terms of batting in ODIs.

Something as idiotic it may sound, like Ponting Viv hardly faced best bowlers of his time as all of them were in his side.

 

[SciD]

Many will not agree with me but for me Kallis has been a giant of ODI batting as well. He has been awesome since 1997 his second year in ODI cricket.

What am I supposed to believe from the post below?

There are enough Sachin threads on this forum for you to get the idea what I am speaking.

 

[Bublu Bhuyan]

Many will not agree with me but for me Kallis has been a giant of ODI batting as well. He has been awesome since 1997 his second year in ODI cricket.



There are enough Sachin threads on this forum for you to get the idea what I am speaking.

Giant in ODI cricket with a strike rate of 72?

 

[SciD]

Giant in ODI cricket with a strike rate of 72?

Strike rate does not make you better ODI batsman. Michael Bevan had strike rate of 74 and Afridi has strike rate of 112. Take your pick out of two.

And frankly comparing players from two generations hardly makes any sense. You can only guess how each player would have fared in each others scenario. The standard of ODI cricket has only increased since Viv hanged up his boots.

 

[Bublu Bhuyan]

Strike rate does not make you better ODI batsman. Michael Bevan had strike rate of 74 and Afridi has strike rate of 112. Take your pick out of two.

LMAO, are you kidding? This has to be a joke. Strike rate is equally as important as average in ODI cricket. Bevan averages about 53, Afridi averages about 23. There is no comparison. However, if Afridi could have managed an average of 53 with a strike rate of 112, then he would have been better than Bevan.

Kallis is nothing more than a good ODI batsman, same as Dravid, and miles below Ponting who has a strike rate above 80, let alone Tendulkar.

 

[SciD]

LMAO, are you kidding? Strike rate is equally as important as average in ODI cricket. Bevan averages about 53, Afridi averages about 23. There is no comparison. However, if Afridi could have managed an average of 53 with a strike rate of 112, then he would have been better than Bevan.

Kallis is nothing more than a good ODI batsman, same as Dravid, and miles below Ponting who has a strike rate above 80, let alone Tendulkar.

I have mentioned Kallis is giant of ODI batting and nowhere did I mention he is better than any other batsman.

Dhoni has average of 51 and SR of 90. He should be a great ODI batsman by your theory.

I will leave this thread now and let it get back on topic.

 

[khalek]

Zaheer Abbas averaged 47.62 with a strike rate of 84.80

62 ODIs only, very good batsman though.

 

[sifter132]

I agree with Bublu - your opening post stated it quite well. It's not like it's some clear cut obvious thing, but if pressed I'd nominate Viv as the king too.

i would go for Sachin because he played for a longer time. With the latest technologies one can find out their technique of playing,but Sachin have given answer to everything they tried at him.

So 15 years of ODI cricket isn't enough? You must play 20 to be the best? Don't agree at all. It's not Viv's fault they only played 10 matches a year compared to Sachin's 25.

The other argument that I'd make for Viv is that he was obviously the best in the world in his era. Sachin cannot say that. Yes his overall record now is impressive, but at what points in his career would you say Sachin was clearly the #1 ODI batsman in the world. Mid to late 90s probably. But for the rest of his 20 years, he's had plenty of people to compete with him: Bevan, Lara, Ponting, Hussey, Jayasuriya, Kallis, Hayden, Ganguly and now Dhoni. I think at some point all those players managed to rise to the top of ODI cricket despite Sachin's presence.

In Viv's day he dominated. He was the clear cut #1 ODI batsmen in the world until Dean Jones came along. You had maybe Zaheer Abbas and Javed Miandad but I don't think many people would argue they were ever ahead of Viv. He was the undisputed king for 10 years and that's hard to argue with.

 

[pcfan123]

My analysis when comparing people from yesteryear and current players might be amateurish but It works for me.

batting with No helmets and on uncovered/not todays road pitches > batting in the modern era

Viv is my pick.

 

[ZoraxDoom]

The thing is...

1) Fielding standards are much, much higher now than they were back in Viv's time.

2) Sachin plays SO much more cricket, yet his body is able to handle it and he's been delivering the goods for so long. It's non-stop cricket, the fact that he can maintain this record despite barely having a break is incredible.

3) Technology has come to a point where bowlers can analyse everything a batsman does before a match, even down to the smallest details. The smallest movements, flaws, weaknesses. Sachin has been under scrutiny and studied by bowlers for all these years, 2 decades, and they have yet to find a way to contain him.

4) Sachin opens the batting, ie new ball in swinging conditions. Viv batted in the middle order. So they had two different roles - Sachin isn't meant to score at a strike rate of 90, his job is usually to bat through the innings while Viv's was to demolish the opposition bowling. Sachin has shown himself capable of tearing bowling attacks apart when needed to, but hasn't done it that often.



Now, what plays in Viv's favour were the better pitches for bowling, no fielding restrictions (which Sachin enjoys as an opener), and he never wore a helmet.

But the incredible fitness and longevity of Sachin, and his ability to keep churning out runs despite all the travelling, hectic schedules, media attention, scrutiny and planning and studying from the opposing team is just incredible. Almost super-human. And that's why I pick him.