The Unpopular Cricket Opinions Thread

[diga]

1 hour ago, maniac said:

Here is my only unpopular opinion about Sachin...I think he gave away all his childhood and adult life to cricket that he is burnt out..I don’t think he has the passion or love for cricket in general any more.

 

In a way can’t blame him...good for him to live his life but sad to see him become almost a recluse when it comes to cricket these days.

Don't you think he is waiting for his son's elevation to ranji team?

[jalebi_bhai]

24 minutes ago, King Tendulkar said:

Now that is controversial lol

Honestly speaking, he didn't get a fair chance to make a comeback in T20Is imo. Could've definitely been an asset in the format.

 

Here's another controversial statement, I rate Axar Patel as a LOI cricketer. Has the potential to become a good bowling allrounder but batting must improve. The raw attributes are there. 

[Laaloo]

Dhoni sucks 

[King Tendulkar]

8 minutes ago, jalebi_bhai said:

Honestly speaking, he didn't get a fair chance to make a comeback in T20Is imo. Could've definitely been an asset in the format.

 

Here's another controversial statement, I rate Axar Patel as a LOI cricketer. Has the potential to become a good bowling allrounder but batting must improve. The raw attributes are there. 

I agree in Axar Patel . He has potential. You never know in 2 years could have massive spurt and ....

[maniac]

28 minutes ago, diga said:

Don't you think he is waiting for his son's elevation to ranji team?

It may just be my perception but doesn’t look like he is very hands-on with Arjun’s career...employing resources and spending money is different from actually being hands-on with his development....I just get the feeling he has been burnt out on cricket.

[Jimmy Cliff]

2 minutes ago, Gollum said:

Agree on the Laxman, Vishy part...... Laxman I saw with my own eyes, Vishy my father and uncles have told me stories.

I am genuinely surprised by the Jimmy Adams and Sanga opinions. 

 

Some of Adams' best performances.

 

http://www.espncricinfo.com/series/16489/scorecard/63574/west-indies-vs-south-africa-only-test-south-africa-tour-of-west-indies-1991-92/

 

His very first Test. Scored 79 in the 2nd innings under pressure and picked up 4/43 in the 1st.

 

http://www.espncricinfo.com/series/16325/scorecard/63661/india-vs-west-indies-2nd-test-west-indies-tour-of-india-1994-95/

 

Match-saving performance against India which kept WI alive in the series.

 

http://www.espncricinfo.com/series/16325/scorecard/63662/india-vs-west-indies-3rd-test-west-indies-tour-of-india-1994-95/

 

Followed by a match-winning/series saving knock(s) in the decider. If not for Adams, India would've been the first team to win a series against WI in 14 years. One of best performances in India by a visiting batsmen. Deserved MOTS.

 

http://www.espncricinfo.com/series/16311/scorecard/63676/new-zealand-vs-west-indies-2nd-test-west-indies-tour-of-new-zealand-1994-95/

 

The last time WI won a series against a non-minnow side overseas. Adams top-scoring with 151.

 

http://www.espncricinfo.com/series/16290/scorecard/63682/west-indies-vs-australia-3rd-test-australia-tour-of-west-indies-1994-95/

 

On a raging greentop (this is the game with the infamous Ambrose-Waugh confrontation), Adams top scores for WI with 42 out of a total of 136 as they keep the series alive.

 

http://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/player/51100.html?class=1;series=370;template=results;type=allround;view=innings

 

Picks up MOTS award for a 5/17 in a winning cause in the first Test followed by a double hundred in the 2nd Test against NZ. 

 

http://www.espncricinfo.com/series/16142/scorecard/63731/australia-vs-west-indies-3rd-test-west-indies-tour-of-australia-1996-97/

 

Top scores with 74 against AUS in a low scoring game at MCG as WI fight back to keep the series alive at 2-1.

 

http://www.espncricinfo.com/series/15847/scorecard/63838/west-indies-vs-australia-2nd-test-australia-tour-of-west-indies-1998-99/

 

http://www.espncricinfo.com/series/15847/scorecard/63839/west-indies-vs-australia-3rd-test-australia-tour-of-west-indies-1998-99/

 

Plays the sidekick to Lara in two match-winning partnerships in consecutive Tests in 1999 against AUS.

 

http://www.espncricinfo.com/series/15689/scorecard/63882/west-indies-vs-pakistan-3rd-test-pakistan-tour-of-west-indies-2000/

 

With Lara missing, Adams scores 60 and 48* against PAK in a series-decider as WI win by just 1 wkt.

 

The guy was clutch as hell.

 

 

[Cricketics]

2 hours ago, King Tendulkar said:

Bhaji was a great cricketer . Also was a very nice guy but played with passion on the pitch . Atg for India 

People forget what a chanpion he has been after seeing some of his recent poor performance. Typical Indian mentality actually where a top player is forgotten and slated for his recent poor performances.

Same is the case for Sachin. Bevause he might have draggef his ODI career a bit people forget how good he was in 90s.  

[Lannister]

With Kumble's absence, we are going to struggle big time in overseas tours. His team selections were spot on. 

[Trichromatic]

Team of 2011-12 was weakest in test history.

 

No batsman in top 10 rankings, no bowlers in top 10 ranking. 

