"Virendra sehwag" best opener of all time?

[The Outsider]

Just checked some stats. Gavaskar piled up a lot of runs against WI till 1979, when he did not face the Roberts, Holding, Garner, Marshall combo. In games when he faced at least two of these four bowlers his average drops to 41.

               Mat  	Inns  	NO  	Runs  	HS  	Ave  	100  	50  	0  	
filtered  	11  	20  	2  	745  	236*  	41.38  	3  	1  	3

That's a pretty good record. Can't think of any other opener except Gooch who would have a better record. EDIT : In fact, here are the stats : http://stats.cricinfo.com/ci/engine/stats/index.html?class=1;filter=advanced;opposition=4;orderby=batting_average;player_involve=1426;player_involve=1451;player_involve=1522;player_involve=1571;qualmin2=500;qualval2=runs;template=results;type=batting

[SachinTheGr8st]

Best Opener in Test - Sehwag Best Opener in Odis- Tendulkar The greatest batsman & the greatest cricketer is Sachin Tendulkar without doubt

[Kumar]

ok so.... now i ask u one question.. Gavaskar played 38 matches against England, He scored a 221 against them, so why does he average only 38.2 against them? were the English bowlers more fearsome than the West Indian bowlers? you need more info? check this thread, read all the posts. http://indiancricketfans.com/showthread.php?t=216178

Virender sehwags record against England isnt that great either. One test century under his belt vs them is harldy that much better. Plus you have to bear in mind that sunny was the captain and he was under much more pressure than sehwag, the conditions were harder, he didnt have the likes of dravid and sachin to back him up when he made mistakes, and the level of bowling was much much greater back then!! I would just like to say that I am not saying Sehwag is bad, not at all, I very much admire sehwag, but to classify him as the best is pushing it slightly!

[Roshanrocks]

Virender sehwags record against England isnt that great either. One test century under his belt vs them is harldy that much better. Plus you have to bear in mind that sunny was the captain and he was under much more pressure than sehwag, the conditions were harder, he didnt have the likes of dravid and sachin to back him up when he made mistakes, and the level of bowling was much much greater back then!! I would just like to say that I am not saying Sehwag is bad, not at all, I very much admire sehwag, but to classify him as the best is pushing it slightly!

Sehwag has played only 6 innings against the English, not much of a sample to determine his strength/weakness against the side. Anyways your choice is repsected as you may have seen gavaskar bat.

[Bublu Bhuyan]

Ian Chappell: The three S's of Sehwag Link: http://www.cricinfo.com/magazine/content/story/472367.html

The Indian opener is up there with Bradman in his ability to score quickly for prolonged periods of time Ian Chappell August 15, 2010 Once again the irrepressible Virender Sehwag has made a valuable contribution to an Indian Test victory, this time a series-tying win over Sri Lanka. S is for Sehwag and also for scintillating strokeplay, the perfect description for how he goes about his business. However, you can add another S - for smart. The crucial factor in Sehwag being a smart cricketer is the fact that he's always been his own man as a batsman. Many people talk about his lack of footwork and other supposed flaws in his technique, but Sehwag just shrugs and smiles, as if to say, "Just watch me bat next time." In this regard he reminds me of my former team-mate Doug Walters. Walters was a match-winner and an extremely aggressive batsman but he resided in the middle order. Many people harped on his crooked back-lift and how this stopped him reaching his full potential. During a day of golf in Brisbane, after Walters had made a century in a Test match, former England fast bowler Frank "Typhoon" Tyson came up to him. "Doug, your technique is a disgrace," he began in provocative fashion. "If I was bowling, I'd give you a couple of bouncers and then an offcutter which would go right between your bat and pad." Walters took a sip of his beer, looked at the retired fast bowler and replied: "That's not a problem, Typhoon. I won't have to face you in this series." Judging by Sehwag's highly entertaining press conference earlier this year, where he bluntly stated: "Bangladesh are an ordinary side. They can't beat India because they can't take 20 wickets," it's not just his approach to batting that he has in common with Walters. Sehwag is a breath of fresh air, both on and off the field. He plays with gay abandon and speaks with refreshing honesty. To bat as fearlessly as him, you need to have great confidence in your ability, and the self-belief that you're better than any bowler, any attack. His comments were not arrogance; rather, an honest reflection of the way he sizes up an attack. I played with a like-minded opener - South Australia's Les Favell. He was the most confident - some would say over-confident - player I ever encountered. He once opened in a Sheffield Shield match against the top-class Australian fast bowler Graham McKenzie and missed an attempted cut shot on the first ball of the match. Favell top-edged the next cut shot to the boundary, and was out third ball, caught behind attempting yet another cut. On his return to the dressing room he tossed his bat in disgust and declared, "Jeez I was seein' 'em like footballs." Favell never encountered a prolonged slump; to play in that manner you have to believe the next boundary will have you back in prime form. Sehwag's Test career follows a similar pattern. The nearest he's come to a prolonged poor patch was prior to the 2007-08 tour of Australia, when he was really struggling, even at the first-class level, and some were ready to write him off. He has satisfactorily answered those critics and since returning to the Indian side he's been far and away their best batsman. Excluding matches against Bangladesh, he has scored more runs and more centuries than anyone else, and at a higher average than all but Gautam Gambhir (among those who have scored over 250 runs in this period). However, when it comes to run-rate, he leaves them all in his slipstream; astonishingly, he's more than two runs an over quicker than all the others. That is what sets Sehwag apart from all other openers: his run-rate, allied with his amazing ability to post mammoth scores. Sir Donald Bradman is the only other player who has combined those two incredibly difficult batting tasks, scoring extraordinarily quickly for long periods, and even he didn't do it facing the new ball. Whichever way you look at it, Sehwag has either had the misfortune or the good luck to play in the same side as Sachin Tendulkar. It either deprives him of publicity or allows him to float along in the background, almost unimpeded. Sehwag has had an exceptional career. He's been the most dangerous batsman in world cricket for a long time. He's done it by adhering to another S: keeping it simple to be successful.

