zen Posted August 21 Author Posted August 21 (edited) Going with Kohli on this occasion. Reasons: a) Intensity b) Superb peak in relatively bowing friendly era c) Performances in Aus and SA - countries where I like to watch test cricket d) Relatively better fielder and fitness level e) More memorable performances (maybe due to recency bias) Dravid, better luck next time! … He batted with a relatively stronger batting unit in batting friendly era. We have seen his subpar performances in tough conditions like in SL where only Viru mostly shone. PS Kohli also gets my vote for being considered among the 4-5 best test batsmen of his time with S Smith, Joe Root, and KW. While Dravid was relatively known for being part of the Indian famous five. During his period, the world also had Lara, S Waugh, Sangakkara, Kallis, etc. Dravid remained in the shadow of other great batsmen of his time relatively speaking. Edited August 21 by zen
Austin 3:!6 Posted August 21 Posted August 21 14 hours ago, New guy said: Put a poll Poll added Lets vote for King New guy 1
zen Posted August 22 Author Posted August 22 (edited) On 8/21/2026 at 2:47 PM, Austin 3:!6 said: Poll added Lets vote for King Voted for the King Appears as if in tests, Dravid is overrated while Kohli is underrated, so let’s go with the underrated one (in LOIs, the situation would be opposite. Since Kohli is phenomenal in LOIs, it would be a no brainer contest relatively)! Edited August 22 by zen Austin 3:!6 1
vvvslaxman Posted August 22 Posted August 22 Kohli has the Root advantage. Played a lot of test matches on good batting tracks when he was at his peak. 49 tests in 4 years. If you look at either side of his peak he is not that good. He averages like 37 outside the 4 year consecutive period. Played 15 years. 11 years were average to below average. Never had a second peak. KOhli is a quintessential FTB with no real backfoot game. Few good innings at his peak. But overall failed to adapt as the form waned. No.4 is the best spot for good players. No.3 is the toughest batting spot as you always act like an opener. Twin acts like Dravid , Partnership extracting like Dravid are some of his salient features. Twin centuries at eden gardens against pakistan in winning cause Twin fifties on an extremely dodgy track in Windies in winning cause Double century and Fifty at adelaide oval in winning cause. Hamilton test chasing where India was 211/7 chasing 366. He made 190 to bail India out and also took lead. Followed up with another 100 in the 2nd innings. Napier test twin fifties in drawn cause.. Kohli was a flair player with a lot of technical holes. sage and cricspirit 2
vvvslaxman Posted August 22 Posted August 22 Kohli is not even as good as Pujara in some aspect let aloen Dravid. KV244, cricspirit and Manucrick 3
adi B Posted August 24 Posted August 24 Compare then When they had the same amount of tests . I bet Dravid Averaged 54+ after 120 odd games . Same for Sachin as well ,avgd above 56
deathmonger Posted August 24 Posted August 24 dravid. but kohli would have retired with a higher average if he got to play halwa pak bowling attacks. Manucrick 1
