Tribute to Gundappa Vishwanath on 73rd birthday-Most stylish Asian batsmen of all?

[Harsh Thakor]

Arguably no Indian or Asian batsman ever surpassed the natural talent,inventiveness or wizardry of Gundappa Vishwanath.He took batting artistry to unexplored realms .Vishy looked like a lotus blossoming when batting with his strokes resembling the touches of a painters brush. The flow and variations of his strokes reminded me of the changes in tone of a musical symphony...No Indian batsman ever better bissected a gap as Vishy.,with his square cut resembling an art piece preserved in a museum.In pure game Vishy had all the a tributes of a perfect batsman posessing the inattentiveness of a poet,with the organization of an architect and skill of a surgeon.


Above all he almost always came to the rescue in a crisis,to ressurect India.In my view at his best he tackled genuine pace better than any Indian batsmen ever and on bad wickets better than Gavaskar or Tendulkar.In matches won he averaged 6 runs more than Gavaskar and India never lost a match when Vishy scored a century.However he fell out on temperament and lacked the application of a Gavaskar,Tendulkar and Dravid.


His wondrous touch against the most hostile pace of West Indies on a fiery pitch Madras in 1974-75 and 1978-79 ,in record match-winning run chase at Trinidad in 1975-76,on a wearing pitch at Melbourne in 1981.82,is permanently embedded in my memories.They all resurrected India from a precarious position to win .I also in golden letters inscribe his 107 at Delhi against England in 1981-82 ,his 79 and 83 on a wet pitch at Dunedin in 1975-76 ,his fifties on bouncy Australain pitches in 1977-78.and his 75 out of 190 in a world cup game at Edgbaston in 1979.The manner he flayed Andy Roberts all over the place at Madras in 1975 or negotiated the moving ball at Dunedin of Richard Hadlee in 1976 ,took cricketing skill to zones rarely transcended.


Gavaskar was much more consistent but it was Vishwanath who turned or won more games.Andy Roberts and Dennis Lille rate Vishy a better player on fast wickets than Gavaskar.Significant that Gavaskar rates Vishwanath as the best batsman he saw in his day.In the 1970's arguably Vishy was the closest to Viv Richards,Gavaskar and Greg Chappell,the 3 bets batsman of that era.



Krishnamachari Shrikant recalls how Vishy posessed a unique stroke of a flick,pull and hook rolled into one which looked surreal.
To me for sheer style amongst Indian batsmen only perhaps Azharuddin and VVS Laxman were comparable.Statistically both overshadowed Vishy,but still did not to me equal his pure genius.In many was VVS clone of Vishy,with Dravid too having shades of the little master.Amongst Asian batsmen only Zaheer Abbas may have been more stylish.


We missed seeing Vishy at his best against the West Indies pace quartet or Imran at his best.I would have loved to see Vishwanath perform against the top pace attacks of World Series Kerry Packer cricket and earlier against Lillee-Thomson at their quickest.


He finished his test career scoring 6080 runs at an average of 41.83 with 14 centuries including a double hundred against England.However figures hardly did justice to his talent.wit which he should have averaged around 50.



Overall amongst Indian batsmen he would rank just below Tendulkar,Gavaskar,Kohli ,and Dravid in my book.He would be in strong contention with Laxman and Sehwag for the 5th spot.At his best he could have joined even Viv Richards.


Overall in test cricket I would rank Vishy the equal of the legendary Zaheer Abbas.Vishy would just scrape into the dozen best Asian batsmen of all time,in my view.Overall I wiuld rank him a touch below David Gower,Ted Dexter,Martin Crowe and Colin Cowdrey.


Above all I would remember Vishy for his great sportsmanship in the 1980 Jubilees test at Mumbai,when he recalled English wicketkeeper Bob Taylor,who was adjudged caught behind.

Edited February 12, 2022 by Harsh Thakor

[Majestic]

He was amazing player. Definitely better than the likes of Pujara, Vengsarkar and Azharuddin among Indian bats.

[nevada]

Scored century on debut after getting out for a duck in the first innings. Has a unique record of having never scored a test century in a losing cause. He scored 14 of those and India either won or drew the game whenever he scored one. 

[mancalledsting]

Yuvraj had the most stylish sixes (but not ground strokes)

Sachin would have been arguably the most stylish had he not carried that ugly heavy bat