who is the best batsman in the 10,000 runs club?

[bharat297]

For Tests, I'd think Sunny is the best. On a separate note, Dravid in Tests (despite his recent infamous slump), is better than SRT in Tests. ODIs ofcourse SRT is the winner.

Its difficult to split between the 2 because Sachin in his prime would really take the attack back to the bowler to the point where the bowlers and the opposition captain were really put on the back foot. Dravid would more or less grind out a long innings. On pure effectiveness its difficult to split the 2 ... but on the ability to counter-attack and really go out with an intent to really take it to the bowlers ... Id put Sachin ahead, but thats a matter of opinion.

[Rajan]

Dravid had no problems against Ambrose and Walsh in 96-97. He didn't have any problems against Donald and Pollock in 1996 when he wasn't made to open (in both tests and ODIs he was aRegarding spin, I'd say he was untroubled by good spinners like Vettori, McGill, etc., but he had a lot of problems against Warne and Murali. He never picked the doosra of Murali (and Saqlain), and Warne troubled him a lot with the ones pitching just on leg stump. Technically also he has a flaw of prodding too much and not keeping the bat close to the pads and hence when the ball is spinning a lot he was in big trouble. That's why I rated him low. Thanks Bunny. I stand corrected. may be i have a sub- conscious bias against Dravid because of his seemingly slow batting. I remember him playing some of the best innings played by an indian batsman against quality pace in SA. He had handled England bowlers on a testing first dat at Old traffford in a superb innings.the Kolkotta turnaround with Laxman had actually reinvented Indian batting. his contribution has been tremendous for indian team in the last decade.how i wish Dravid regains his form and guides the youngsters in the next 12 months which would be very crucial.

[ananthd]

Sunil Gavaskar by a mile.... It's not even close..... It's not about the average or the stats but who had the greatest stomach for battle and in this Sunny trumps them all.... Forget his fabulous record against the West Indies, the best team of his era..... The guy played the 4 of the greatest 4th innings(when the odds are stacked, the pitch at its worst): the magnificent 221 at Oval 79(which we didn't win only because of complete inadeqaucy of the lower middle order), the fine 102 at Port of Spain to setup the largest 4th innings chase of the time, the fine 90 of the tied test of 86 where India needed to score fairly quickly for the time and the MASTERCLASS 96 on a Bangalore minefield in his last Test innings, where the Pak spinners Tauseef & Qasim took 18 of the 20 Indian wickets.... Tendulkar's 136 in Chennai comes a little close, but Sunny was in a league of his own....

[Rajan]

Talking about 4th innings heroics, Lara has a strong claim: 153 not out, chasing 308, at one stage when 5 wickets were down for 105,next highest was 38 in the innings, scoring 153 out of 233 when he was in crease, against the likes of McGrath, Gillespie,Warne, McGill.he won the match . must be a top 5 all time innings he scored an 80* in the 4th innings against Muralitharan and Vaas in a low scoring test and was instrumental in a rare windies win after the retirement of walsh & Ambrose. Gavaskar had very often exhibited his ability to knuckle down and fight. Border and Waugh have also done that. i dont know why Ponting does not get the respect he deserves over her, for his tremendous performances over the last 8 years. v may not like him as an individual but as a batsman, he is very very good as he had shown in this series too. he does not give up easily.

[bunny]

Dravid had no problems against Ambrose and Walsh in 96-97. He didn't have any problems against Donald and Pollock in 1996 when he wasn't made to open (in both tests and ODIs he was aRegarding spin, I'd say he was untroubled by good spinners like Vettori, McGill, etc., but he had a lot of problems against Warne and Murali. He never picked the doosra of Murali (and Saqlain), and Warne troubled him a lot with the ones pitching just on leg stump. Technically also he has a flaw of prodding too much and not keeping the bat close to the pads and hence when the ball is spinning a lot he was in big trouble. That's why I rated him low. Thanks Bunny. I stand corrected. may be i have a sub- conscious bias against Dravid because of his seemingly slow batting. I remember him playing some of the best innings played by an indian batsman against quality pace in SA. He had handled England bowlers on a testing first dat at Old traffford in a superb innings.the Kolkotta turnaround with Laxman had actually reinvented Indian batting. his contribution has been tremendous for indian team in the last decade.how i wish Dravid regains his form and guides the youngsters in the next 12 months which would be very crucial.

I think RD needs to be dropped for a series. Hopefully he can work on his technique and come back stronger. Given his fitness levels, he can easily play for another 4 years if he can regain his form.

