Technically best batsmen from India of all-time

[Harsh Thakor]

This is my choice of the technically best batsmen in order of merit from India.t is not about class,talent or consistency but just corrrectness of technique. 1.Vijay Merchant Close to the perfect batsman.Don Bradman rated him amongst the best he ever saw.Merchant dominated 2 English summers in 1936 nad 1946 that no overseas batsmen ever did on wet pitches.He was never beaten by the new ball and even Madhav Mantri,Sunil Gavaskar's uncle rated Merchant marginally ahead of his nephew technically.In Mantri's view Merchant was an epitome of perfection in the nets.Merchant's batting had the precision of an architect designing a building with perfection and the skill of surgeon or technician.When batting it looked as though he was delivering a lesson from the coaching manual. 2.Sunil Gavaskar He could d tackle great pace bowling without a helmet and were at ease in all typpes of conditions.When he defended a ball .Gavaskar woul display the full face of his bat in defence and attack and was amaster of the straight drive and flicked drive through midwicket.Both had exempelary footwork and never intimidated by the short risng ball.I can never forget how Gavaskar jumped up to tackle the nasty bounce of the short rising ball.They were masters against the quick,moving and turning ball.Gavaskar's 96 in his final innings is more close to perfect than one can ever see in a batsman. 3.Sachin Tendulkar The best ever batsman in the v who executed the straight drive better than anyone.Perfect balance and co-ordination and often just leaned into ball to dispatch it to the fence.A master on good wickets as well as bad tracks.On occasions caused discomfort by the short rising ball but neverthless conquered all the great pace bowlers.Not as wristy as Lara or Azhar or as powerful as Viv Richards but posessed phenomenal timing.Mastery in defence. 4.Rahul Dravid No batsmen held the bat straighter as Rahul Dravid whose bat was like a boulder.He could bat for his life better than Tendulkar or Lara.In the orthodox sense a shade below Tendulkar but made technical adjustments which at times made him play more effectively than Sachin or Lara.At one stage he was sthe best batsman in the world technically with no apparent flaw.Had a tendency to be a little shaky at the start and often could be unsettled in the starting period.Poessed an elent of wristowrk and thus combined Gavaskar's technique with Vishwanath's wristowrk.Gret footwork but above all could adjust his batting style to any conditions . 5.Mohinder Amarnath One of the best ever exponents of the hookshot and the cover drive.In 1982-93 played Imran Khan and the great Carribaen pace battery better than any batsmen ever. compiling over 1000 runs and 4 centuries in 11 tests in Pakistan and West Indies.His played the likes of Imran,Marshall and Roberts wit flawless technique.His hooking had great composure with the command of a military marshal. 6.Gundappa Vishwanath The best ever batsmen of the square and late cut who could manipulate the best of balls with the subtle movements of his wrists.His grammar was excellent which provided the base for his unique artistry.A master on fast and bad wickets with razor sharp footwork.An architect and artist rolled into one. 7.Vijay Manjrekar Posssed supreme technique mastering all types of conditions.A superb strokemaker. 8.Vijay Hazare Almost flawless technique with a great penchant for drives.The best of bowling would not deter him. 9.Mohammad Azharudun the best leg-side batsmen of his time whose artistry was unsurpassed A master against great spin bowling. 10.V.V.S.Laxman a champion against great pace bowling and on fast wickets.

[BeautifulGame]

Shouldn't even have be a debate about this. Sachin and then followed by Sunny

[Mindreader]

Dravid after 1995,didnt watch old players

[tweaker]

Sunil Gawaskar,he played all the fast bowlers of that era without wearing helmet

[BeautifulGame]

Dravid after 1995' date='didnt watch old players[/quote'] Dravid always had an technical issue against left arm seamers angling away

[Cricketics]

Hitman Rohit Sharma

[sweetaskandy]

The answer is Gavaskar.

[Khalpat]

Dravid always had an technical issue against left arm seamers angling away

One of the shot which Dravid plays most of the time was jumping on the short pitch delivery and playing it down, the ball goes near his stump or remains at the bating crease and he starts running which 90% of the time is denied by the batsman at other end. Technically poor shot, Sachin or Sunny would leave the ball. Dravid , head is not very still while playing Drive shot. For being Technically perfect your head should be still, just look at how Tendulkar's head is still when he hits a cover Drive or Straight Drive. Look at the winning shot Dravid played in Adelaide test, which has been shown many times he hits a wide delivery pulls of his cap and starts running in joy. If you look closely it was wide ball and Dravid while hitting a cut shot do not have both his feet in parallel and straight line, I do not think you will ever find Sachin Tendulkar's both feet in different directions while playing cut shot and also basic technical flaw your right feet should be at off stump which Sachin and Sunny Gavaskar always had or for that matter Sanjay Manjrekar also. Dravid was the best defensive batsman of all time but technically, Sachin was way ahead.

[Marut]

Sunil Gawaskar' date='he played all the fast bowlers of that era without wearing helmet[/quote'] Most batsmen of that era did too, so it is even stevens.

