The Unpopular Cricket Opinions Thread

[Gollum]

@goose Why do say Lara being a better ODI bat than SRT in 90s is counter factual. SRT started blooming only post 1996 and had a slump in 1999. Lara was the top ranked ODI batsman from 1993-97, SRT was the no 1 in 1998 and then Bevan took over from 1999-2003. SRT finished as YE #1 only in 1998 and 2003, Lara was #1 for 5 straight years in the 90s. 

[adi B]

Point - 4,9,11,12,13,15,17 are moronic tbh,rest are debatable and good finds 

[adi B]

Regarding the chepauk test , it wasn't a rank turners and it settled a bit as the game progressed and more so it would have further settled with rain 

[Gollum]

26. Sachin did Indian cricket team a great deal of harm by keeping mum during the fixing sage of the late 90s. He was like Manmohan Singh of Indian cricket back then.

 

27. 1987 WC was a cruel joke, no way was that **** Aussie team deserving of a WC. People give us a lot of flak for winning 1983 but we proved our worth in 1985. That Aus team winning a WC ahead of WI, India, Pak was the nadir of ODI cricket. Lots of choking and some bad umpiring robbed us of an Indo-Pak final in Calcutta. 

Edited December 29, 2017 by Gollum

[SK_IH]

Dravid was best Indian test captain in last 20 years

Ganguly had an ordinary 2003 wc,boosted stats against minnows

Steve Waugh was best batsman of 90s

MS Dhoni is the originator of biggest chewtiyapa in intl cricket called finisher,a player who takes the game deep unnecessarily sometimes & he has inspired lots of other players to do same like Mathews, Faulkner

Ishant Sharma is the worst fast bowler to play 50+ tests

Virat Kohli the batsman,the personality is closest to Sir Viv

Azhar was the most elegant batsman I have seen,match fixing notwithstanding I can watch dozen of his innings on YouTube than any other ind batsman

Veeru Sehwag was not a FTB,he sometimes survived most difficult of conditions in NZ n dambulla,his problem was temperament/patience sometimes overseas especially later part of his career

Sri Lanka had the best cricket brains during the era of Jaya-Sanga,although both are morons but are great strategists

Kevin Pietersen has played more clutch innings than Cook can dream of,Cook is a master accumulator,KP won them the 2012 tour with that amazing innings in Mumbai 

 

 

[The Dark Horse]

Ganguly groomed x...

Dhoni groomed x..

Kohli is the reason for X's success..

These statements are all unfair. These players did get some support by the captain but give due credit to the players themselves, also some contribution to the selectors. While fans contribute the player's success to the captains, there are  also bad examples like Dinesh Mongia, Ishant, DK and numerous test selections like Yuvi, Raina, Pandya  based on ODI performance.

[rkt.india]

yes, Tendulkar averaged 37 till 96 in ODIs. 96 WC was his breakthrough. He blossomed after he started opening in 94.

Edited December 29, 2017 by rkt.india

[Jimmy Cliff]

Lara's decline as an ODI bat has more to do with him moving to the middle order rather than any laziness or attitudinal problems. When he batted in the top 3 his record was second only to Viv. Not an unpopular opinion as such, just responding to one of the points made by @Gollum.

[goose]

2 hours ago, Gollum said:

@goose Why do say Lara being a better ODI bat than SRT in 90s is counter factual. SRT started blooming only post 1996 and had a slump in 1999. Lara was the top ranked ODI batsman from 1993-97, SRT was the no 1 in 1998 and then Bevan took over from 1999-2003. SRT finished as YE #1 only in 1998 and 2003, Lara was #1 for 5 straight years in the 90s. 

i don't go by YE rankings, i go by what recall all 12 months of every year.

[Gollum]

35 minutes ago, Jimmy Cliff said:

Lara's decline as an ODI bat has more to do with him moving to the middle order rather than any laziness or attitudinal problems. When he batted in the top 3 his record was second only to Viv. Not an unpopular opinion as such, just responding to one of the points made by @Gollum.

I have seen highlights of 1992 world cup and Lara had some very good knocks. When I checked the stats he was a clear no 2 behind Crowe in that edition. He opened in that WC, probably should have stayed there for the rest of his career. Why do you think his stats took a hit after moving to the middle order because he was one helluva of a player against spin and a great manipulator of the gaps. I have read articles bemoaning his frequent run ins with WICB and his bad attitude affecting his batting, even Holding and Lloyd criticized him at one point asking him to learn from SRT. 

[Gollum]

28. SRT was somewhat a choker. He was not an outright mental midget as haters over here say, but he definitely underperformed when we needed him most. Most of our great victories like Eden 2001, Adelaide 2003, Durban 2010 etc were scripted by lesser players than him. His choke jobs in WC finals and some crucial tests when we needed someone to step up in the 4th dig will always hurt his reputation. It is true that he carried more expectation in the 90s but with the arrival of Dravid, Ganguly, Viru, Laxman in late 90s/early 00s he was unburdened, yet he continued to fail. His 85 ball 16 against Pak in Bangalore 2005 is one of the weirdest innings I have ever seen.

 

29. Even though I hate Azhar I loved his batting, still watch his innings on YT whenever I am bored. I am with you on this @SK_IH

He was also a very graceful fielder.

 

30. I believe Afridi was an asset in white ball cricket. He was wrongly utilized by Pak management and over pampered by the Pak fans/PCB. But I think he was a genuine matchwinner with both bat and ball. 2009 WT20 wouldn't have been won by them if not for that one man. Also even though he was a mediocre test batsman that 141 in Chepauk was an ATG knock. 

