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Gavaskar-best test match batsmen of them all?


Gavaskar-best test match batsmen of them all?  

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    • Best test batsman of all time
    • 2nd best test batsman to Bradman
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    • top 10 test batsmen of all time


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No great batsman performed so well against great pace bowling as Sunil Gavaskar in the history of test cricket.Imagine without a helmet he played the great West Indian foursome, Imran Khan and Bob Willis.Above all he broke all the test batting records of his era.To me analyzing only test cricket Gavaskar could be 2nd to Bradman and maybe the best of all test match batsmen.Remember the Don never faced genuine pace bowling.Gavaskar never wore a helmet and had to face a continuous barrage of bouncers.In the end his best innings came against spin bowling on a treacherous track at Bangalore against Pakistan -arguably the best innings ever on bad wicket in test cricket.I feel Gavaskar would have outscored both Sachin and Lara or Ponting in the modern era and he faced far greater pressure than Viv Richards. I wonder how may agree with the analysis by Kersi Meheromji from 'The roar' blog.He may well be right,analysing only tset cricket.Where did Hobbs,Hutton,or even Bradman face the bolwing Gavaskar did?Sachin and Lara had the benefit of protective gear.They did not combat the same calibre of pace bowling as Gavaskar.To me Gavaskar could even be the best of all test match batsmen,let alone 2nd to the Don.On today's flat tarcks Sunny may well have averaged around 56 and scored over 50 centuries. David Lord’s post on Don Bradman being daylight ahead of Sachin Tendulkar on Monday created a stir. Same was the case with my posts on Tendulkar’s greatness in The Roar in February and December 2010. Both Don and Sachin remain magnificent batsmen, legendary and wonderful to watch. Roarers have argued both ways, many correctly pointing out that greats from different eras should never be compared. I am an unashamed hero-worshipper of both these master bats. Not only them, but also of Jack Hobbs, Wally Hammond, Everton Weekes, Neil Harvey, Graeme Pollock, Garry Sobers, Vivian Richards, Brian Lara and Ricky Ponting. To me, a cricket tragic with many years of cricket under the belt, the greatest opening batsman of all time remains India’s gritty Sunil Gavaskar. “What?!!â€, I hear you roar. But I have worn a steel helmet and am ready for tomatoes from you, Roarers. Forget statistics, although Gavaskar has a healthy average of 51.12 from 125 Tests, which is far from Bradmanesque but impressive all the same. You perhaps would not have travelled miles to see him bat, as you would to watch fireworks from Bradman, Keith Miller, Sobers, Richards, Lara, Hayden or Tendulkar. Nor was Gavaskar as elegant as Hammond, Harvey, Frank Worrell, Pollock or Mark Waugh. So why do I place him so high? Firstly, the 5’5†Indian opener played for a weak team in 1970s and 80s which collapsed at the drop of a hat. Short in stature but huge in achievements, ‘Sunny’ Gavaskar to me is up there with the best. Just have a look at the attack he faced: Jeff Thomson and Dennis Lillee from Australia; Mike Holding, Andy Roberts, Malcolm Marshall and Joel Garner from the West Indies; Imran Khan and Wasim Akram from Pakistan and John Snow from England. Awesome! And to open the innings against these express head-hunters without a helmet for 95 per cent of his career and with a primitive skull cap at the tail-end of his playing days! No batsman in the history of the game has faced such an attack. Bradman had to encounter the bodyline menace from Harold Larwood and Bill Voce in 1932-33 and his batting average dropped to 56.57. True, Hammond had to face the chin music of Ray Lindwall and Miller, Harvey had to stand up to fiery Fred Trueman, Frank ‘Typhoon’ Tyson, Wes Hall, Roy Gilchrist and Charlie “Chucker†Griffith. Allan Border had to subdue the Windies and **** menace of 1980s, but he did not have to take strike against ‘Lilian Thomson’. Also, none of the above batsmen was an opener. Coming to this millennium, the attack faced by Lara, Tendulkar and Ponting appears tame in comparison. Apart, perhaps, from Dale Steyn, Brett Lee and Shoaib Akhtar, no bowler can be described as life-threatening. Certainly not in this helmeted era. Tyson, Thommo, Roberts, Holding, Marshall, and Lillee all put the fear of God into a batsman, especially one whose head, torso and limbs were not protected. Mention the name Gavaskar to an Australian and he will remember the Melbourne Test “walk out†of February 1981. I agree it was regrettable. But against decades of high achievements, his few indiscretions have to be condoned. Last October, Gavaskar became the first non-Australian Bradman Honouree, ahead of Sobers, Richards, Botham, Imran, Boycott, Hadlee, Gower, Hall, Akram … A well-deserved honour for an under-rated performer. And look at Gavaskar’s stats: he was the first cricketer to reach 10,000 runs and hit 30 Test centuries in Test annals, playing many match-saving innings. The 21 year-old started his career with a bang in the Caribbean, scoring 774 runs at 154.80 in four Tests. He played some majestic innings in England, Australia, West Indies and Pakistan, as well as at home. Dazzler he was not. Nor spectacular. But if I wanted someone to play for my life, I would choose Sunny Gavaskar over anyone else. In reply to David Lord’s recurrent theme of “after Bradman daylightâ€, may I wisecrack, “after Don Sunnyâ€? Kersi is an author of 13 cricket books including The Waugh Twins, Cricket's Great All-rounders,Six Appeal and Nervous Nineties. He writes regularly for Inside Cricket and other publications. He has recently finished his new book on Cricket's Conflicts and Controversies, with a foreword by Greg Chappell.

