Was VVS the most artistic batsman ever?

[adi B]

michael vaughan looked good as well,mahela too

[vvvslaxman]

michael vaughan looked good as well' date='mahela too[/quote'] Aravinda was elegant too. But his fat body would be the first you would notice before elegance. Mahela is definitely a touch player.

[jind]

Don't know how you guys have defined artistic here, but my vote goes to the man Sachin Tendulkar. Everything from the batting stance to a straight drive, square cut, uppercut glide, the pull, to the backfoot punch, cover drive, to the defensive shot is poetry. Sachin Tendulkar

[Ultimate_Game]

Don't know how you guys have defined artistic here, but my vote goes to the man Sachin Tendulkar. Everything from the batting stance to a straight drive, square cut, uppercut glide, the pull, to the backfoot punch, cover drive, to the defensive shot is poetry. Sachin Tendulkar

He's good but you can't really term Tendulkar artistic in the same class as Azhar or even Laxman.

[vvvslaxman]

Don't know how you guys have defined artistic here, but my vote goes to the man Sachin Tendulkar. Everything from the batting stance to a straight drive, square cut, uppercut glide, the pull, to the backfoot punch, cover drive, to the defensive shot is poetry. Sachin Tendulkar

We have to make distinction between text book experts, elegant players, players with flourish and artists who just does things in a most natural and unique way and also good looking. Loose definition.Viru, Treschotick belong to this category. But you woudln't say they are the most elegant. They are butchers at times. There are lot of elegant, good looking players. Waugh, Crowe, Dravid, Mahela all elegant. Some are stylish like Lara, Yuvraj due to exaggerated backlift coming in beautiful arc. But very few players have been referred as artists. Top of my mind Rohan Kanhai, Gower, Azharuddin.

[Vilander]

no Dhoni is more artistic...

[King Tendulkar]

azzharudin was art. Gower was art. M Waugh very elegant. But nothing beats VVS

[Vilander]

:D

[vvvslaxman]

:D

:hysterical::hysterical::hysterical: What an art

[pensionplan]

Laxman is surely more artistic than Azhar. Azhar was never comfortable playing genuine pace for one. Even then between the two Laxman is a better stroke player and more easy on the eye. Stylish and graceful. The three Sydney centuries should do it if one wants to go back and take a look. However, to me Vishy is more of an artist among all Indian batsman, I have seen or read about. He is at ease and a master of playing the cut, flick and the drive with equal elan and grace. He is a genius who has more than one stroke to the same ball as the mood pleases the master. Comparing internationally, Vishy is a better stylist than Greg Chappell, Zaheer Abbas of the yesteryear and he would top the likes of VVS, Mark Waugh, Mohammed Yousuf, Damien Martyn, Azharuddin of the 80's, 90's and 00's as a sample. He was a master of playing both pace and spin with equal ease in all conditions and is considered the best while playing on worst pitches.

[pensionplan]

I would obviously favor laxman as i feel he has a more complete game (both offside and onside) game compared to azhar.

Good point. Azhar does not have half the strokes VVS does on the offside, a reason for his poor showing on bouncy tracks not being able to hit it on the rise with the consistency VVS did on a regular basis.

[vvvslaxman]

Azhar is weak on one side? lol .. He is the best 360 degree batsman i have ever seen by a mile. Yes he had issues with bouncers. Laxman had his share of issues against full pitched deliveries getting stuck on the crease. Every classic player had some kind of weaknesses.

[vvvslaxman]

[ame=

Azharuddin 115 Capetown v RSA 1997 - YouTube[/ame] After Azhar's on-side onslaught in Eden Gardens against SA they decided to bowl around the fof stump.. Look what happens.

[pensionplan]

For the record one gulp does not make a summer. Azhar is notoriously poor facing genuine pace bowling. His average in Aus is a poor 27, in SA a terrible 23 and in WI'es a pathetic 19 a mark of a player who is not comfortable with pace at all. One of the reason - His lack of assured off-side play that is needed to play probing offside line with pace.

[vvvslaxman]

For the record one gulp does not make a summer. Azhar is notoriously poor facing genuine pace bowling. His average in Aus is a poor 27' date=' in SA a terrible 23 and in WI'es a pathetic 19 a mark of a player who is not comfortable with pace at all. One of the reason - His lack of assured off-side play that is needed to play probing offside line with pace.[/quote'] It is like watching another Tendulkar thread. Averages, first inning average, pace performance, subcontinent average.. blah blah.. what is it got to do with artistic. At the end of the day career average of both players are eerily similar. Performance wise . Dravid trumps Laxman by a mile, he is also a great stylish batsman. But do we say Dravid is more artistic than laxman? In terms of performance Gower is not exactly THE BEST from england. But he is artistic. Same way Rohan Kanhai might not have achieved as much as Richards. But Rohan is considered to be more artistic.

