Who is the greatest Indian Cricketer ever.

[Trichromatic]

Lurker, my question is slightly different. I always wanted to read about how conditions and preparations for the game changed over decades. But generally we get either match by match account where we get to know that certain team prepared this kind of track and all that or we read overview a player that he was good at this or bad at that. My questions are : How would you describe Indian pitches of 70s, 80s and 90s. I'm aware of matches of late 90s? How pitches have changed over the time in last 30 years? What external factors affected bowling in those days and how those have changed? For ex - nature of the ball or the rules. I didn't know earlier that pace battery of WI used to bowl very less overs in a day allowing bowlers to relax and bowl fast for long time. What about playing conditions in other countries? I guess England used to produce different types of tracks especially spinner friendly before 50s. Is that right? I'm not sure what else to ask because I probably can't think of questions without seeing any match of those days.

[harmuk]

Benaud picked Imran and Sobers in his world XI.

So that makes Tendulkar the greatest Indian cricketer ever? Hmm...Nice. Kapil is a much better cricketer than Tendulkar any day of the week, despite what Benaud has to say.

[Vilander]

Sachin Tendulkar is the greatest cricketer India has ever produced.

[Lurker]

My questions are : How would you describe Indian pitches of 70s, 80s and 90s. I'm aware of matches of late 90s? How pitches have changed over the time in last 30 years?

That is a bit difficult to answer Vibhash. You will have to do it almost on a case to case basis, and even then you would be hard pressed to explain it correctly. For example, Chepalk has always been the pitch with bounce and pace. This is the place where in late 70s Gundappa Vishwanath played what many consider to be the best innings played in India against pace (Andy Roberts). And yet it is also the place where Hirwani took 16 wickets on debut only in a matter of few years. Similarly with Eden Gardens, pacers have always found help and assistance. And yet the lead wicket takers are Kumble and Harbhajan Singh. To my knowledge, and I am no expert on pitches so take it for what it is worth, Indian pitches were not too different from overseas pitches till 70s. Sure they were on the slow side but not dustbowls. This was perhaps in part due to the fact that India was not really a powerhouse as today, and MCC could, and did, scoff at things that didnt suit their interest. Indian cricket really took off after 1983 WC win, and after 1987 Reliance World Cup, power shifted from England to Indian subcontinent(that was the first WC outside of England). One of the resurgence came in form of preparing dustbowls for Kumble and Raju and Chauhan without worrying about any answers to provide. Again, thats a conjecture of mine. I could be completely off base.

[Junyfan]

Kapil Dev

[The Outsider]

That reminds me of this question which I always wanted to ask on forum. Why pacers like Kapil' date=' Srinath and even Pakistani bowlers were more successful in home conditions than away. I guess Pakistan did try to create pacer friendly conditions at home during 90s or late 80s, but was that the main reason for better performance at home? What about Indian bowlers?[/quote'] I've addressed that question multiple times, but here is a summary: 1. The potency of bowling depends upon the number of runs on the scorecard. It's not a coincidence that Kumble became more potent overseas in conjunction with the batting. 2. In overseas conditions a strong third seam bowler is a must. Kapil did not even have a strong opening partner for most of his career, forget about a third seamer. This becomes more important on pitches which ease out. 3. The amount of donkey work Kapil did was crazy. Look up the scorecard of the '83 Ahmedabad test where he bowled 30 non stop overs as captain because even the spin support he had in the 80s was mediocre.

[vvvslaxman]

I've addressed that question multiple times, but here is a summary: 1. The potency of bowling depends upon the number of runs on the scorecard. It's not a coincidence that Kumble became more potent overseas in conjunction with the batting. 2. In overseas conditions a strong third seam bowler is a must. Kapil did not even have a strong opening partner for most of his career, forget about a third seamer. This becomes more important on pitches which ease out. 3. The amount of donkey work Kapil did was crazy. Look up the scorecard of the '83 Ahmedabad test where he bowled 30 non stop overs as captain because even the spin support he had in the 80s was mediocre.

There was this cartoon in a magazine that goes like this Kapil asking "Can i have special permission to bowl from both ends"

[The Outsider]

^ Kapil has outrageous figures like 8/200. Frankly those kind of figures should never be part of a fast bowler's resume. But because of the thin spin and pace support he was the stock and strike bowler for the team. His record in his first 60 tests before his knee surgery is comparable to several greats of fast bowling.