Sehwag versus GC Smith

[zen]

Sehwag and Smith are top contenders for the opening slot in an AT Test 11 for Ind and SA respectively. Who would be your pick?

 

As openers (excluding BD and Zim, and when not playing as WK - not applicable to these two anyways)

 

• Sehwag, avg 51
• Smith, avg 47 (Since he played mostly in SA/SENA conditions feel free to give him a 10% bonus on his average, which makes the average similar to Sehwag's) 

 

 

For me -> This is too close to call as these two have unique strengths. Sehwag revolutionized opening batting with his high strike rate approach, is a master of playing spin, and has 6 200 or more scores, while Smith is stoic and brings captaincy angle to his selection as well. If I am forced to pick one, I will go with Sehwag for his flair and abilities to create mayhem. 

Edited February 1, 2022 by zen

[Majestic]

Graeme Smith, the leader and the man for big stakes and big things.

 

Sehwag on other hand had no clue where his off-stump was. The way Rohit batted in England last year was a performance Sehwag never produced over a test series in SEN. Sehwag averages 27, 20 and 25 in SEN countries.

Edited February 1, 2022 by Majestic

[sandeep]

I'm curious, do you ever make sandwiches at home?

[Majestic]

Sehwag belongs to the same category in which Ashwin belongs. 

 

We have this knack of tagging them as biggest match winners India have ever produced but that is only because they were ruthless in favourable conditions but completely mediocre in alien conditions.

 

It is a category which is slightly higher than Pujara tier as Pujara was more of a match drawer than a winner due to his low strike rate( good enough vs spin but shambolic vs pace) but this doesn't make them better than all conditions batsman like Gavaskar, Tendulkar, Kohli or Laxman.

Edited February 1, 2022 by Majestic

[zen]

9 minutes ago, Majestic said:

Sehwag belongs to the same category in which Ashwin belongs. 

 

We have this knack of tagging them as biggest match winners India have ever produced but that is only because they were ruthless in favourable conditions but completely mediocre in alien conditions.

 

You are entitled to have an opinion but note that Sehwag actually has 100s in Aus (2), SA, & Eng ... Likes of Ashwin are yet to pick up a 5-er so ... 

 

Anyways continue ... 

[Majestic]

16 minutes ago, zen said:

 

You are entitled to have an opinion but note that Sehwag actually has 100s in Aus (2), SA, & Eng ... Likes of Ashwin are yet to pick up a 5-er so ... 

 

Anyways continue ... 

Individual milestones have no place in cricket for me. Sehwag averages below 30 in three countries, that is extremely poor. This tells that he didnt showed the willingness to grind out and leave balls for hours and hours where there was lateral movement. Also, if I am not wrong, one of his hundred came at 5 or 6 where he played supporting role to Tendulkar.

 

He had very high percentage of failures overseas unlike one of his contemporary cricketers who also had issue vs swing and seam, Hayden but atleast he maintained an average over 30+ in SEN conditions unlike Viru.

 

 

 

 

Edited February 1, 2022 by Majestic

[zen]

18 minutes ago, Majestic said:

Sehwag averages below 30 in three countries, that is extremely poor. This tells that he didnt showed the willingness to grind out and leave balls for hours and hours where there was lateral movement.

 

Note that everyone knows Sehwag is not going to grind. He lives and dies by the sword (which can happen where the balls swings - Eng, NZ & SA)  ...  Overall, for countries like India, Sehwag gave its batting lineup a competitive advantage allowing others to ease in as well ... For e.g., I saw guys like Dravid help themselves to a 100 on many occasions playing with Sehwag because the bowlers lost confidence ... In SL in 2008, his approach allowed him to get a 200 for e.g. against an inform Murali, In Pak, a 300 to bring his team a first test series win in that country, and even in Ind, he deflated SA straightaway with a triple  ... Sehwag (or Gilchrist in that period as well who played down the order) would not being played to "grind", there are always players in a team that can grind 

 

Edited February 1, 2022 by zen

[Majestic]

16 minutes ago, zen said:

 