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http://historyofcricket.blogspot.co.uk/2007/11/myth-of-sunil-gavaskar-and-west-indies.html Gavaskar made his debut for India against the West Indies on the 6th of March, 1971 at Port of Spain. He played four tests, and finished the series with an impressive total of 774 runs at the astronomical average of 154.80 with four centuries. During this series, the West Indies were in a state of change. The leading pacemen of the 60s including Hall, Griffith and Gilchrist had all played their final test. The Windies bowling attack was dominated by spin, with Lance Gibbs well on his way to passing Fred Trueman as the leading test wicket-taker. The fast bowlers that Gavaskar faced during this series were Keith Boyce, Grayson Shillingford, Vanburn Holder and Uton Dowe (he of the 11th Commandment – Dowe shall not bowl). The other medium paced bowlers used included Gary Sobers and John Shepard. With all due respect to the bowlers of the time, it was hardly an attack to cause significant concerns to a player of Gavaskar’s obvious skill. Gavaskar only played two tests of the 1974/75 home series against the West Indies. He struggled, scoring 108 runs at an average of just 27. The quick bowlers he faced in this series included a young Andy Roberts, and the medium paced Holder, Boyce and left armer Bernard Julien. Gavaskar’s next series against the West Indies was again away from home in 1975/76. Gavaskar again batted beautifully, scoring 390 runs at 55.71, with another two centuries. By this time, the Windies fast bowling battery was just starting to take form. The first two Tests saw Gavaskar opening the batting against genuine quicks Michael Holding and Andy Roberts. In support was swing bowler Julien, and spinners Holford and Jumadeen. After disappointing initially with 37 and 1 in the First Test, Gavaskar did score a wonderful 156 in the second. The Third and Fourth Tests saw no Andy Roberts, with Michael Holding in his second series as a Windies player supported by Wayne Daniel, Holder, Julien, Jumadeen, Albert Padmore and Imtiaz Ali. There was not yet any sign of the four pronged pace attack that would soon dominate the cricket world. The West Indies then toured India in 1978/79. This tour was in the middle of the Packer years, and the West Indies bowling attack was decimated. Rather than facing Holding, Roberts, Garner and Croft, Gavaskar opened the batting in the First Test against the legendary Norbert Phillip, his old nemesis Vanburn Holder, and Sylvester Clarke. The Windies attack again had reverted to spin, with Derek Parry and Jumadeen both playing. Gavaskar again gorged himself, scoring 732 runs at 91.50, with another 4 centuries. A very young Malcolm Marshall made his debut during this very high scoring six test series that India won 1-0, with five draws. Gavaskar’s second last series against the Windies was away in 1982/83. He scored 240 runs at an average of 30, with one century. Against the full might of the Windies four quicks (Holding, Roberts, Garner and Marshall), he scored 20 and 0 in the First Test, 1 and 32 in the Second, a very good 147 not out in the Third (which was badly affected by weather and India didn’t even finish their first innings), 2 and 19 in the Fourth, and 18 and 1 in the Fifth. This was the first time Gavaskar had played against all of the Windies quicks, and he clearly struggled. In 1983/84, Gavaskar played the Windies for the last time. This series was at home, and the bowling attack was weakened by the absence of Garner. In the first test, the Windies fielding four quicks, but whilst Holding and Marshall were genuinely fast, neither Eldine Baptiste or Winston Davis really threatened. Gavaskar started poorly with 0 and 7 in the First Test, before finding some form with 121 and 15 in the Second, and 90 and 1 in the Third. 12, 3, 0 and 20 were his scores in the next two tests, before Gavaskar played one of his great knocks. In the final test, he dropped himself down the order to no. 4, with Gaekwad and Sidhu opening. The fact that Malcolm Marshall took two wickets without a run being scored meant that Gavaskar may as well have opened anyway. Gavaskar proceeded to totally dominate the Windies attack and scored a wonderful 236 not out. This was a fantastic innings, and underlined why Gavaskar is a great. There is a wonderful account of this innings at http://tcwj.blogspot.com/2007/10/29.html that is highly recommended reading. Unfortunately, his previous failures in the series were effectively covered up by this large unbeaten double century. When you examine the record of Gavaskar against the West Indies, it is clear that only the final three centuries were actually scored against an attack that resembled the fearsome Windies pace barrage that we remember. A large percentage of his runs were accumulated in two series against very much weakened bowling attacks. As a consequence of factors outside of his control, Gavaskar didn’t play against the Windies full strength team between 1975/76 and 1982/83. This analysis is not to decry Gavaskar – he is a legend of the game and deserves ultimate respect for what he has achieved. He could, after all, not control who he played against. A very strong argument can be made that Gavaskar should be considered of the best few opening batsmen in the history of the game. However, the claims made by some supporters that he is the greatest opener of all-time based solely on his record against the Windies is one that simply does not hold up to closer scrutiny.
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