 

http://www.relianceiccrankings.com/datespecific/test/?stattype=batting&day=30&month=06&year=2012

 

SRT at 11

Sehwag at 21

Gambhir at 32

Dhoni at 39

Kohli at 42

 

http://www.relianceiccrankings.com/datespecific/test/?stattype=bowling&day=30&month=06&year=2012

Zak at 11

Ojha at 20

Sharma at 28

 

I

[Trichromatic]

Kohli is not the best batsman to handle pressure in ODI cricket

 

Avg of 36 while chasing in world cups wthout any half century

Avg of 22 in finals without any half century

Choked big time in Aane do series

CT 17, he couldn't even last one ball even after being dropped.

 

 

[Trichromatic]

Despite being considered universally as all condition batsman, SRT rarely scored scored on most difficult pitches.

[NameGoesHere]

Excellent thread.

 

Mine, for starters.

 

After Sunny Gavaskar, Mohinder Amarnath is the finest Test batsman India has produced. 

 

 

[Trichromatic]

SRT was actually as good as if not better captain than many other successful Indian captains.

 

Won home series convincingly at home against Aus, SA and NZ. 

 

Away performances - that series should have been saved, but anyway score line was 1-0 in 5 match series. That series had Ganguly, Kuruvilla, and Prasad as our pacers. Still India rarely got dominated in that series. Aus was only team to win in WI at that time. His only disaster was loss to SA at home. He was vocal about team selection and performances. He wasn't passive like many people believe and he was good enough to achieve same results as what other captains are getting with better teams.

[Trichromatic]

Ganguly played too many tests. It's hard to believe that India didnt have better alternative than him in test cricket. He won't find a place in current team. 

[Trichromatic]

Dhoni was worst captain when it comes to trying things out.

 

Team rarely bowled short balls spells in 2011 series despite having Sharma in the side. Didn't try to change batting order or do anything when nothing was working.

[Trichromatic]

Kohli as captain has done nothing good for the team. This is the best team India ever had and any captain could get same results which he is getting.

[Trichromatic]

More than Waqar, it was Wasim whose figures have taken a dip if he was playing now.

Waqar actually bowled more wicket taking deliveries, and Wasim used to just beat batsmen with ball outside off stump. Wasim had highest percentage of tail ender wickets with reverse swing/poor quality of tail. Waqar would have been more successul because of his accuracy and stump to stump bowling.

[Chalks]

VVS Laxman was India's best batsman against the ATG Australian team, but overall he was sort of like our Mark Waugh - a lackadaisical bugger who didn't do his considerable abilities justice.

[Jimmy Cliff]

29 minutes ago, Chalks said:

VVS Laxman was India's best batsman against the ATG Australian team, but overall he was sort of like our Mark Waugh - a lackadaisical bugger who didn't do his considerable abilities justice.

His numbers are hurt by his time as an opener where he was poor.

 

 

If we remove his numbers as an opener, he averages 49+ against top 7 sides which is really good for someone who batted at 5/6 for most of his career.

 

[Gollum]

41. Kohli is a choker and a very poor chaser in ODIs when it counts. Also never steps up on difficult tracks in tests. He is the GOAT chaser in T20 and has mastered the T20 game but in ODIs/tests he is over rated. 

 

42. Steve Smith is a damn fine ODI batsman with probably the greatest modern era (post 2007 WC) feat in WC history in 2015 QF/SF/F.

 

43. Australian cricket has benefited the max out of biased umpiring, even more than Pak. In the home umpire era, they had the most biased set of home umpires, even in the neutral umpire era they got disproportionate % of decisions in their favor. They should have lost more home series' by now. Even their super run in 1995-2008 was on the back of umpire support. 

 

44. Viru and Ashwin are our greatest match winners in Asia+WI. Viru might not be an unpopular choice here but Ash certainly is. Getting 7 test MOS in a 3 year period is unprecedented, he is already more valuable in half the world for us than what SRT, Sunny, Dravid, VVS, Kapil etc were during their playing days. Only Kumble from the bygone era had this ability but because of weak team back then, his feats didn't result in as many wins as now. Also the fact that Ashwin being an offie has a clean action deserves credit.

 

45. Srinath was a gem of a bowler. I rate him as our greatest quick even above Kapil. Zak is nowhere near these 2 guns and I don't get the hype around his record which is mediocre.

 

46. There is a strong bias in Indian cricket in favor of Mumbai lobby and Delhi-Punjab cricketers. Karnataka has at least as great a cricket legacy as Mumbai yet always underplayed and discriminated against. 

 

47. Pakistan has historically been a better team than us. Their stats are skewed because of home umpiring and ball tampering but even if you take into account those factors they have been a better team than us for a majority of the time. But eventually we will get even because our future looks brighter atm.

 

48. Our 2003 WC campaign was qualitatively better than 2011. No Indian team could have stopped that Aussie team in the finals, esp with Mcgrath in the picture. 

 

49. Pollock is as good an AR as the golden quartet of the 80s. But unfortunately Saffers never get the hype. 

 

50. Sachin's repeated mention of Cronje as his most difficult adversary is his refusal to accept his consistent shortcomings against the likes of Donald, Mcgrath, Pollock, Murali and Anderson. Many bowlers have owned SRT but he simply doesn't want to give credit to those bowlers, his fat ego won't allow him to do so. 

Edited December 30, 2017 by Gollum