cricspirit Posted August 24 Posted August 24 39 minutes ago, adi B said: Compare then When they had the same amount of tests . I bet Dravid Averaged 54+ after 120 odd games . Same for Sachin as well ,avgd above 56 Correct. He was averaging around 56-57 and had a dip in form during 2007-2008 that got his average down. However he had a good recovery and the last four years (2009-2012) his average was 52.5 with 10 hundreds. Dravid just gave up suddenly after the poor Australian tour of 2012. No one was calling for his retirement as he has batting very well for the 3 years before that. He felt he lost the ability to focus and be motivated. Minus that Australia tour his 2009-2011, 3 year average was 56.5. There was no long constant decline like Virat. Even during the final phase of his career, Dravid played many important innings. vvvslaxman, express bowling, diga and 1 other 4
vvvslaxman Posted August 24 Posted August 24 1 minute ago, cricspirit said: Correct. He was averaging around 56-57 and had a dip in form during 2007-2008 that got his average down. However he had a good recovery and the last four years (2009-2012) his average was 52.5 with 10 hundreds. Dravid just gave up suddenly after the poor Australian tour of 2012. No one was calling for his retirement as he has batting very well for the 3 years before that. He felt he lost the ability to focus and be motivated. Minus that Australia tour his 2009-2011, 3 year average was 56.5. There was no long constant decline like Virat. Even during the final phase of his career, Dravid played many important innings. Dravid had to bat at varied positions. no.6 openerno.3 . No.4 is a spot he could never get. Look at Gill. Moment he moved to no.4 he is piling up runs. cricspirit and diga 2
diga Posted August 24 Posted August 24 1 hour ago, cricspirit said: . There was no long constant decline like Virat. Even during the final phase of his career, Dravid played many important innings. Topped the run chart in England too as an opener cricspirit, express bowling and Lord 3
figo6762 Posted August 25 Posted August 25 Some ppl are saying Dravid batted in batting friendly era .. let’s see what Kohli does with Murali, Herath , Warne , Mcgrath, Fleming , Gillespie , Donald , Akram , waqar , Gul , aqib , Saqlain , Musataq , Walsh , Ambrose , Bishop , Pollock , McMillan , Caddick , Gough Lord and cricspirit 1 1
zen Posted August 25 Author Posted August 25 (edited) 2 hours ago, figo6762 said: Some ppl are saying Dravid batted in batting friendly era .. let’s see what Kohli does with Murali, Herath , Warne , Mcgrath, Fleming , Gillespie , Donald , Akram , waqar , Gul , aqib , Saqlain , Musataq , Walsh , Ambrose , Bishop , Pollock , McMillan , Caddick , Gough Those bowlers in some combination have been played by many including Lara, S Waugh, Ponting, etc. And many in team India have played them too including Sehwag, Tendulkar, Laxman, Ganguly, etc., widely known as the strongest Indian batting line up. If only David did well against these bowlers, your point could be understandable but the fact is that Lara had big series, S Waugh shone in Eng, Pak, SA, WI, etc., Sehwag hit big 100s including against mystery spinners in SL where others by and large failed, VVS had a magical period, and so on. ... Dravid and Kohli have played a few tests together! Edited August 25 by zen