Note that everyone knows Sehwag is not going to grind. He lives and dies by the sword (which can happen where the balls swings - Eng, NZ & SA)  ...  Overall, for countries like India, Sehwag gave its batting lineup a competitive advantage allowing others to ease in as well ... For e.g., I saw guys like Dravid help themselves to a 100 on many occasions playing with Sehwag because the bowlers lost confidence ... In SL in 2008, his approach allowed him to get a 200 for e.g. against an inform Murali, In Pak, a 300 to bring his team a first test series win in that country, and even in Ind, he deflated SA straightaway with a triple  ... Sehwag (or Gilchrist in that period as well who played down the order) would not being played to "grind", there are always players in a team that can grind 

 

There is no question about Sehwag's greatness in India, Pakistan or Sri Lanka. His problem starts in SEN conditions. He won't have made it to those teams had he opened the batting in those conditions, especially when you consider that he had no clue of where his off stump was. Grinding doesn't mean blocking, in test cricket especially overseas, it is about surviving and showing the willingness to bat and fight for your runs for hours and hours. Sehwag lacked that. It is an important aspect of Test cricket.

 

In contrast, guys like Gavaskar, Dravid, Tendulkar, Kohli, Laxman all have delivered enough memorable and impact performances in all conditions. With Sehwag, he had no impact in SEN conditions.

 

 

[zen]

31 minutes ago, Majestic said:

There is no question about Sehwag's greatness in India, Pakistan or Sri Lanka. His problem starts in SEN conditions. He won't have made it to those teams had he opened the batting in those conditions, especially when you consider that he had no clue of where his off stump was. Grinding doesn't mean blocking, in test cricket especially overseas, it is about surviving and showing the willingness to bat and fight for your runs for hours and hours. Sehwag lacked that. It is an important aspect of Test cricket.

 

In contrast, guys like Gavaskar, Dravid, Tendulkar, Kohli, Laxman all have delivered enough memorable and impact performances in all conditions. With Sehwag, he had no impact in SEN conditions.

 

 

The point is that guys like Sehwag and Gilchrist are not grinding types … Not many team would pick them to grind … A team has players that would do well in x,y, & x conditions, and players who would do well in a, b, and c conditions

 

No issues with Smith, who is also a good opener, being picked by anyone, only commenting because of “reasoning” against one player 

 

Gambhir was similar to Smith in his approach towards cricket but most folks are likely to go with Sehwag … Not many will pick Andy Flower over Gilchrist because Flower grinds. Like Sehwag, Gilchrist is a rare attacking batsman too 

And ppl can write stuff on why Smith would not work (only mostly excelled in Eng, NZ, and of course SA, for e.g, while Sehwag is better in subcon + Aus) but these recent topics (Subcon player versus SENA player thread) are more about being positive on both players while picking one  

 

Edited February 1, 2022 by zen

[ungboysj]

Kya ik jaise raddi thread banaye ja rahe

[Trichromatic]

41 minutes ago, zen said:

The point is that guys like Sehwag and Gilchrist are not grinding types … Not many team would pick them to grind … A team has players that would do well in x,y, & x conditions, and players who would do well in a, b, and c conditions

 

No issues with Smith, who is also a good opener, being picked by anyone, only commenting because of “reasoning” against one player 

 

Gambhir was similar to Smith in his approach towards cricket but most folks are likely to go with Sehwag … Not many will pick Andy Flower over Gilchrist because Flower grinds. Like Sehwag, Gilchrist is a rare attacking batsman too 

And ppl can write stuff on why Smith would not work (only mostly excelled in Eng, NZ, and of course SA, for e.g, while Sehwag is better in subcon + Aus) but these recent topics (Subcon player versus SENA player thread) are more about being positive on both players while picking one  

 

 

Not being grinding type doesn't justify averages of 20 for a top order batsman in era of flat tracks.

 

 

[zen]

32 minutes ago, Trichromatic said:

 

Not being grinding type doesn't justify averages of 20 for a top order batsman in era of flat tracks.