[pensionplan]

It is like watching another Tendulkar thread. Averages' date=' first inning average, pace performance, subcontinent average.. blah blah.. what is it got to do with artistic. At the end of the day career average of both players are eerily similar. Performance wise . Dravid trumps Laxman by a mile, he is also a great stylish batsman. But do we say Dravid is more artistic than laxman? In terms of performance Gower is not exactly THE BEST from england. But he is artistic. Same way Rohan Kanhai might not have achieved as much as Richards. But Rohan is considered to be more artistic.[/quote']What? A player is terrible playing pace bowling and we need to annoint him the artist extraordinaire, when the other said player is more artistic(VVS) in many peoples books, at the same time being better in most conditions. So no we are comparing apples to apples here. VVS versus Azhar the artists -For many from the looks of it, Laxman is a better artist all the while being more well rounded batsman.

[vvvslaxman]

What? A player is terrible playing pace bowling and we need to annoint him the artist extraordinaire' date=' when the other said player is more artistic(VVS) in many peoples books, at the same time being better in most conditions. So no we are comparing apples to apples here. VVS versus Azhar the artists -For many from the looks of it, [b']Laxman is a better artist all the while being more well rounded batsman.

I disgree. He had this magical wrists along with immense power with lightest bat. The rate at which he would score his test runs were astonishing because of his terrific placement. Laxman is a fantastic pressure player, great to watch in flow. But in terms of artistry he has some shots identical to Azharuddin. Azhar got some more magical wristy shots towards square leg which was his signature shot. FYI Laxman is as much a poor player against Yorker as Azharuddin was against bouncer. In the 1990s laxman barely averaged 24 in his first 16 tests. During the same period(since Lax's debut) Azharuddin averaged 44. All Laxman's runs came in an era where tons of guys averaged over 50. Anyway that has no relevance to the discussion. http://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/stats/index.html?class=1;filter=advanced;orderby=batting_average;qualmin1=48;qualmin2=25;qualval1=batting_average;qualval2=matches;spanmax1=31+Dec+2012;spanmin1=01+Jan+2000;spanval1=span;template=results;type=batting

[pensionplan]

I disgree. He had this magical wrists along with immense power with lightest bat. The rate at which he would score his test runs were astonishing because of his terrific placement. Laxman is a fantastic pressure player, great to watch in flow. But in terms of artistry he has some shots identical to Azharuddin. Azhar got some more magical wristy shots towards square leg which was his signature shot.

Hmm..Now more BS, a signature shot to Sqaure leg...How about mid-wicket? Azhar got more magical wristy shots....WOW...Nice. What happended to those when he played in Aus, SA, WI'es? Perhaps they only work while facing less potent attacks. Look no amount of all these beating around the bush will work. We got two identical looking players one a superior all round player in VVS, and rightly leads the poll here, against the field mind you. That should tell you the tale.

FYI Laxman is as much a poor player against Yorker as Azharuddin was against bouncer. In the 1990s laxman barely averaged 24 in his first 16 tests. During the same period(since Lax's debut) Azharuddin averaged 44. All Laxman's runs came in an era where tons of guys averaged over 50. Anyway that has no relevance to the discussion.

Laxman played in the unfamiliar opening spot in the initial part of the career which surely set him back. Never being a fixture for more than 4-5 test on the trot till the end of 2000, when he rightly took a stand to only play in the midldle order. Nice try to downplay Laxman's skill in playing pace bowling, but he is a much better batsman than Azhar all said and done, with better match winning and match saving innings though that is not being discussed here as you said..

[vvvslaxman]

Hmm..Now more BS, a signature shot to Sqaure leg...How about mid-wicket? Azhar got more magical wristy shots....WOW...Nice. What happended to those when he played in Aus, SA, WI'es? Perhaps they only work while facing less potent attacks. Look no amount of all these beating around the bush will work. We got two identical looking players one a superior all round player in VVS, and rightly leads the poll here, against the field mind you. That should tell you the tale. ..

. Yes he has very poor returns in SA/OZ/WI much like Laxman got poor returns in Pak/England. Stop using filters. It is a subjective issue. As i said David Gower was another artistic player. Please don't bring in with stats of him as well.