zen Posted August 25 Author Posted August 25 (edited) If we take a 20 year period and divide it in two halves a) 2003-2012 and b) 2013 to 2022, in major countries overseas, we can see the below: Opposition team Australia or England or India or New Zealand or Pakistan or South Africa or Sri Lankaor West Indies Home or away away (home of opposition) Start of match date between 1 jan 2003 and 1 Jan 2013 Qualifications runs scored greater than or equal to 2000 Ordered by batting average (descending) Overall figures Player Span Mat Inns NO Runs HS Ave BF SR 100 50 0 4s 6s HM Amla (SA) 2004-2012 29 53 6 2694 311* 57.31 5124 52.57 9 9 2 318 5 AB de Villiers (SA) 2005-2012 35 61 8 2944 217* 55.54 5698 51.66 7 14 1 333 16 JH Kallis (ICC/SA) 2003-2012 44 80 12 3776 182* 55.52 8090 46.67 14 14 3 420 26 AN Cook (ENG) 2006-2012 35 65 6 3208 235* 54.37 6959 46.09 11 14 3 349 6 GC Smith (ICC/SA) 2003-2012 48 91 6 4519 277 53.16 8107 55.74 14 18 5 544 13 CH Gayle (WI) 2003-2010 31 57 2 2801 333 50.92 3926 71.34 7 12 2 388 46 S Chanderpaul (WI) 2003-2012 37 67 10 2850 136* 50 6388 44.61 7 16 4 330 11 SR Tendulkar (IND) 2003-2012 40 72 6 3286 241* 49.78 6024 54.54 8 15 3 426 14 Younis Khan (PAK) 2003-2012 28 53 4 2401 267 49 4553 52.73 5 11 7 295 2 R Dravid (ICC/IND) 2003-2012 48 91 12 3759 270 47.58 8870 42.37 9 17 2 463 6 V Sehwag (ICC/IND) 2003-2012 38 69 1 3226 309 47.44 3895 82.82 8 10 9 470 30 Opposition team Australia or England or India or New Zealand or Pakistan or South Africa or Sri Lanka or West Indies Home or away away (home of opposition) Start of match date between 1 jan 2013 and 1 Jan 2023 Qualifications runs scored greater than or equal to 2000 Ordered by batting average (descending) Overall figures Player Span Mat Inns NO Runs HS Ave BF SR 100 50 0 4s 6s SPD Smith (AUS) 2013-2022 38 69 7 3867 215 62.37 7175 53.89 14 16 2 430 27 JE Root (ENG) 2013-2022 55 104 4 4527 228 45.27 8412 53.81 11 24 6 460 15 V Kohli (IND) 2013-2022 47 86 2 3780 200 45 7071 53.45 13 15 6 442 8 AM Rahane (IND) 2013-2022 48 87 8 3125 147 39.55 6358 49.15 8 16 7 351 16 CA Pujara (IND) 2013-2022 46 85 3 3039 193 37.06 7721 39.36 8 14 7 349 4 JM Bairstow (ENG) 2013-2022 33 62 5 2070 150* 36.31 3800 54.47 6 5 7 222 23 BA Stokes (ENG) 2013-2022 45 86 3 2956 258 35.61 5093 58.04 5 13 4 350 56 Azhar Ali (PAK) 2013-2022 35 68 3 2163 205* 33.27 5530 39.11 6 7 4 237 4 DA Warner (AUS) 2013-2022 39 75 1 2332 145 31.51 3363 69.34 3 18 7 298 25 Basically shows how overrated Dravid is and how underrated Kohli is. Edited August 25 by zen