 

 

To me both are great openers, you can't go wrong with either ... It depends upon if you want a rare batsman (Sehwag and Gilchrist are two players from that period to strike at 80+ w/ an avg of 45+ for e.g. -> where you find such players) or a relatively standard (in terms of approach) batsman

 

While Sehwag may have a low average in certain conditions, he was a monster in many conditions including spin friendly and pace/bouncy ones. If we take 50+ averages in subcon & 45+ in SENA (3 or more tests in a country), Sehwag has avg of 55 in Ind, 104 in Pak, 69 in SL, and 47 in Aus

 

 

Edited February 1, 2022 by zen

[Trichromatic]

34 minutes ago, zen said:

 

To me both are great openers, you can't go wrong with either ... It depends upon if you want a rare batsman (Sehwag and Gilchrist are among two players from that period to SR at 80+ for e.g., where can you find such players) or a relatively standard batsman 

 

While Sehwag may have a low average in certain conditions, he was a monster in many conditions including spin friendly and pace/bouncy ones. If we take 50+ averages in subcon &

45+ in SENA, Sehwag has avg of 55 in Ind, 104 in Pak, 69 in SL, and 47 in Aus

 

 

 

 

Indian team was demolishing other teams at home even in 90s. Impact wise it didn't change anything in home games. 

 

Only difference it made was in Pakistan where Indian team was losing earlier and managed to win one series in 2003 and Galle knock in SL. 

 

Smith had done better in these countries.

Eng

NZ

SA

Ban

WI

 

Even in Aus, Smith averaged 65 and 42 in series where he was not facing McGrath, Warne, Lee like in 2005. Not to mention his match winning knock of 108 at Perth while chasing huge score 414. 

 

Except India, Pakistan and SL, everywhere else you could easily pick Smith over Sehwag. 

 

Not to mention great match winning abilty.

1. Averaged 93 in UAE and drawn series for SA against Pak in 2012.

2. Averaged 42 and won series in Aus in 2012

3. Averaged 54 and won series in Eng in 2012.

4. Averaged 48 and drawn series v Pakistan in UAE in 2010

5. Averaged 61 and won series in WI in 2010.

6. Averaged 65 and won series in Aus in 2008.

7. Averaged 61 and won series in Eng in 2008.

8. Averaged 49 and drawn series in India in 2008.

9. Averaged 61 and won series in Pakistan in 2007.

10. Averaged 84 and won series in WI in 2005.

 

Number of series winning/saving performances outside SA

Aus - 2 (won)

Eng - 2 (won)

Pak - 3 (1 won, 2 drawn)

WI - 2 (won)

India - 1 (drawn)

 

Same numbers for Sehwag

SL - 1 (drawn)

WI - 1 (won)

Pak - 1 (won)

Aus - 1 (drawn)

 

[zen]

47 minutes ago, Trichromatic said:

 

But who is saying not to pick Smith, who played for a relatively better SENA focused team? (Pick Atapattu as well if you like a batsman with relatively more consistency across the continents)
 

I am commenting on “reasoning”  ... For Sehwag, difficult to find a match winner with the bat like him in certain conditions. He has the rare ability to take the game away from the opposition with the ba like versus Pak, SA (where he hit that 300 to put SA on back foot in the series), and so on. Even at Melbourne where he scored that 195, Ind looked as if it would do well. Talking about Pak, in the match he where scored a double, Ind could not draw the game once he got out (others folded like pins). His high strike rate batting allowed many to “swim” in India too as the opposition got rattled ... If Sehwag played for some other team and toured countries like India, India could find it difficult to win a series 

 

As I said, while Smith is a good pick too (no objections), I would lean towards players like Sehwag and Gilchrist as they are rare! 

 

 

PS below VS for Ind in Ind, Pak & SL during Sehwag's tenure

Primary team India

Host country India  or Pakistan  or Sri Lanka

Start of match date greater than or equal to 1 Jan 2002  or less than or equal to 1 Jan 2014

Qualifications runs scored greater than or equal to 1000

Ordered by batting average (descending)

Overall figures

Player	Span	Mat	Inns	NO	Runs	HS	Ave	BF	SR	100	50	0	4s	6s
CA Pujara	2010-2013	13	21	4	1279	206*	75.23	2330	54.89	5	3	0	155	2
V Sehwag	2002-2013	62	106	4	5994	319	58.76	7034	85.21	18	21	8	855	71
VVS Laxman	2002-2011	54	86	21	3540	200*	54.46	7326	48.32	8	23	5	403	2
R Dravid	2002-2011	56	95	10	4262	270	50.14	9633	44.24	14	17	4	517	9
MS Dhoni	2005-2013	48	68	9	2687	224	45.54	4417	60.83	6	16	3	274	45
SR Tendulkar	2002-2013	66	106	10	4335	214	45.15	8459	51.24	11	20	1	534	16
SC Ganguly	2002-2008	31	50	4	1969	239	42.80	3686	53.41	5	6	4	236	14
Yuvraj Singh	2003-2012	26	40	4	1510	169	41.94	2472	61.08	3	9	3	203	20
G Gambhir	2004-2012	36	63	2	2526	206	41.40	4854	52.03	5	14	4	311	5
Harbhajan Singh	2002-2013	51	66	8	1103	115	19.01	1767	62.42	2	3	7	122	27