[Online]

Tendulkar

[King Tendulkar]

Let me think about this:hmmm: O thats right SACHIN RAMESH TENDULKAR

[coffee_rules]

SMG SRT Lara Border Dravid Ponting Waugh

[Holysmoke]

Sachin. He's light years ahead.

[anbuchelvan]

Sunil Gavaskar by a mile.... It's not even close..... It's not about the average or the stats but who had the greatest stomach for battle and in this Sunny trumps them all.... Forget his fabulous record against the West Indies, the best team of his era..... The guy played the 4 of the greatest 4th innings(when the odds are stacked, the pitch at its worst): the magnificent 221 at Oval 79(which we didn't win only because of complete inadeqaucy of the lower middle order), the fine 102 at Port of Spain to setup the largest 4th innings chase of the time, the fine 90 of the tied test of 86 where India needed to score fairly quickly for the time and the MASTERCLASS 96 on a Bangalore minefield in his last Test innings, where the Pak spinners Tauseef & Qasim took 18 of the 20 Indian wickets.... Tendulkar's 136 in Chennai comes a little close, but Sunny was in a league of his own....

YES YOU ARE RIGHT.

[THX_1138]

Gavaskar, followed by the three contemporaries in close succession: Ponting, Tendulkar and Lara... however, say what you must, but gavaskar leads the pack by a mile and a half.

[King]

Have you guys noticed there's not a single opener other than Gavaskar in the list? Rest are all middle order and having known Gavaskar played against some terrific fast bowlers without a helmet or a chest guard he has to be rated the best. Hayden and Boycott are quite some distance behind Gavaskar in this aspect and even Sehwag may not end up scoring as many as Gavaskar did with consistency. Clearly there hasn't been one like Gavaskar for a long time and there may not be one in the near future. For sheer quality, single mindedness and for having weathered the storm often at the top it has to be Gavaskar the best of all in the 10,000 club.

[bharat297]

^ Yep thats true ... I think if you're going by toughness and resiliance then Gavaskar stands alone. He faced some of the greatest new ball bowlers without a helmet on pretty ordinary pitches. However, for the brilliance of their strokeplay I think Lara and Tendulkar are unmatched. So for me the best 3 are ... Gavaskar, Lara and Tendulkar ... The rest are very good ... but those 3 are the best.

[bunny]

^ Yep thats true ... I think if you're going by toughness and resiliance then Gavaskar stands alone. He faced some of the greatest new ball bowlers without a helmet on pretty ordinary pitches. However, for the brilliance of their strokeplay I think Lara and Tendulkar are unmatched. So for me the best 3 are ... Gavaskar, Lara and Tendulkar ... The rest are very good ... but those 3 are the best.

The % of draws in the Gavaskar era was ridiculous (especially when Kapil was captain). That alone tells me that the pitches were flat. Also Gavaskar had some real tough times against Marshall, Imran, Lillee, etc. He scored most of his runs against WI in the early 70s when they didn't have too many great bowlers. He was tough and probably better than most of the others in the list but what I am trying to say is it's too tough to compare across eras unless you really have watched all the matches, and have an opinion not just based on stats but also based on technique, etc.

[bharat297]

Thats true ... being born shortly after Sunny stepped down I cant say I have seen too much of him, but anyone who has faced the great bowlers of the 70s and 80s and averaged 50+ and scored 34 centuries and 10000+ runs on those wickets was def. one of the greatest ever. From what Ive seen ... Lara and Tendulkar sit atop the list. Im not going by stats for that. Statistically players like Dravid, Kallis and Ponting may pip them ... but those 2 had an aura about them. From the second they take their guard, you sit there amazed at the audacity of their stroke-play. Its unparalleled. Lara's raw explosiveness and almost violent yet elegant nature of batting contrasted with the equally elegant yet more tehnically proficient and calculated destructiveness of Tendulkar.

[Rajan]

I am not sure why almost all of us have shown scant respect for Ponting. he has a tremendous record. he is way ahead of the field in terms of average, hundreds per tests,winning contribution ... v dont like his face/ ugly arrogance, agreed, but he has proved in this series that he can after all handle Spin in india.ok, he did not have a good record against Ambrose and windies in the first few years, but almost all batsmen struggled against AMbrose and that windies bowling. but SA & Pak possessed a strong pace attack , he had vindicated himself.he had done well against the england reverse swing attack in the 2005 ashes. he scores as fast or even faster than Sachin and Lara. he must be ranked higher surely! potentially he can overtake SRT in the centuries tally before SRT retires and may raise the test runs aggregate bar higher for the likes of kallis to emulate.