Nileshkohli Posted August 27 Posted August 27 11 year period From 01 jan 1996 to 31 dec 2006 View overall figures [change view] Opposition team Australia http://i.imgci.com/espncricinfo/guruRemove.gif or England http://i.imgci.com/espncricinfo/guruRemove.gif or India http://i.imgci.com/espncricinfo/guruRemove.gif or New Zealand http://i.imgci.com/espncricinfo/guruRemove.gif or Pakistan http://i.imgci.com/espncricinfo/guruRemove.gif or Sri Lanka http://i.imgci.com/espncricinfo/guruRemove.gif or West Indies http://i.imgci.com/espncricinfo/guruRemove.gif Home or away away (home of opposition) http://i.imgci.com/espncricinfo/guruRemove.gif Start of match date between 1 jan 1996 and 31 dec 2006 http://i.imgci.com/espncricinfo/guruRemove.gif Ordered by runs scored (descending) Page 1 of 10 Showing 1 - 50 of 474 http://i.imgci.com/espncricinfo/ciPhotoFirst-icon_13x13.gifFirst http://i.imgci.com/espncricinfo/ciPhotoPrev-disable-icon_13x13.gifPrevious Next http://i.imgci.com/espncricinfo/ciPhotoNext-icon_13x13.gif Last http://i.imgci.com/espncricinfo/ciPhotoLast-icon_13x13.gif http://i.imgci.com/espncricinfo/dblBakArwB.gifReturn to query menu http://i.imgci.com/espncricinfo/dblBakArwW.gifCleared query menu Overall figures Player Span Mat Inns NO Runshttp://i.imgci.com/espncricinfo/blackArrowDown.gif HS Ave BF SR 100 50 0 4s 6s R Dravid (ICC/IND) 1996-2006 44 74 11 4205 270 66.74 9733 43.2 12 20 4 521 5 http://i.imgci.com/espncricinfo/guruInvestigate.gif JH Kallis (ICC/SA) 1997-2006 44 79 11 3255 150* 47.86 8106 40.15 8 17 5 358 17 http://i.imgci.com/espncricinfo/guruInvestigate.gif SR Tendulkar (IND) 1996-2006 37 57 5 3172 241* 61 5742 55.24 11 14 6 417 11 http://i.imgci.com/espncricinfo/guruInvestigate.gif G Kirsten (SA) 1996-2004 39 70 6 3119 210 48.73 7411 42.08 12 13 6 376 7 http://i.imgci.com/espncricinfo/guruInvestigate.gif BC Lara (ICC/WI) 1996-2006 37 70 0 3028 226 43.25 5160 58.68 9 9 7 389 21 http://i.imgci.com/espncricinfo/guruInvestigate.gif HH Gibbs (SA) 1996-2006 37 67 2 2752 211* 42.33 6179 44.53 4 14 4 392 17 http://i.imgci.com/espncricinfo/guruInvestigate.gif RT Ponting (AUS) 1996-2005 36 62 6 2664 206 47.57 4762 55.94 9 9 4 297 25 http://i.imgci.com/espncricinfo/guruInvestigate.gif JL Langer (AUS) 1998-2005 36 66 6 2656 166 44.26 4934 53.83 8 13 4 306 24 http://i.imgci.com/espncricinfo/guruInvestigate.gif Inzamam-ul-Haq (ICC/PAK) 1996-2006 34 58 5 2654 184 50.07 4755 55.81 8 15 3 358 6 http://i.imgci.com/espncricinfo/guruInvestigate.gif SP Fleming (NZ) 1996-2004 32 61 8 2489 274* 46.96 5835 42.65 5 15 6 294 6 http://i.imgci.com/espncricinfo/guruInvestigate.gif SC Ganguly (IND) 1996-2006 35 55 4 2361 147 46.29 4666 50.6 6 11 2 306 13 http://i.imgci.com/espncricinfo/guruInvestigate.gif Mohammad Yousuf (PAK) 1999-2006 30 52 3 2341 203 47.77 4667 50.16 8 8 4 300 15 http://i.imgci.com/espncricinfo/guruInvestigate.gif SR Waugh (AUS) 1996-2003 33 52 8 2309 199 52.47 4847 47.63 10 4 4 260 9 http://i.imgci.com/espncricinfo/guruInvestigate.gif ML Hayden (AUS) 2000-2005 28 53 5 2204 203 45.91 3790 58.15 6 6 2 274 25 http://i.imgci.com/espncricinfo/guruInvestigate.gif N Hussain (ENG) 1997-2004 37 69 7 2143 109 34.56 5544 38.65 3 18 3 229 12 http://i.imgci.com/espncricinfo/guruInvestigate.gif VVS Laxman (IND) 1997-2006 33 55 6 2142 178 43.71 4389 48.8 5 11 5 288 0 http://i.imgci.com/espncricinfo/guruInvestigate.gif GC Smith (ICC/SA) 2003-2006 22 42 2 2122 277 53.05 3763 56.39 6 7 3 263 6 http://i.imgci.com/espncricinfo/guruInvestigate.gif GP Thorpe (ENG) 1997-2004 27 49 11 2041 200* 53.71 4806 42.46 7 8 1 205 6 