 

^ There is no batsman like VS for India in these conditions 

 

 

PPS below GS for SA in SENA in the same period

 

View overall figures

Primary team South Africa

Host country Australia  or England  or New Zealand  or South Africa

Start of match date between 1 Jan 2002 and 1 Jan 2014

Qualifications runs scored greater than or equal to 1000

Ordered by batting average (descending)

Overall figures

Player	Span	Mat	Inns	NO	Runs	HS	Ave	BF	SR	100	50	0	4s	6s
G Kirsten	2002-2004	20	32	2	1710	160	57.00	3418	50.02	7	7	0	228	5
JH Kallis	2002-2013	83	140	14	7112	224	56.44	13817	51.47	25	31	9	859	54
HM Amla	2004-2013	55	93	7	4343	311*	50.50	8134	53.39	14	22	4	562	6
GC Smith	2002-2013	85	149	12	6604	277	48.20	10669	61.89	19	28	9	867	13
HH Gibbs	2002-2008	43	76	5	3350	228	47.18	5905	56.73	9	13	6	509	29
AB de Villiers	2004-2013	67	110	8	4670	174	45.78	8595	54.33	12	26	3	564	27
AG Prince	2002-2011	47	75	12	2764	162*	43.87	6091	45.37	10	6	6	321	10
AN Petersen	2010-2013	20	35	3	1377	182	43.03	2674	51.49	4	5	1	176	6
SM Pollock	2002-2008	36	53	16	1292	99*	34.91	2028	63.70	0	6	4	151	15
JA Rudolph	2003-2012	38	65	6	1941	154*	32.89	4357	44.54	4	8	6	272	5
ND McKenzie	2002-2009	29	49	4	1462	138	32.48	3570	40.95	1	7	5	194	9
MV Boucher	2002-2012	73	105	12	2808	122*	30.19	5357	52.41	2	17	6	343	8

 

 

^ While there are better batsman in team SA in SENA than GS 

 

 

Edited February 1, 2022 by zen

[Trichromatic]

15 minutes ago, zen said:

But who is saying not to pick Smith? (Pick Attapattu as well if you like)
 

I am commenting on “reasoning” 

 

As for Sehwag, difficult to find a match winner with the bat like him in certain conditions. He has the rare ability to take the game away from the opposition with the ba like versus Pak, SA (where he hit that 300 to put SA on back foot in the series), and so on. Even at Melbourne where he scored that 195, Ind looked as if it would do well. Talking about Pak, in the match he where scored a double, Ind could not draw the game once he got out (others folded like pins). His high strike rate batting allowed many to “swim” in India too as the opposition got rattled. If Sehwag played for  some other team and toured countries like India, India could find it difficult to win a series 

 

As I said, while Smith is a good pick too (no objections), I would lean towards players like Sehwag and Gilchrist as they are rare! 

 

It seems you have ignored the post completely. India was winning everything at home even in 90s. Only difference he made was in 2003 Pak series.

 

Rare ability to take game away? Indian batsmen were doing that before Sehwag also.

 

India had W/L ratio of 3.4 at home in 90s.

 

During Sehwag's career, India had a win loss ratio of 3.1 at home. 

 

Post Sehwag, India had W/L ratio of 15 without rare ability of swimming, ratting opposition and taking game away with some magic.

[zen]

5 minutes ago, Trichromatic said:

 

It seems you have ignored the post completely. India was winning everything at home even in 90s. Only difference he made was in 2003 Pak series.

 

Rare ability to take game away? Indian batsmen were doing that before Sehwag also.

 

India had W/L ratio of 3.4 at home in 90s.

 

During Sehwag's career, India had a win loss ratio of 3.1 at home. 

 

Post Sehwag, India had W/L ratio of 15 without rare ability of swimming, ratting opposition and taking game away with some magic.

