Now Pietersen has "mystery illness"

[Ram]

Why?

1. Numbers dont tell the true story all the time. Both Sachin and KP may have the same average against Aus , both it doesnt indicate the manner in which those runs were made. 2. KP 's efforts shout dominance and aggression , while Sachin has been tame off late. To put it more clearly , I would rather watch KP in full flow against Aus rather than Sachin in full flow against Aus.

[The Outsider]

1. Numbers dont tell the true story all the time. Both Sachin and KP may have the same average against Aus , both it doesnt indicate the manner in which those runs were made.

You mentioned taking off the 241* specifically and so my question. There is no doubt that Pietersen is the better batsman today but your statement was more general than that. The manner in which the runs were scored? Tendulkar averaged as much as Pietersen down under while having zero support in the batting line up and just as aggressively as Pietersen in 2000.

2. KP 's efforts shout dominance and aggression , while Sachin has been tame off late. To put it more clearly , I would rather watch KP in full flow against Aus rather than Sachin in full flow against Aus.

That's a personal choice and I won't dispute it, but I would rather watch an 18 year old at Perth score an aggressive century and return to the same country 8 years later as part of a team falling apart and singled out by some dubious umpiring and a world class bowling attack knowing he is the only threat to score those runs again. In the mean time he also showed the world with Siddhu's help that Warne was a very conquerable force.

[Cricketics]

mm u sound like a person whoz carried away by a modern day cricketers impressive entry to cricket.. u have forgotten how tendulkar used to dismantle the aussie attack.. i mean u saw kp playing couple of good knocks against aussies in ashes and u are like placing him rite on top.. if Tendulkar is a waiter, then kp is begger, thatz the difference between tendlya and kp in termz of cricket.. guy kept on scoring runz against aussies.... didn't give a shyt respect to the legend shane warne and used to dismantle whenever he used to come and bowl.... made all bowlers look ordinary..thatz what this batsman could do.. . does kp has that thing in him??

[Ram]

I am surely not disputing Sachin's overall batting exploits against the Aussies. I did make one mistake when i said " KP was the ONLY player to have gotten the measure of the Aussies". I should have said " KP is the..... off late. ". Against an attack that has made the rest of the world pee in its pants, KP has been the sole force of determination and counter-attack.

[Ram]

C'tics . I have issued certain clarifications in my last post. You might want to read it .

[Ram]

mm u sound like a person whoz carried away by a modern day cricketers impressive entry to cricket.. u have forgotten how tendulkar used to dismantle the aussie attack.. i mean u saw kp playing couple of good knocks against aussies in ashes and u are like placing him rite on top..

Certainly not C'tics. I am in no way debating the legacy of Sachin against the Aussies here. And surely i am not carried away by good starts of players. I give credit to brilliance when i see it. In a time when Aussie attacks have stream-rolled most of the opposition , KP has stood up to them outstandingly and had been a breadth of fresh air. His attacking batting is so nice to watch and so entertaining.

[The Outsider]

In fact, a qualification for Lara is also in order. He might not have ended up with a 50+ average against the Aussies but his feats against them will certainly leave a greater impact than anything Pietersen has done against them. Also, Pietersen never faced McGrath at his peak and Warne(at his peak) only in a home series.

[Ram]

In fact' date=' a qualification for Lara is also in order. He might not have ended up with a 50+ average against the Aussies but his feats against them will certainly leave a greater impact than anything Pietersen has done against them. Also, Pietersen never faced McGrath at his peak and Warne(at his peak) only in a home series.[/quote'] True. I am surely enthusiastic about an entirely new discussion on the overall legacies of many players against the Aussies, but my first comment on this thread was based purely on recent cricketing history. Also , I am bit surprised you said he never faced Warne and Mcgrath at their peak, especially when Warne picked up 40 wickets in the 2005 Ashes and Mcgrath was then , the world's best bowler by far. We should also keep in mind the Aussie domination of cricket had reached it pinnacle in 2005 , aided by some outstanding batting by Ponting , Hayden , Langer and Gilchrist. So, i rate the Aussie team of 2005 above the Aussie team of 2000. KP performed well against the former , which is credit to him.

[The Outsider]

Also , I am bit surprised you said he never faced Warne and Mcgrath at their peak, especially when Warne picked up 40 wickets in the 2005 Ashes and Mcgrath was then , the world's best bowler by far.

I qualified Warne by saying he faced him at his peak in a home series. McGrath wasn't McGrath in the 2005 Ashes nor in his last series. 2005, he was plagued by injuries, and 2007 he was pushing it, even though still very good.

[Donny]

Not sure about the 'outstandingly' bit. He's batted 20 times against Oz and made 10 scores of under 30. He scored 1 century in the '05 Ashes and 1 in Australia. Having said that, KP was the most prized wicket in the last series.

[Ram]

Oh okie.. I misread one line of yours. Oops !

[gator]

woah mars-man.... KP is not the ultimate hero as u r painting him.... laxman 16 1457 281 52.03 4 6 0 - - 0 21 0 KP 10 963 158 53.50 2 6 0 - - 0 3 0 Lax is the best batter against aussies in the modern era according to me... though KP has a one point higher average in this picture, Lax averages 60 in aus while KP averages a good 5 points lesser.

[King]

I hope he plays the last test. Otherwise it will give England a reason to go about saying they lost it because their key player was out of the decider. Seriously I'd like to see him play the game. Two full strength teams is what gets the game going.

[living]

I hope he plays the last test. Otherwise it will give England a reason to go about saying they lost it because their key player was out of the decider. Seriously I'd like to see him play the game. Two full strength teams is what gets the game going.

I hope so too. He'll be scared of Sree :hysterical:

[Chandan]

He attended the training session today. So apparently the media was sweating about nothing!!

[Hawkeye]

He's been seen training this morning...