 

31. ABDV is not a choker, just plain unlucky.

 

32. Modern test batsmen are over rated. They are defensively very weak and are useless against the swinging/seaming/spinning ball. 

[goose]

As Dravid himself once said, a professional cricketer mostly fails. Tendulkar has won lots of tests that never get a mention.

Edited December 29, 2017 by goose

[King Tendulkar]

Hah hah any more ways to hammer Sachin lol . 

 

Number 89 Sachin is a $|^}€*}${€~€ .

 

number 90 Sachin was no good to ....

 

[maniac]

3 hours ago, Gollum said:

26. Sachin did Indian cricket team a great deal of harm by keeping mum during the fixing sage of the late 90s. He was like Manmohan Singh of Indian cricket back then.

 

27. 1987 WC was a cruel joke, no way was that **** Aussie team deserving of a WC. People give us a lot of flak for winning 1983 but we proved our worth in 1985. That Aus team winning a WC ahead of WI, India, Pak was the nadir of ODI cricket. Lots of choking and some bad umpiring robbed us of an Indo-Pak final in Calcutta. 

On point 26 well it wasn’t Sachin’s business to talk about it...so apart from Gibbs and Boje I have not heard other cricketers speak up against Cronje either so Pollock,Kallis,Kluesner,Donald etc...so where they wrong too?

 

I am sure Sachin knew something shady was going on but had he said he knew all along he would have been screwed even more...it is better to keep mum and act surprised.

 

 

On point 27 no one said Aus were favorites...in fact England choked in the final. India lost fair and square to England as well.From 1983-1999 it became a trend that only underdogs were winning world cups.

 

 

[maniac]

35 minutes ago, Gollum said:

28. SRT was somewhat a choker. He was not an outright mental midget as haters over here say, but he definitely underperformed when we needed him most. Most of our great victories like Eden 2001, Adelaide 2003, Durban 2010 etc were scripted by lesser players than him. His choke jobs in WC finals and some crucial tests when we needed someone to step up in the 4th dig will always hurt his reputation. It is true that he carried more expectation in the 90s but with the arrival of Dravid, Ganguly, Viru, Laxman in late 90s/early 00s he was unburdened, yet he continued to fail. His 85 ball 16 against Pak in Bangalore 2005 is one of the weirdest innings I have ever seen.

 

29. Even though I hate Azhar I loved his batting, still watch his innings on YT whenever I am bored. I am with you on this @SK_IH

He was also a very graceful fielder.

 

30. I believe Afridi was an asset in white ball cricket. He was wrongly utilized by Pak management and over pampered by the Pak fans/PCB. But I think he was a genuine matchwinner with both bat and ball. 2009 WT20 wouldn't have been won by them if not for that one man. Also even though he was a mediocre test batsman that 141 in Chepauk was an ATG knock. 

 

31. ABDV is not a choker, just plain unlucky.

 

32. Modern test batsmen are over rated. They are defensively very weak and are useless against the swinging/seaming/spinning ball. 

So ABDV who fails in semi finals is unlucky and not a choker but Sachin wins man of the matches in quarters and semis and big games but he is a choker...are these unpopular opinions or Gollum’s biased opinions?

 

Just FYI  Sachin’s Bowling in the  2001 Eden test was a major factor between a tame draw and India winning...even though yes I agree that moment belonged to VVS-Dravid even though Sachin contributed in his own way.

 

Agree on Afridi-decent LOI cricketer overhyped by fans.

Edited December 29, 2017 by maniac

[maniac]

2 hours ago, rkt.india said:

yes, Tendulkar averaged 37 till 96 in ODIs. 96 WC was his breakthrough. He blossomed after he started opening in 94.

Average of 37 in 1996 was still pretty good. Yes he kicked on to the next level after that.

[Gollum]

33. Sadagopan Ramesh was a very good opener, he should have been given a longer run in the test team. He was our best batsman in the 3 matches against Pak in 1999, a great feat considering their bowling attack and pressure due to external factors. Had he played the 2003-04 series against Aus he would have raked in the runs against that weak bowling attack on those pattas. 

 

34. Lara's batting was ugly as hell, no idea how people call that graceful while deride SRT's batting style as boring . His cover drive, square drive and one legged pull were nice to watch but overall it was too much jumping jhapak. 

 

35. Sachin was potentially a good bowler. He could have become an all rounder had he worked a bit more on his bowling. Sometimes when he was on a roll he could bowl peaches that even Warne would have trouble replicating.

 

36. Chappell did the right thing by benching Dada. Dada had become too big for his boots and didn't deserve a spot on merit after 2005. I am glad that he came back well but when he was dropped that was the correct decision. Having attended that SA-India match in Eden you can't imagine how disgraceful the crowd behaviour was that day. 

 

[maniac]

Sehwag started believing his own hype and tried to smash everything and anything in his later career even though early on playing good % cricket and having a solid defense  is what brought him success.

 

Similarly with his commentary early on he was funny and witty and then started believing his own hype and turned into making cringeworthy and embarrassing  statements...He was so over the top and embarrassing that even Shoaib Akthar who makes ridiculous statements like Star baanao,etc on his TV shows was looking like a mature analyst

 

Overall Sehwag comes across a total tool these days.

[maniac]

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.

[maniac]

Sunil Gavaskar is a fantastic Analyst when it comes to analyzing the facets of the game like technique,on field strategy etc.