 

But SA too was winning in 90s and so on 

 

 

And as I added the info in my last post:

 

PS below VS for Ind in Ind, Pak & SL during Sehwag's tenure

Primary team India

Host country India  or Pakistan  or Sri Lanka

Start of match date greater than or equal to 1 Jan 2002  or less than or equal to 1 Jan 2014

Qualifications runs scored greater than or equal to 1000

Ordered by batting average (descending)

Overall figures

Player	Span	Mat	Inns	NO	Runs	HS	Ave	BF	SR	100	50	0	4s	6s
CA Pujara	2010-2013	13	21	4	1279	206*	75.23	2330	54.89	5	3	0	155	2
V Sehwag	2002-2013	62	106	4	5994	319	58.76	7034	85.21	18	21	8	855	71
VVS Laxman	2002-2011	54	86	21	3540	200*	54.46	7326	48.32	8	23	5	403	2
R Dravid	2002-2011	56	95	10	4262	270	50.14	9633	44.24	14	17	4	517	9
MS Dhoni	2005-2013	48	68	9	2687	224	45.54	4417	60.83	6	16	3	274	45
SR Tendulkar	2002-2013	66	106	10	4335	214	45.15	8459	51.24	11	20	1	534	16
SC Ganguly	2002-2008	31	50	4	1969	239	42.80	3686	53.41	5	6	4	236	14
Yuvraj Singh	2003-2012	26	40	4	1510	169	41.94	2472	61.08	3	9	3	203	20
G Gambhir	2004-2012	36	63	2	2526	206	41.40	4854	52.03	5	14	4	311	5
Harbhajan Singh	2002-2013	51	66	8	1103	115	19.01	1767	62.42	2	3	7	122	27

 

^ There is no batsman like VS for India in these conditions 

 

 

PPS below GS for SA in SENA in the same period

 

View overall figures

Primary team South Africa

Host country Australia  or England  or New Zealand  or South Africa

Start of match date between 1 Jan 2002 and 1 Jan 2014

Qualifications runs scored greater than or equal to 1000

Ordered by batting average (descending)

Overall figures

Player	Span	Mat	Inns	NO	Runs	HS	Ave	BF	SR	100	50	0	4s	6s
G Kirsten	2002-2004	20	32	2	1710	160	57.00	3418	50.02	7	7	0	228	5
JH Kallis	2002-2013	83	140	14	7112	224	56.44	13817	51.47	25	31	9	859	54
HM Amla	2004-2013	55	93	7	4343	311*	50.50	8134	53.39	14	22	4	562	6
GC Smith	2002-2013	85	149	12	6604	277	48.20	10669	61.89	19	28	9	867	13
HH Gibbs	2002-2008	43	76	5	3350	228	47.18	5905	56.73	9	13	6	509	29
AB de Villiers	2004-2013	67	110	8	4670	174	45.78	8595	54.33	12	26	3	564	27
AG Prince	2002-2011	47	75	12	2764	162*	43.87	6091	45.37	10	6	6	321	10
AN Petersen	2010-2013	20	35	3	1377	182	43.03	2674	51.49	4	5	1	176	6
SM Pollock	2002-2008	36	53	16	1292	99*	34.91	2028	63.70	0	6	4	151	15
JA Rudolph	2003-2012	38	65	6	1941	154*	32.89	4357	44.54	4	8	6	272	5
ND McKenzie	2002-2009	29	49	4	1462	138	32.48	3570	40.95	1	7	5	194	9
MV Boucher	2002-2012	73	105	12	2808	122*	30.19	5357	52.41	2	17	6	343	8

 

 

^ While there are better batsman in team SA in SENA than GS 

[Trichromatic]

33 minutes ago, zen said:

 

But SA too was winning in 90s and so on 

 

 

And as I added the info in my last post:

 

PS below VS for Ind in Ind, Pak & SL during Sehwag's tenure

Primary team India

Host country India  or Pakistan  or Sri Lanka

Start of match date greater than or equal to 1 Jan 2002  or less than or equal to 1 Jan 2014

Qualifications runs scored greater than or equal to 1000

Ordered by batting average (descending)

