Steve Smith reclaims No.1 Test ranking from Virat Kohli

[putrevus]

For a guy who made his debut as a bowler this guy is just amazing.Of all the players we seen/heard/read he is the the closest to Bradman in tests.

26 100s in 99 innings is just amazing, he is making test batting look very easy.

[Nikola]

He becomes bradman against Eng & India i guess.

[putrevus]

Kohli is so far ahead in odis it is not even a comparision.

[bahubali]

5 minutes ago, putrevus said:

Kohli is so far ahead in odis it is not even a comparision.

What far ahead kohli is just biletral  king. Compare their AVG in WC thats the only meaningful event in odi. Kohli is good only for biletral where most of the team play their b sides and there is no pressure.This generation ll be remember for Smith generation not for choker kohli.

Edited September 5, 2019 by bahubali

[putrevus]

2 minutes ago, bahubali said:

What far ahead kohli is just biletral  king. Compare their AVG in WC thats the only meaningful event in odi. Kohli is good only for biletral where most of the team play their b sides and there is no pressure.This generation ll be remember for Smith generation not for choker kohli.

Yes right what are tests, get real, Kohli is far better overall batsmen than Smith.It is not even close.

[Nikhil_cric]

In terms of tests, I'd put him above Sachin and Lara in terms of impact. Forget Kohli lol. Bats and bats and bats forever. Great hand eye, skilful, physically and mentally tough. Privilege to watch him bat. 

[express bowling]

47 minutes ago, Nikhil_cric said:

In terms of tests, I'd put him above Sachin and Lara in terms of impact. Forget Kohli lol. Bats and bats and bats forever. Great hand eye, skilful, physically and mentally tough. Privilege to watch him bat. 

 

In tests, I would put Smith above everyone ever.

 

Bradman played in an amateur era with one other good team ... and amateur eras are marked by lots of below average players with a handful of naturally talented players doing way better than the rest.

[Nikola]

1 minute ago, express bowling said:

 

In tests, I would put Smith above everyone ever.

 

Bradman played in an amateur era with one other good team ... and amateur eras are marked by lots of below average players with a handful of naturally talented players doing way better than the rest.

Simple question. Why didn't everyone avg like bradman then? why other greats were around 50 - 55 avg and he was double? 

[kubrickian]

When he walks across the stumps, he looks like a big lbw candidate and most bowlers think they have a chance if he misses the ball but the fact is he never misses. He can walk across the stumps all day and flick the ball to leg side and score. When his reflexes slow down as he ages, he might have a problem. But right now he is king.

[Insidious]

Smith gives an aura invincibility. In my entire 20-22 years of watching cricket, I have never seen a batsman as good as him. There is no shame for Kohli to be only second to this batsman.

[express bowling]

On 9/4/2019 at 11:42 AM, Stan AF said:

Let;s just count 2018 alone. Where kohli played 12 tests (3 in SA, 5 in england and 4 in Australia). It's not like he really set the series on fire with his knocks. SA series wasn't really much to write about except for the 1 hundred. 

 

No.  

 

Apart from the 153 in the 2nd test, Kohli scored 54  and  41 in the 3rd test, on a very tough pitch, which we won.

 

And he was the highest scorer from either side in a very low scoring series where batting was not easy.

 

 

On 9/4/2019 at 11:42 AM, Stan AF said:

Pujara outscored him in Australia.

 

Yes. but Kohli did score 123 on a tough Perth pitch and another 82 in Melbourne. It wasn't a flop tour.

 

On 9/4/2019 at 11:42 AM, Stan AF said:

Even most of the runs he scored in england came after dropped chances.

 

Early drops happened only in his innings of 149 in the first test.  Being dropped on 91 and then scoring 103, as happened in the 3rd test, is not much of an impactful happening. Moreover, dropped catches are part and parcel of the game.

 

Kohli was the highest scorer from either side in a long series in England too. Includes innings of 149,  103, 97,  58,  51, 49, 46.   Definitely creditable considering that batting conditions were rather tough in the first 4 tests.

 

On 9/4/2019 at 11:42 AM, Stan AF said:

Compare that to Smith's performances in england when he was MOTM in 2 wins in 2015 and another one now in 2019.

 

Smith is a much better test batsman than Kohli. Nothing much to discuss here.  But that does not make Kohli an average test batsman. He is the 2nd best test batsman now, albeit quite some distance below Smith. 

[express bowling]

16 minutes ago, Nikola said:

Simple question. Why didn't everyone avg like bradman then? why other greats were around 50 - 55 avg and he was double? 

 

Because Bradman was much better than other batsmen of his era.

 

If a Steve Smith or a Sachin Tendulkar were born in that era, they might have averaged way more.

Edited September 5, 2019 by express bowling

[Nikola]

5 minutes ago, express bowling said:

 

Because Bradman was much better than other batsmen of his era.

 

If a Steve Smith or a Sachin Tendulkar were born in that era, they might have averaged way more.

He could only play in his era. Who knows in this era he would have worked more hard and ofcourse there is more protection to batsman, covered pitches, better bats.

[Norman]

The guy is a modern day batting genius. 

 

I'd give 100 "Rats" for one Smith. 

[express bowling]

6 minutes ago, Nikola said:

He could only play in his era. Who knows in this era he would have worked more hard and ofcourse there is more protection to batsman, covered pitches, better bats.

 

Debates will rage on and we will never know.

 

But amateur eras in all sports are marked by the naturally gifted players performing way better than the average player. And the super naturally gifted ones have amazing numbers.

 

Professional eras are marked by high quality average players as a result of high quality training methods and coaching. And the performance or statistical gap between the gifted and average guy becomes much narrower. The players with natural flair are often reined in partially by analysis and strategies of coaches which are implemented by professional players.

 

 

[Texy]

Smith= 1 man army

[putrevus]

1 hour ago, express bowling said:

 

Because Bradman was much better than other batsmen of his era.

 

If a Steve Smith or a Sachin Tendulkar were born in that era, they might have averaged way more.

Sachin would never avg as Don Bradman in any era.

[express bowling]

13 minutes ago, putrevus said:

Sachin would never avg as Don Bradman in any era.

 

Sachin would have averaged much higher in that era.

[bahubali]

3 hours ago, putrevus said:

Yes right what are tests, get real, Kohli is far better overall batsmen than Smith.It is not even close.

That's the biggest nonsense. Kohli is not fit to tie smith's driver shoes. This era is Smith's era. Kohli ll be remembered by fan girls like you for his cycle agarbatti performances.

[bahubali]

18 minutes ago, putrevus said:

Sachin would never avg as Don Bradman in any era.

Nope your friend kohli ll do....we have seen his cycle agarbatti performances against mighty junior dala and senior dala during sa odi series and against Bolland and polland during AUs odi series.