KL Rahul can be our regular Keeper.......VOTE VOTE VOTE

[Marut]

Dhoni's runs are no where close to Dravid despite being higher average and about similar number of matches.

Quality wise Dravid was much better than Dhoni outside Asia. Only Tendulkar can compete with Dravid outside Asia. Dravid averages 51 in SA with eight fifties in 12 games.

[Vijy]

a career avg difference of 6-7 is not much . Rainas SR was 93 . Overall it looks like Tendulkars avg took the biggest dip overseas . 35 @ SR of 80

As stated above by me, his record as an opener is really the defining trait - from 1994 - 2011 (17 yrs) his outside-SC avg (mostly as opener) was 43+ at a SR of 85+, very close to his eventual stats. For so many years, he was utterly wasted as a middle order bat.

[Vijy]

Agree. But openers tend to have higher strike rates since the mid 90s' date=' and so do the middle order. In ODIs, #3-#4 generally have inferior strike rates compared to #1,2,5,6 players, but they usually have somewhat higher averages. The middle overs in ODIs are not conducive for boundary hitting so runs are harder to come by.[/quote'] Yes, I agree. Esp about the avgs, which is one reason that SRT's avg as opener (43+) outside Asia is so amazing.

[Vijy]

Even Ajay Jadeja averages more than Raina and Yuvraj outside Asia.

Ajay Jadeja and Azhar (and Sidhu to some extent) were the only other class ODI bats of the 90s along with SRT before Ganguly and Dravid burst onto the scene.

[Vijy]

To bring thread back, partially: does KL Rahul have it in him to replace Dhobi in ODIs as keeper-batsman? I don't think so - more apt candidates will prob emerge.

[Marut]

He played some of the most Crucial knocks helping India chase totals which we sued to Suck at till then ' date=' while some of the so called "best batsmen" where busy inflating their stats top of the order . Lets give credit where its due .[/quote'] How Dravid fared against other keepers during his keeping days? Only Gilchrist was better.

[Trichromatic]

Dravid was one of our best ODI batsman outside Asia, perhaps better than even Tendulkar. A bit strange when you think that some Indians think he was in the side due to his keeping. :haha: Some of our best ODI bats could not make runs outside Asia - check Sehwag, Raina, Yuvraj etc, Look at the number of Dravid 50's outside Asia!!

[Vijy]

How Dravid fared against other keepers during his keeping days? Only Gilchrist was better.

Gilly had a higher SR but that can be expected when aggressive players open and go over the infield. Avg still counts for a lot in ODIs, and Dravid was Gilly's superior on this count.

[Marut]

Gilly had a higher SR but that can be expected when aggressive players open and go over the infield. Avg still counts for a lot in ODIs' date=' and Dravid was Gilly's superior on this count.[/quote'] Look at the boundary and sixes column for Gilly. That guy is a freak, if he gets a 50 the match is over.

[Vijy]

Look at the boundary and sixes column for Gilly. That guy is a freak' date=' if he gets a 50 the match is over.[/quote'] Should really look at wins then... and see how records stack up. I have a feeling that good 'ol Dravid should be fine. I don't think Dravid is seriously Gilly's equal as a keeper-batsman, but it is fair to say that he was as important to India as Gilly was to Aus during this period; perhaps even more so.

[Marut]

Should really look at wins then... and see how records stack up. I have a feeling that good 'ol Dravid should be fine. I don't think Dravid is seriously Gilly's equal as a keeper-batsman' date=' but it is fair to say that he was as important to India as Gilly was to Aus during this period; perhaps even more so.[/quote'] Dravid was not a complete ODI batsman - his strike rates aren't the problem per se (as they are not too different from "aggressive" ODI batsmen like Ganguly) but generally he could not accelerate at will. Which is perhaps why he is not among top five ODI batsmen from India inspite of having awesome stats. He would be an invaluable asset on a difficult 240 run wicket (esp outside Asia), but not so much on a 300 run featherbed.

[Vijy]

Dravid was not a complete ODI batsman - his strike rates aren't the problem per se (as they are not too different from "aggressive" ODI batsmen like Ganguly) but generally he could not accelerate at will. Which is perhaps why he is not among top five ODI batsmen from India inspite of having awesome stats. He would be an invaluable asset on a difficult 240 run wicket (esp outside Asia)' date=' but not so much on a 300 run featherbed.[/quote'] One batsman scoring at 80 SR would not hamper the team too much. I'd put Dravid at No.5 or No. 6 in our best ever ODI bats - Dhobi, Kohli, SRT, Ganguly and X. X can be any of Dravid, Jadeja, Yuvraj, Raina or Gambhir. Azhar and Sidhu were also pretty good for their era (80s and 90s); Dhawan's present record is excellent and Nohit's is continually improving.

[Marut]

Tendulkar slightly improved his outside Asia records during the later part of his career, while Dravid came down. But during the tougher 90s era, Dravid was one of our best ODI batsmen outside Asia. Even if you consider the matches where Tendulkar was batting at #1, his away records don't improve. Throughout the 90s at the peak of his prowess, Sachin could make only three 100s outside Asia and all these three 100s were against Zimbabwe and Kenya. Thus any one claiming that Dravid was struggling to find a place in the side and had to resort to the gloves to save his place in the side hasn't checked out how our batsmen fared outside Asia in the 90s.

[zakk]

not good idea :headshake:

[Vijy]

Tendulkar slightly improved his outside Asia records during the later part of his career' date=' while Dravid came down. But during the tougher 90s era, Dravid was one of our best ODI batsmen outside Asia. Even if you consider the matches where Tendulkar was batting at #1, his away records don't improve. Throughout the 90s at the peak of his prowess, Sachin could make only three 100s outside Asia and all these three 100s were against Zimbabwe and Kenya. Thus any one claiming that Dravid was struggling to find a place in the side and had to resort to the gloves to save his place in the side hasn't checked out how our batsmen fared outside Asia in the 90s.[/quote'] But SRT was crap at ODIs until 1996 (he was decent in 1994-95 and ordinary before that). The WC in 1996 changed a lot of things, batting finally started to change in ODIs, and it's no coincidence that Dravid and Gangs did better. Ganguly, if I remember correctly, was quite possibly India's best ODI bat in 1996-2000?