Who's the next-best batsman after Bradman?

shravi

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In my opinion, Sachin Tendulkar, Sir Garfield Sobers, Sir Vivian Richards, and Ricky Ponting (at his best, he was- and this is something that is used far too frequently for my liking but is perfectly apt in this description- truly Bradmanesque).

Of the batsmen that I have seen live, the best have been- Sachin Tendulkar, Ricky Ponting, Brian Lara, Rahul Dravid, and Jacques Kallis.
 
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Satan666

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Knew some Indian would make this thread since cricinfo is biased towards Tendulkar being the second best to Bradman!

Sachin is a failure in all forms, just look at his present record, you guys should be ashamed to even mention his name in the same breath as Bradman.

Furthermore Sobers was an allrounder, guys like Greg Chappel, Graeme Pollock, George Headley, Everton Weeks, Ponting and Lara are all better as a batsman than Sobers ever was!
 

War

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I started watching cricket during the 1996 world cup when Tendulkar & Lara were the two best batsmen. I certainly give Tendulkar the edge as the best batsman of my lifetime over the price of port of spain for his better consistency against the best pace attacks of that period - Wasim/Waqar, McGrath/Gillespie, Donald/Pollock, especially away from home.

But i pride myself as a fan who understands the history of the game & their is no way Tendulkar was better than Sir Gary Sobers & Sir Viv Richards. I'd even argue that Greg Chappell at his best was equal to Tendulkar at his peak between 1990-2003.

So having said that i would agree with Ian Chappell 1000% here in saying Sobers is the second best batsman after Bradman. I honestly don't see how this is not close to a unanimous worldwide view.

In ranking the game's the top 3 batsmen - Bradman, Sobers & Viv Richards i think is very clear.

After that placing the likes of Tendulkar, Lara, Pollock, B Richards, Hammond, Gavaskar, Hutton, Ponting, Border, Hobbs, Compton, Headley, Kallis, Border, Miandad, S Waugh, Weeks, Walcott etc etc etc in whatever order is all conjecture IMHO.
 
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cerande

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I could not comment on players who I did not see batting(except the odd video here and there),so I do not know whether Gary Sobers or Viv Richards were better players or not.

But,In this generation I would consider Tendulkar,Lara,Ponting,Kallis and Dravid to be equally great players.
 
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Satan666

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Oh really? We would really like to know how bad he is.
Because I don't get the point which present record are you talking about.

His average over the last two years in test cricket has been around a modest 26. In the last series against Australia he didn't score a hundred, passing 50 only once and that too in the first game.

At present Sachin is ranked 26th on the Test batting rankings, not even in the top 20!
 
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zimrahil

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Viv Richards is best batsman I have ever *seen* play the game :yes
 

SaiSrini

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Hard to compare players across generations, because people have different tastes and different criteria based on which they rate players. I have never watched Bradman or a Sobers or a Richards (Sobers and Richards, I have watched some small highlights, but of Bradman, ABSOLUTELY NONE).

To me, Tendulkar is the best batsman ever I've ever seen play the game. And that's why I became his die hard fanatic, and he has maintained that quality for too long to be considered an all time legend. To me, even in his current bad times, he has displayed glimpses of his greatness that still keeps the hope alive in me that he has one last hurrah. For me, next (from this generation) would be a tie between Brian Lara and Ricky Ponting. Being a left hander myself, I have a softer corner for Lara but I will leave it at a tie. At number three would be Rahul Dravid, for the sheer brilliance he displayed batting long hours for India and saving us from trouble many a time. And then the rest....
 
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Satan666

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Dravid did win many games for India by himself, this is why he stands above Tendulkar, Gavaskar is probably the greatest Indian batsman of all time and arguably better than Richards!
 

blueblood

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His average over the last two years in test cricket has been around a modest 26. In the last series against Australia he didn't score a hundred, passing 50 only once and that too in the first game.

At present Sachin is ranked 26th on the Test batting rankings, not even in the top 20!
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That is absolutely true. But then we now have to agree, his time is up.
But talking about the best batsman after bradman, please, I have never ever seen bradman play, and no, I'm not a big Tendulkar fan, but yes, he is the best player I have ever seen playing.

Infact we should never derive our results, until we have ever seen them play.
 

sifter132

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I've got no idea...could be Jack Hobbs for all I know. VERY difficult to judge players that I haven't seen.

From my time of watching, I think Tendulkar and Lara were the best - boring I know... Certainly the most talented and by that measure they both arguably underperformed at international level (yes - that's a BOLD statement). What I mean is I saw Steve Waugh basically match them run for run in the 90s with less class about his batting. But Tendulkar and Lara were most feared by the opposition, their wickets were highly valued (perhaps because for a while they were CLEARLY the only good batsmen in their team). Lara in particular was imperious once he got going, while Tendulkar always looked pretty assured. I'm a Lara fan, but it's a coin toss really.

Will echo Shravi though...Ricky Ponting from about 2001 (after blip vs Harbhajan) until about the 06/07 Ashes was an absolute juggernaut. It was a shock when he would get out - that's how easy runs came to him over those few years. It just seemed so easy - oh for those days again...

I'll refer ya'll to this cricinfo article that addresses the precise question...Ponting has the highest run tally and best average over a 52 Test span of any player bar Bradman The List: Who is closest to Don Bradman, George Lohmann and Joel Garner? | Regulars | Cricinfo Magazine | ESPN Cricinfo
 
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Satan666

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That is absolutely true. But then we now have to agree, his time is up.
But talking about the best batsman after bradman, please, I have never ever seen bradman play, and no, I'm not a big Tendulkar fan, but yes, he is the best player I have ever seen playing.

Infact we should never derive our results, until we have ever seen them play.

He is way past his best used by date!
 

Aalay

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Well for me it's Sachin Tendulkar. As some other people mentioned, I have only seen the likes of Brian Lara, Sachin Tendulkar and Ponting so I can just talk about those players. At their peak, they all were really really good but we have to remember that Ponting played in a team where there were other greats with him such as Steve Waugh and Mark Taylor and others. Lara and Sachin did not have that luxury. By the time Lara came to International level, most of their greats were either retired or at the end of their career. Sachin had absolutely no one and he was pretty much carrying the whole team until Gangully and Dravid became a permanent member of the team. As we all know that how much expectations Indians have when Sachin comes out to bat. I don't think Ponting or Lara ever played with that much of expectations on their shoulder. They had much less pressure and could play more freely than what Sachin did.
 
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Satan666

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I started watching cricket during the 1996 world cup when Tendulkar & Lara were the two best batsmen. I certainly give Tendulkar the edge as the best batsman of my lifetime over the price of port of spain for his better consistency against the best pace attacks of that period - Wasim/Waqar, McGrath/Gillespie, Donald/Pollock, especially away from home.

B

Do you have stats to back this up, please post.

If you add in Warne and Murali, regarded by many as the best spinners to ever grace the game Lara averages over 50 against them, Sachin I believe averages 40 odd or thereabouts, both having made 14 centuries against them. Had read this a long while ago somewhere will look for some stats to back it up.

Lets look at the double centuries scored by both batsmen:
 

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