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Countdown for Kohli's 50th Century !!!


velu

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On 11/20/2017 at 2:26 AM, Gollum said:

There is only 1 GOAT in ODI cricket, Sir Isaac Vivian Alexander Richards. All these pretenders are fighting for the no 2 spot.

seems about right. although there have been some close ones - peak Tendu as opener, Bevan and peak Dhoni, ABDV, etc. Although I'd agree all of them compete for No.2

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7 hours ago, Vijy said:

seems about right. although there have been some close ones - peak Tendu as opener, Bevan and peak Dhoni, ABDV, etc. Although I'd agree all of them compete for No.2

The problem with the pretenders is that they were/are never the complete package. Even peak Tendu was somewhat an FTB and I rate peak Lara above him in the 90s, only after the turn of the millennium did SRT zoom ahead of Lara....Lara the ODI player of the 90s is so damn under rated, he was the number one ODI batsman from 1993-97 and a top 5 batsman in every single year of that decade !!!! Bevan was too one dimensional, he excelled in the small/medium chases and had a high average but could never really demolish attacks on a consistent basis, bar his 190+ against Asia I never saw him take the attack to the opposition. Peak Dhoni too had his stats skewed because of his not outs and moreover I don't remember him doing much in SA, Aus, Eng, NZ etc. Apart from the WC 2011 F, Dhoni has a very mediocre record in the big stage. ABDV is a choker in spite of his WC record, also a coward.....how he hid himself in the CT 2013 SF against England, no ATG batsman has exhibited that level of cowardice AFAIK. 

 

Viv was the complete package: he could set totals, chase targets, massacre bowling attacks and deliver on the big stage. Moreover he was so much ahead of his peers in ODI cricket then, 47 average at 91 SR playing in the 70s and 80s..... I can't think of any player bar Bradman who distinguished himself so convincingly from the rest of the field. My only regret is that he retired before I was born, I have only seen him on videos and have been so impressed, his pinkie has more swag than the entire cricket universe of today, his arrogance is so enchantingly addictive !!!!

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13 hours ago, Gollum said:

The problem with the pretenders is that they were/are never the complete package. Even peak Tendu was somewhat an FTB and I rate peak Lara above him in the 90s, only after the turn of the millennium did SRT zoom ahead of Lara....Lara the ODI player of the 90s is so damn under rated, he was the number one ODI batsman from 1993-97 and a top 5 batsman in every single year of that decade !!!! Bevan was too one dimensional, he excelled in the small/medium chases and had a high average but could never really demolish attacks on a consistent basis, bar his 190+ against Asia I never saw him take the attack to the opposition. Peak Dhoni too had his stats skewed because of his not outs and moreover I don't remember him doing much in SA, Aus, Eng, NZ etc. Apart from the WC 2011 F, Dhoni has a very mediocre record in the big stage. ABDV is a choker in spite of his WC record, also a coward.....how he hid himself in the CT 2013 SF against England, no ATG batsman has exhibited that level of cowardice AFAIK. 

 

Viv was the complete package: he could set totals, chase targets, massacre bowling attacks and deliver on the big stage. Moreover he was so much ahead of his peers in ODI cricket then, 47 average at 91 SR playing in the 70s and 80s..... I can't think of any player bar Bradman who distinguished himself so convincingly from the rest of the field. My only regret is that he retired before I was born, I have only seen him on videos and have been so impressed, his pinkie has more swag than the entire cricket universe of today, his arrogance is so enchantingly addictive !!!!

although I agree with most of your points, the fact is that ODIs were very nascent when Viv was playing. Statistically, Bradman was too far ahead of his peers, even Viv in ODIs cannnot be compared with Bradman. After all, Abbas and Amiss also avg 47 with a SR of around 75. Even in WI, Greenidge had an avg of 45 and Dean Jones who came a bit later (another fantastic ODI bat of his time) also had an avg 45. The point I'm trying to make here is that it's very easy to hype up people from the past that we have not seen. Although Viv's record is outstanding and he's the No.1 in my book, his record is not a genuine anomaly like Bradman.

 

I am not sure if Lara at his peak was better than SRT at his peak in ODIs, although it's a close call. Personally, I attach a great deal of weight to performance in multi-national tournaments (esp. WCs), even against the weaker teams because there's always increased expectations, and I think this is where SRT shades the other... although in the finals, he was a choker (like our own Ratman).

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