Who is Indias 5th Greatest Test Batsman

[Sooda]

This is a discussion we had in the Remembering VVS Laxman thread but merits one in its own right I think Laxman is a strong contender for the honour, but itd be a close one. The batsmen to make a case for- Laxman Vijay Hazare Gundappa Vishawanath Mohinder Amarnath Mohammed Azharuddin Saurav Ganguly That for me would round off a 'Top 10 Indian batsmen'- In that 'Order of goodness' Others of course- Vengsarkar, Polly Umrigar maybe, Sidhu? Or has someone like Merchant done enough in his few tests? Oh and- this is assuming you agree with the top 4 (which for me is a given) of SRT, SG, RD, VS (yep in that order) DISCUSS :two_thumbs_up:

[SachDan]

Never saw Gundappa Viswanath bat live. But having watched some of the clips and read what opposition captains and bowlers had to say about Vishy, I would say he's our 5th greatest batsmen. Gavaskar once said Vishy is the greatest batsman he ever played with. That's a high praise coming from some one of the stature of Gavaskar. Don't think he said coz they are Brother-in-law to each other :winky:

[yoda]

I have to say VVS simply because of the special knocks against the aussies.

[SachDan]

Yeah Sooda. Agree with your top-4. Particularly in that order

[Cricketics]

To me Laxman comes before Virender Sehwag. Atleast for now. Laxman is definatelly one of the greatest India has ever produced.

[Apramey]

Laxman is definatelly one of the greatest India has ever produced.

[Sooda]

To me Laxman comes before Virender Sehwag. Atleast for now. Laxman is definatelly one of the greatest India has ever produced.

Really? Thats interesting... probably fair too you could argue SachDan, I think there might have been a bit of bias in Sunnys comment lol. I did mention in the other thread that Vish and VVSL are similar in that both reserve(d) their best for when the team is in trouble. And Vish has some special knocks under his belt, although Ive never seen him either. VVS might be more consistent batter. Its a close one though. Effectively- if you agree with the 6 names Ive got there- youd be choosing someone to bat at no 5 in an all time India team Maybe I should have made it a poll.

[Temujin Khaghan]

i have been searching for an article in cricinfo, where the writer (Sambit or Dileep) says that since having watched both the players Gundappa and Laxman play... they feel that GV definitely deserves to come at 3 down in the all time indian test batting lineup in the order sehwag gavaskar rahul tendulkar vishwanath cant find it.

[Temujin Khaghan]

look at this. it was written in 2004 by Mukul Kesavan for cricinfo. its an article about the top 25 test innings by an indian batsman by cricinfo. ...On the evidence of this listing, and their careers, the four best Indian batsmen ever are Rahul Dravid, Gavaskar, Tendulkar and Viswanath. Close behind them follow Azharuddin and Vengsarkar, with Virender Sehwag entering a claim to future greatness. This second period, After Viswanath, itself divides neatly into two halves. The first two decades produced great all-round batsmanship with the accent on defence. Gavaskar, Viswanath, Mohinder Amarnath and Dilip Vengsarkar were capable of fine attacking play, but more often than not they played with watchful orthodoxy. With Azhar and Tendulkar, Indian batsmanship switches to a more attacking register. Sound play is sometimes sacrificed to berserker brilliance: Azharuddin's sole entry in the list of 25, coming in at number 22, is a wonderful example of all-out assault in a losing cause - the 121 at Lord's in 1990, off 111 balls. Tendulkar lit up the whole cricketing world in the 1990s with his attacking genius. Azhar and Tendulkar between them created the space for the essentially attacking batsman to flourish. If Sehwag is Tendulkar's heir, Laxman is, just as clearly, Azharuddin's. ------------------------------------------------------------- apart from this... we all know that vishy was rated higher than sunil gavaskar by sunny himself. I also feel that vishy faced a lot more tougher bowling attacks from around the world. complete article link http://www.cricinfo.com/magazine/content/story/135680.html

[Sooda]

...Cheers for that TK, thats a great article, useful for our purposes:two_thumbs_up: Youre right about Vish having to score against some pretty good attacks. Bit strange though that Vishwanaths century chasing 400+ in WI isnt on the list of great Indian innings, or Indeed Gavaskars.

[Temujin Khaghan]

...Cheers for that TK, thats a great article, useful for our purposes:two_thumbs_up: Youre right about Vish having to score against some pretty good attacks. Bit strange though that Vishwanaths century chasing 400+ in WI isnt on the list of great Indian innings, or Indeed Gavaskars.

well the wisden guys have thier own parameters for a great innings. i myself have been suprised by a few non entries... even if i have posted the link for the above article this is for the guys who are too lazy to click on the link. I would like to post below a few more lines highlighting Dravid's less-talked supremacy over Sachin in tests. Its like the 2001-05 period. "...But even as everyone from Don Bradman to Richie Benaud celebrated Tendulkar's primacy in the modern game, from an Indian point of view, the new millennium saw the maturing of a cricketer who drew level with Tendulkar in the matter of consistency, and then surpassed him in the business of making big innings against powerful teams to help India win: Rahul Dravid. Dravid owns four of the 25 innings listed and every one of them was played in a match that India won. In some ways Dravid is a throwback to both Gavaskar and Viswanath - all technique and concentration on the one hand and wristy flourish on the other". ----------------------------- beautifully written isnt it?

[vvvslaxman]

TK has summed up well.

[gaurav92]

281 @Eden Gardens :adore:

[King Tendulkar]

Very good thread, as top 4 is obvious. Who indeed is number 5??

[Jersey #10]

Sachin Tendulkar is one of the greats when it comes to tests too. Stop being ignorant

[Sooda]

Erm, ^cant sit on the fence King T, let have an opinion then! Vijay Hazare has a strong case too- coming in at 0/4 (i.e 0 runs for 4 wickets) against Trueman and making a 50, scoring a two tons in a test (the first Indian bat to do so) in Aus vs Lindwall and Miller. Until a few years ago and the emergence of Laxman, Hazare would be a shoo-in for a middle order slot in an all time India XI. The Wisden innings' list seems to put a lot of focus on the team needing to have won the match, ok pretty important- but not the be and end all.

[Sooda]

Sachin Tendulkar is one of the greats when it comes to tests too. Stop being ignorant

Huh?

[Jabu]

What abt Dravid

[Sooda]

Read The OP

[Bumblebee]

for me 5 greatest indian test batters are Sachin Gavaskar Dravid Sehwag Laxman