Overall figures

Player	Span	Mat	Inns	NO	Runs	HS	Ave	BF	SR	100	50	0	4s	6s
CA Pujara	2010-2013	13	21	4	1279	206*	75.23	2330	54.89	5	3	0	155	2
V Sehwag	2002-2013	62	106	4	5994	319	58.76	7034	85.21	18	21	8	855	71
VVS Laxman	2002-2011	54	86	21	3540	200*	54.46	7326	48.32	8	23	5	403	2
R Dravid	2002-2011	56	95	10	4262	270	50.14	9633	44.24	14	17	4	517	9
MS Dhoni	2005-2013	48	68	9	2687	224	45.54	4417	60.83	6	16	3	274	45
SR Tendulkar	2002-2013	66	106	10	4335	214	45.15	8459	51.24	11	20	1	534	16
SC Ganguly	2002-2008	31	50	4	1969	239	42.80	3686	53.41	5	6	4	236	14
Yuvraj Singh	2003-2012	26	40	4	1510	169	41.94	2472	61.08	3	9	3	203	20
G Gambhir	2004-2012	36	63	2	2526	206	41.40	4854	52.03	5	14	4	311	5
Harbhajan Singh	2002-2013	51	66	8	1103	115	19.01	1767	62.42	2	3	7	122	27

 

^ There is no batsman like VS for India in these conditions 

 

 

PPS below GS for SA in SENA in the same period

 

View overall figures

Primary team South Africa

Host country Australia  or England  or New Zealand  or South Africa

Start of match date between 1 Jan 2002 and 1 Jan 2014

Qualifications runs scored greater than or equal to 1000

Ordered by batting average (descending)

Overall figures

Player	Span	Mat	Inns	NO	Runs	HS	Ave	BF	SR	100	50	0	4s	6s
G Kirsten	2002-2004	20	32	2	1710	160	57.00	3418	50.02	7	7	0	228	5
JH Kallis	2002-2013	83	140	14	7112	224	56.44	13817	51.47	25	31	9	859	54
HM Amla	2004-2013	55	93	7	4343	311*	50.50	8134	53.39	14	22	4	562	6
GC Smith	2002-2013	85	149	12	6604	277	48.20	10669	61.89	19	28	9	867	13
HH Gibbs	2002-2008	43	76	5	3350	228	47.18	5905	56.73	9	13	6	509	29
AB de Villiers	2004-2013	67	110	8	4670	174	45.78	8595	54.33	12	26	3	564	27
AG Prince	2002-2011	47	75	12	2764	162*	43.87	6091	45.37	10	6	6	321	10
AN Petersen	2010-2013	20	35	3	1377	182	43.03	2674	51.49	4	5	1	176	6
SM Pollock	2002-2008	36	53	16	1292	99*	34.91	2028	63.70	0	6	4	151	15
JA Rudolph	2003-2012	38	65	6	1941	154*	32.89	4357	44.54	4	8	6	272	5
ND McKenzie	2002-2009	29	49	4	1462	138	32.48	3570	40.95	1	7	5	194	9
MV Boucher	2002-2012	73	105	12	2808	122*	30.19	5357	52.41	2	17	6	343	8

 

 

^ While there are better batsman in team SA in SENA than GS 

 

Talking about Sehwag only.

You had mentioned that he had rare match winning ability and then you went ahead with some adjectives to describe that.

In terms of the actual result, what was the difference? What was so rare about those wins. 

 

To help you understand, let me post it again.

 

India had W/L ratio of 3.4 at home in 90s.

During Sehwag's career, India had a win loss ratio of 3.1 at home. 

Post Sehwag, India had W/L ratio of 15 without rare ability of swimming, ratting opposition and taking game away with some magic.

 

Can you explain me was so different in terms of winning games at home? 

 

I agree that Pakistan series was special and so was Galle knock. So, question remains about the home games. 

 

If anything India is showing rare dominance at home post Sehwag's career and that is due to Ashwin whom you consistently diss.