http://i.imgci.com/espncricinfo/guruInvestigate.gif Younis Khan (PAK) 2000-2006 24 42 4 2015 267 53.02 3567 56.49 6 7 5 247 11 http://i.imgci.com/espncricinfo/guruInvestigate.gif S Chanderpaul (WI) 1996-2006 31 57 5 1987 140 38.21 4423 44.92 2 13 2 223 4 http://i.imgci.com/espncricinfo/guruInvestigate.gif V Sehwag (ICC/IND) 2002-2006 21 35 0 1913 309 54.65 2361 81.02 5 5 4 279 19 http://i.imgci.com/espncricinfo/guruInvestigate.gif ST Jayasuriya (SL) 1996-2006 27 51 3 1883 253 39.22 2919 64.5 4 8 3 250 17 http://i.imgci.com/espncricinfo/guruInvestigate.gif NJ Astle (NZ) 1996-2004 29 53 3 1877 156* 37.54 3900 48.12 5 9 4 236 12 http://i.imgci.com/espncricinfo/guruInvestigate.gif AC Gilchrist (AUS) 2000-2005 30 46 6 1833 162 45.82 2232 82.12 7 7 4 227 40 http://i.imgci.com/espncricinfo/guruInvestigate.gif DR Martyn (AUS) 2000-2005 23 39 4 1813 165 51.8 3366 53.86 7 7 1 238 4 http://i.imgci.com/espncricinfo/guruInvestigate.gif A Flower (ZIM) 1996-2002 24 45 8 1778 232* 48.05 4053 43.86 4 11 3 203 11 http://i.imgci.com/espncricinfo/guruInvestigate.gif ME Waugh (AUS) 1996-2001 31 54 7 1766 153* 37.57 3602 49.02 4 9 6 194 13 http://i.imgci.com/espncricinfo/guruInvestigate.gif SM Pollock (SA) 1997-2006 44 69 21 1716 106* 35.75 3556 48.25 1 8 3 176 15 http://i.imgci.com/espncricinfo/guruInvestigate.gif DJ Cullinan (SA) 1996-2001 24 40 6 1708 275* 50.23 3598 47.47 6 6 4 192 10 http://i.imgci.com/espncricinfo/guruInvestigate.gif ME Trescothick (ENG) 2000-2005 27 54 2 1699 193 32.67 3399 49.98 2 9 6 231 11 http://i.imgci.com/espncricinfo/guruInvestigate.gif MS Atapattu (SL) 1997-2005 25 47 5 1610 185 38.33 3751 42.92 5 6 4 208 0 http://i.imgci.com/espncricinfo/guruInvestigate.gif MA Butcher (ENG) 1998-2004 28 54 4 1564 124 31.28 3835 40.78 2 10 8 178 1 http://i.imgci.com/espncricinfo/guruInvestigate.gif DPMD Jayawardene (SL) 1998-2006 25 46 2 1546 141 35.13 3137 49.28 3 9 6 199 4 http://i.imgci.com/espncricinfo/guruInvestigate.gif KC Sangakkara (SL) 2002-2006 20 37 4 1535 230 46.51 2977 51.56 4 7 1 198 6 http://i.imgci.com/espncricinfo/guruInvestigate.gif AJ Stewart (ENG) 1997-2003 24 45 6 1509 173 38.69 3302 45.69 2 11 5 182 1 http://i.imgci.com/espncricinfo/guruInvestigate.gif MV Boucher (ICC/SA) 1997-2006 44 68 6 1471 85 23.72 3035 48.46 0 10 9 183 3 http://i.imgci.com/espncricinfo/guruInvestigate.gif MP Vaughan (ENG) 2001-2005 20 39 2 1452 183 39.24 2854 50.87 5 3 4 183 15 http://i.imgci.com/espncricinfo/guruInvestigate.gif MJ Slater (AUS) 1996-2001 24 44 1 1416 143 32.93 2832 50 3 5 4 166 16 http://i.imgci.com/espncricinfo/guruInvestigate.gif Habibul Bashar (BAN) 2001-2005 17 34 1 1234 113 37.39 1868 66.05 2 9 0 146 1 http://i.imgci.com/espncricinfo/guruInvestigate.gif RR Sarwan (WI) 2000-2006 22 43 3 1231 139 30.77 2773 44.39 1 9 4 155 2 http://i.imgci.com/espncricinfo/guruInvestigate.gif A Flintoff (ENG/ICC) 2001-2006 24 43 2 1209 137 29.48 2051 58.94 2 8 7 161 25 http://i.imgci.com/espncricinfo/guruInvestigate.gif MH Richardson (NZ) 2001-2004 15 28 1 1189 145 44.03 3269 36.37 2 8 1 148 3 http://i.imgci.com/espncricinfo/guruInvestigate.gif Saeed Anwar (PAK) 1996-2001 14 25 1 1179 188* 49.12 2028 58.13 4 6 2 155 