[diga]

Tendulkar for me.. then Sunny ps: can anyone say if his vulnerability to in-swinging deliveries were a technical issue?

[Marut]

One of the shot which Dravid plays most of the time was jumping on the short pitch delivery and playing it down, the ball goes near his stump or remains at the bating crease and he starts running which 90% of the time is denied by the batsman at other end. Technically poor shot, Sachin or Sunny would leave the ball. Dravid , head is not very still while playing Drive shot. For being Technically perfect your head should be still, just look at how Tendulkar's head is still when he hits a cover Drive or Straight Drive. Look at the winning shot Dravid played in Adelaide test, which has been shown many times he hits a wide delivery pulls of his cap and starts running in joy. If you look closely it was wide ball and Dravid while hitting a cut shot do not have both his feet in parallel and straight line, I do not think you will ever find Sachin Tendulkar's both feet in different directions while playing cut shot and also basic technical flaw your right feet should be at off stump which Sachin and Sunny Gavaskar always had or for that matter Sanjay Manjrekar also. Dravid was the best defensive batsman of all time but technically, Sachin was way ahead.

Actually, I think this may have something to do with their heights. In general, it is my observation that very tall guys (6'2'' and above) or short guys (< 5'8') are good at handing short pitch/bouncy deliveries. The batsmen in the mid height range seem to have a distinct problem with these deliveries, as it is neither too high nor too low for them. Gavaskar once said that bounce was easy for him to handle, because he could just choose to leave it with very little effort due to his height. One of the reasons, Gavaskar was very successful against the WI was his short stature. While a vicious bouncer from Marshall/Garner was very intimidating to a batsman who measured 6 feet because it reached chest/neck high, but to Gavaskar it was over the head, easy to be left alone most of the time.

[Proudindian]

Ravindra Jadeja.

[Khalpat]

Actually, I think this may have something to do with their heights. In general, it is my observation that very tall guys (6'2'' and above) or short guys (< 5'8') are good at handing short pitch/bouncy deliveries. The batsmen in the mid height range seem to have a distinct problem with these deliveries, as it is neither too high nor too low for them. Gavaskar once said that bounce was easy for him to handle, because he could just choose to leave it with very little effort due to his height. One of the reasons, Gavaskar was very successful against the WI was his short stature. While a vicious bouncer from Marshall/Garner was very intimidating to a batsman who measured 6 feet because it reached chest/neck high, but to Gavaskar it was over the head, easy to be left alone most of the time.

Good observation. But again, technically perfect or even good shot is the one where you are aware after hitting the shot were is the ball and it has been lots of time that Dravid was not aware. Jumping on backfoot and pressing the ball is not a bad shot, I think Kallis also has done this many times but somehow I felt Dravid played it more often and he was not in total control.

[Sidhoni]

Sachin, Dravid

[Crookbond]

Sunil Gavaskar Vijay Manjrekar

[Raghav_12]

This has to be Sachin. His shots are picture perfect the way they should be. Straight out of the book. People confuse good defense with good technique. While Dravid may have had better defense but there were flaws in his technique which were very pronounced. He didn't play shot in easiest of the way. He made even leaving of a ball outside off stump look a complicated thing. Sachin would execute shots in most fluent manner most of the time with things in perfect balance. He may not look as elegant as Lara in flow or Laxman at times, but his technique was unquestionable.

[Number]

This has to be Sachin. His shots are picture perfect the way they should be. Straight out of the book. People confuse good defense with good technique. While Dravid may have had better defense but there were flaws in his technique which were very pronounced. He didn't play shot in easiest of the way. He made even leaving of a ball outside off stump look a complicated thing. Sachin would execute shots in most fluent manner most of the time with things in perfect balance. He may not look as elegant as Lara in flow or Laxman at times, but his technique was unquestionable.

Agree with everything. Specially the bold part.

[maniac]

This has to be Sachin. His shots are picture perfect the way they should be. Straight out of the book. People confuse good defense with good technique. While Dravid may have had better defense but there were flaws in his technique which were very pronounced. He didn't play shot in easiest of the way. He made even leaving of a ball outside off stump look a complicated thing. Sachin would execute shots in most fluent manner most of the time with things in perfect balance. He may not look as elegant as Lara in flow or Laxman at times, but his technique was unquestionable.

Agree :hatsoff:.....Sachin in the 90's was as elegant as anyone else.....yes towards the end of his career by whuch i mean not when his career was wrapping up more in his final peak years btweer 2007-2011 was a bit of a grafter but still showed some flashes of breathtaking strokeplay

[BlueBee]

Rohit, Maniac bhai ?

[Number]

Agree :hatsoff:.....Sachin in the 90's was as elegant as anyone else.....yes towards the end of his career by whuch i mean not when his career was wrapping up more in his final peak years btweer 2007-2011 was a bit of a grafter but still showed some flashes of breathtaking strokeplay

who changed your username ? lol