Is VVS Laxman a better player than Goddy under pressure?

[Raghav_12]

Laxman delivers a match winning innings and you question Tendulkar's credentials under pressure. Nothing more needs to be said.

+1

[jusarrived]

How come I don't see threads in Australian forums how Hussey is much better than Ponting or Hayden? We are the no 1 team becasue each and every player is pulling their weight at some point or the other. Sachin and Seahwag had their best years ever. Zaheer was top of his game. VVS saved our @ss every time we were in trouble. Evne tail-enders showed fight by forming partnerships.

we have a million threads on how good Tendulkar has been , why is it difficult to come out and admit that VVS is miles ahead of any other batsmen when it comes to playing under pressure ?

[jusarrived]

Cant believe some of you are pulling out meaning less stats to prove otherwise . most so called great batsmen would dream of playing one such knock for their country , Laxman has done than that 3 times just in this year ... the guy has a major role in every big test match wins for India in the last decade . our best Test player ever , no matter what the stats say .

[jhakati]

laxman is the greatest indian batsman under pressure, sachin usually cracks under pressure.

[Guest BossBhai]

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[Guest BossBhai]

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[Manny_Pacquiao]

Shifting Goal post are we ? AFAIK pressure is independent of the final result .... unless you are claiming VVS to be clairvoyant. Anyhow I present you 214 comming in at 38/2 and staring at a deficit of 440 ... Does that count or were some of the Nakshatras not totally alligned and the tide level not to your liking ? :hmmm:

its hilarious how people can make these comments with the benefit of hindsight. 'defeat was inevitable'...LMAO. Thank goodness tendulkar (and the other batsmen) doesnt have the gutless mentality that characterises some of our 'fans'

[kabira]

^LOL and here we were talking if Dhoni and SRT can bat through to Lunch..we can have 150 runs lead and put pressure on SA...LOL

[Ranjha]

It is good to see Laxman getting his due in this poll....Truly well deserved.

[Watson87]

Laxman owning Sachin. Well played Sir VVS Laxman, you are truly the best Indian batsman in Test Crciekt at the moment. He can play till 40. Even stats prove who the real boss is:--D http://www.espncricinfo.com/south-africa-v-india-2010/content/current/story/494640.html Best Indian batsmen in the second innings in wins (min 600 runs) Batsman Matches Runs Average 100 50 VVS Laxman 31 1217 67.61 2 9 GR Viswanath 18 767 54.78 2 3 Sachin Tendulkar 41 1247 51.95 3 6 Rahul Dravid 40 1231 51.29 2 7 Sourav Ganguly 28 658 50.61 0 4 Sunil Gavaskar 19 633 42.20 2 3 Virender Sehwag 24 718 37.78 0 5 I think the current Indian team is like the Australian team of the 2000 and the West Indian team of the 70s n 80s.

[Anakin]

Just ask :punter: how there is no pressure playing with a weak team, which SRT enjoyed so much for at least a decade. Not sure when so many other great batsmen had to face that kind of situation when everyone knows once you're out, the job is half done and for that long. Anyways, this is yet another useless thread, so I am out.

[zen]

The desperate attempts to show Tendulkar > Laxman under pressure have begun :giggle: I would go further and say that Laxman is also a better player in testing conditions :icflove:

[akshayxyz]

It is hard to quantify some of these. You either need to come up with a satisfactory criteria and then do real numbers or just go with what people feel based on what they have seen. Some of the criteria here could be: 1. Tough pitch to play on - how do you quantify that? may be by total team score < xxx (250, 300, 325?) 2. Top scorer for the team 3. Helps team win - let's face it, if you scored a 70, even if you top scored and the team needed another 30 for a win, it does not carry as much weight as say you scored a 60 and got the team over the hump. 4. Quality of opponent - kind if covered by #1, then again may be may be not

About your point #3 - does that mean, if Sachin makes 175 but last 3-4 wickets and could not finish last 18 runs, then that 175 is a waste. However, if a batsmen makes 45 in a low scoring match, and the team wins it - is going to have more weight age? That was a consistent scenario in 90s, which is why this 'lack of match winning knocks' surfaces again. Win = Team effort, not in an individual's hand. Even then Sachin has done it numerous times. Besides some other not-so-obvious contributions e.g. Sehwag-the-batsman exists because of Sachin to a great extent.

[akshayxyz]

Good evening Boss. Evening Sunny. Did those Tendulkar knocks single handedly change the course of the match from a losing position, as Laxman's did? Can't think of an Indian cricketer who's done 3/3 like that, to be honest. Don't fudge, please. You know what I mean. Quoting knocks like 111* from the last Test weakens your argument. Defeat was inevitable, and nothing was at stake apart from the 50th and his average. Noticed he made absolutely no effort to fight on on the final day, electing to protect his wicket instead, waiting for the tailenders to be dismissed so he could remain not out. Tendulkar may be the greatest batsman ever, but if the match was on the line going down to the wire, I'd want Laxman in my corner. Every time.

Disclaimer - this is not to downplay Laxman's feat. But to counter the un-necessary leg-pulling of Sachin's contributions. So, can you elaborate on the amount of effort Laxman put in protecting tail-enders in this match? Laxman played his part and others (ZAK, umpiring decision) played theirs. A win - was a team effort - had SS/ZAK not bowled to their strengths - would those 96 runs have been as valueable? Was it Sachin's fault that ZAK was not available and other bowlers did not do their job - in the first match? Had Sachin had company in the last match,we could have avoided innnings defeat or perhaps draw the match. He was ensuring that he stays there himself as long as possible, while others do their job. If Laxman is so much of a pressure specialist - why did he not 'protect' the tail in first innings in 2nd match? Was there no pressure in the second innings of the first match? When Sachin was playing his part - he should have hung around on 'batting friendly' pitch? At least to help avoid the innings defeat! In that match against Australia - did Laxman protect Ishant? He did only when Ishant said he needed some support. And then the last wicket - how much of protection algorithm did Laxman execute? Answer to all these is - Cricket is a team sport. Sachin is one of the best batsman who can play at any position. He happens to play at top of the order. Laxman is also world class batsman, and plays at lower order. Laxman is more likely to land in situations - playing with tail-enders. Hence he is more likely to see games through the finish line in the company of tail enders. Talking about pressure - The amount of pressure that has been there around Sachin - most likely has no parallel across all the sports - closest may be like - Ronaldo, Messi in WC finals. But then, Sachin has been playing in such situations for at least 15 years.

[DomainK]

there is no such thing as a 1st,2nd, 3rd or 4th innings specialist. stop being ridiculous everyone in that top 6 is a quality batsman and can make a difference at any stage of the game. they have all scored in all 4 innings at numerous times in their careers.

Precisely. We dont have to belittle one of them to show that the other is great.

[Lord]

Sachin has far more pressure in his every innings than Laxman will ever have. that said VVS is truly fantastic:hail:

[King Tendulkar]

Lots of very short memories here.

[Guest BossBhai]

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[Lord]

whats is pressure is subjective too.what VVS usually does in nothing to lose situation,so theres not that pressure to begin.would u have singled out Laxman failed n we lost in this test?no. Sehwags,Dravids n Tendulkar would've been talked about.if anyone's singled out,,its SRT.thats automatically more pressure on SRT.n hes still done it on more than a few ocassions

[shaunmedrik]

This is true things Laxman is those player played good in Pressure.When Team Required help then Laxman will played good.