[Guest BossBhai]

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[thevortex]

Bossbhai - there are small bits of information about players that only contemporaries will know. It is these bits of idiosyncrasies mixed with the potential that they saw in those players that add value to these recounts. Just using cold and dry numbers off some database is akin to taking a hacksaw and trying to cut hair!! No offense meant. It is not the full story by any means. I am not a big Ian Chappell fan by any means. But I thought this was an enjoyable read.

[Sooda]

He is not comparing them really, not in the 'one is as good as the other' kinda sense, merely in the way they bat. Walters was known for his agressive style and scored a ton between lunch and tea once in WI. And as Vortex says its a part reminiscing maybe about players he actually knew personally

[Guest BossBhai]

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[Bumper]

Boss, I dont believe Ian is comparing Walters and Favel with Sehwag in terms of ability. If i read him right, Ian is saying they both sport Sehwag like mindset & attitude. But i agree that having such an attitude is one thing and being able to back it up with performance is entirely another. However the assumption that Bradman is a 'super quick scorer' a'la Sehwag may be a myth that has been successfully propagated over generations. People no longer verify anything that is stated of Bradman, as such claims are treated like gospel truths.

[yoda]

Well the message is obvious. Bradman/Sehwag Sehwag/Tendulkar.

[thevortex]

If you read that article he clearly states why Sehwag is different from others and its because of the run-rate. I simply looked up those numbers for those other guys that Chappel says remind him of Sehwag. If you say that there are other ways a player can be considered as similar to Sehwag without racking up run-a-ball triple centuries and double centuries Iam all ears ...

Is Strike rate the only criterion to be compared between these players? Can Ian Chappell not know more about these cricketers who lived and played at all levels of cricket during his time? As he said time and again, could that not be taken as a comparison of mindsets? Or is there a statistical measurement for mindset as well?

[Sir john]

shewag a legend,at last chappel accept.

[Guest BossBhai]

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[thevortex]

We cannot say either way using just statistics, Bossbhai. That was my point.

[Guest BossBhai]

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[The Outsider]

Why do we discuss this idiot's rants every week? :wall:

[Deleted_User_1]

I am done with Chappal's comments/articles. He does give good commentary though!

[achilles]

Sehwag has had an exceptional career. He's been the most dangerous batsman in world cricket for a long time. He's done it by adhering to another S: keeping it simple to be successful.

:hatsoff:

[vamos_rafa]

For a change a good enjoyable read from Ian..... but one thing that I don't understand is the comparision with the Aussie players specially Les Favell....now here we have a player who played 19 test matches for Australia..... i checked his records and found that he did very well in the sheffileld shield trophies .... but he averaged a paltry 27 in the first 19 tests...now we can give him a benefit of doubt by saying that he only started out...but we can check sehwag's stats in the same number of tests and im sure that he would have fared better.... Now the point that im trying to make is these comparisions, even though in style of play or something should be done between comparable stats.... I dont think Les had done something spectacular at the international scene to be compared with VS.... and we have so many other players to have done brilliantly in first class.... graeme hick being a prime example or sandeep patil who used to score briskly in ranji..... the article was a good read but i found the comparisions to be paltry....