5 http://i.imgci.com/espncricinfo/guruInvestigate.gif SL Campbell (WI) 1996-2001 20 39 1 1169 170 30.76 2942 39.73 2 9 5 145 3 http://i.imgci.com/espncricinfo/guruInvestigate.gif GW Flower (ZIM) 1996-2003 25 50 2 1151 110 23.97 3213 35.82 2 5 8 132 5 http://i.imgci.com/espncricinfo/guruInvestigate.gif CH Gayle (WI) 2000-2006 19 34 0 1132 105 33.29 1878 60.27 1 8 5 169 11 http://i.imgci.com/espncricinfo/guruInvestigate.gif CD McMillan (NZ) 1997-2004 23 41 4 1115 142 30.13 2148 51.9 3 5 4 103 20 http://i.imgci.com/espncricinfo/guruInvestigate.gif MA Atherton (ENG) 1997-2001 19 35 2 1104 125 33.45 3190 34.6 2 5 4 102 0 http://i.imgci.com/espncricinfo/guruInvestigate.gif MA Taylor (AUS) 1996-1998 13 23 2 1083 334* 51.57 2324 46.6 3 3 1 124 2 http://i.imgci.com/espncricinfo/guruInvestigate.gif DS Lehmann (AUS) 1998-2004 13 22 1 1039 160 49.47 1727 60.16 3 6 1 123 7 http://i.imgci.com/espncricinfo/guruInvestigate.gif
Nileshkohli Posted August 27 Posted August 27 From 01 jan 1996 to 31 dec 2006 Team- Ind, pak sl, aus, eng , nz . SA, wi away from home dravid- 51 match-4633 run , avg 60.96 dravid had most run, most century & haif century & best average in away from home during that 11 year period. . But some poster filter out Dravid first 7 year away career to show him overrated sage, Lord, diga and 1 other 3 1
cricspirit Posted September 3 Posted September 3 On 8/26/2026 at 10:28 PM, Nileshkohli said: From 01 jan 1996 to 31 dec 2006 Team- Ind, pak sl, aus, eng , nz . SA, wi away from home dravid- 51 match-4633 run , avg 60.96 dravid had most run, most century & haif century & best average in away from home during that 11 year period. . But some poster filter out Dravid first 7 year away career to show him overrated Three more important things- 1. Dravid probably leads most partnership tables. He was very good in batting with everyone else. Viru, Laxman, Sachin, Ganguly etc. Entire team could bat around him. Lot of famous partnerships. 2. Cathes he took. Dravid was extremely reliable slip catcher and inner ring fielder. 3. Bat time, Bat balls in test. I think he faced the most number of balls in test match cricket. Dint check stats.. but should be close. Kohli drops way more important catches than he takes. For all his 6 packs, I would rather take Dravid over him in fielding. diga 1
diga Posted September 3 Posted September 3 Nice read on Virat -dravid https://7hanand.substack.com/p/as-india-lifts-the-t20-world-cup "In October 2022 in a world cup game against Pakistan, when Kohli hit two sixes at the MCG to snatch an impossible victory from the jaws of defeat, we saw Rahul Dravid grind his teeth and throw his arms in the air. Kohli, on the other hand, won the game, closed his eyes and looked up in gratitude. The transition was complete. The man had learnt the ways of the boy. The boy had become a man"
Trichromatic Posted September 5 Posted September 5 On 8/20/2026 at 10:28 PM, express bowling said: Tests .... Kohli in Australia and South Africa. Played pace and bounce better. Dravid in Asia, England, NZ, WI. Played swing and spin better. I don't think so.
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