[Trichromatic]

44 minutes ago, zen said:

 

But SA too was winning in 90s and so on 

 

 

And as I added the info in my last post:

 

PS below VS for Ind in Ind, Pak & SL during Sehwag's tenure

Primary team India

Host country India  or Pakistan  or Sri Lanka

Start of match date greater than or equal to 1 Jan 2002  or less than or equal to 1 Jan 2014

Qualifications runs scored greater than or equal to 1000

Ordered by batting average (descending)

Overall figures

Player	Span	Mat	Inns	NO	Runs	HS	Ave	BF	SR	100	50	0	4s	6s
CA Pujara	2010-2013	13	21	4	1279	206*	75.23	2330	54.89	5	3	0	155	2
V Sehwag	2002-2013	62	106	4	5994	319	58.76	7034	85.21	18	21	8	855	71
VVS Laxman	2002-2011	54	86	21	3540	200*	54.46	7326	48.32	8	23	5	403	2
R Dravid	2002-2011	56	95	10	4262	270	50.14	9633	44.24	14	17	4	517	9
MS Dhoni	2005-2013	48	68	9	2687	224	45.54	4417	60.83	6	16	3	274	45
SR Tendulkar	2002-2013	66	106	10	4335	214	45.15	8459	51.24	11	20	1	534	16
SC Ganguly	2002-2008	31	50	4	1969	239	42.80	3686	53.41	5	6	4	236	14
Yuvraj Singh	2003-2012	26	40	4	1510	169	41.94	2472	61.08	3	9	3	203	20
G Gambhir	2004-2012	36	63	2	2526	206	41.40	4854	52.03	5	14	4	311	5
Harbhajan Singh	2002-2013	51	66	8	1103	115	19.01	1767	62.42	2	3	7	122	27

 

^ There is no batsman like VS for India in these conditions 

 

 

PPS below GS for SA in SENA in the same period

 

View overall figures

Primary team South Africa

Host country Australia  or England  or New Zealand  or South Africa

Start of match date between 1 Jan 2002 and 1 Jan 2014

Qualifications runs scored greater than or equal to 1000

Ordered by batting average (descending)

Overall figures

Player	Span	Mat	Inns	NO	Runs	HS	Ave	BF	SR	100	50	0	4s	6s
G Kirsten	2002-2004	20	32	2	1710	160	57.00	3418	50.02	7	7	0	228	5
JH Kallis	2002-2013	83	140	14	7112	224	56.44	13817	51.47	25	31	9	859	54
HM Amla	2004-2013	55	93	7	4343	311*	50.50	8134	53.39	14	22	4	562	6
GC Smith	2002-2013	85	149	12	6604	277	48.20	10669	61.89	19	28	9	867	13
HH Gibbs	2002-2008	43	76	5	3350	228	47.18	5905	56.73	9	13	6	509	29
AB de Villiers	2004-2013	67	110	8	4670	174	45.78	8595	54.33	12	26	3	564	27
AG Prince	2002-2011	47	75	12	2764	162*	43.87	6091	45.37	10	6	6	321	10
AN Petersen	2010-2013	20	35	3	1377	182	43.03	2674	51.49	4	5	1	176	6
SM Pollock	2002-2008	36	53	16	1292	99*	34.91	2028	63.70	0	6	4	151	15
JA Rudolph	2003-2012	38	65	6	1941	154*	32.89	4357	44.54	4	8	6	272	5
ND McKenzie	2002-2009	29	49	4	1462	138	32.48	3570	40.95	1	7	5	194	9
MV Boucher	2002-2012	73	105	12	2808	122*	30.19	5357	52.41	2	17	6	343	8

 

 

^ While there are better batsman in team SA in SENA than GS 

 

Where did I mention that Smith had rare match winning ability. He was a match winner and consistently performed in away games winning matches and series for SA even in Asia.

[sandeep]

4 hours ago, Majestic said:

especially when you consider that he had no clue of where his off stump was.

This is..........nonsense.

 

Sehwag had a very good defensive technique, left very well, and defended well when he wanted to.  But his batting method simply didn't bank excessively on defense and put emphasis on scoring.  It didn't always work, but to claim that he had "no idea where his offstump was", thats bullshit.  This is not a guy who was getting bowled or legbefore frequently.  

[sandeep]

1 hour ago, Trichromatic said:

Rare ability to take game away? Indian batsmen were doing that before Sehwag also.

 

 

Nobody scored at the rate that Sehwag did.  Not just Indian batsmen, no other opener comes close.  He's underrated for this aspect of his game, because some folks are too busy fixating on his flaws.  He had some of course.  As do most batsmen.  But those should not, and do not take away, or diminish the value that he brought to the team, and to the game.