Brendon McCullum vs M.S. Dhoni

[99*]

Well I wanted to make a battle thread, so here it is.

Who IYO will end as the better wicketkeeper-batsman in tests? Both right now are very close to each other in terms of statistics, so I though these two would be good to compare.

So, who is better now, and who will end up better when both finish?

 

[Somerset]

Personally I think McCullum will end up the better player though Dhoni will recieve a great amount of publicity and acknowledgment at the end of his career.

 

[silentstriker]

So, who is better now, and who will end up better when both finish?

You asked two questions and there is one poll. Which one do you want us to answer in the poll?

 

[Richard]

Dhoni the better ODI batsman by several million light-years, McCullum unquestionably with more potential as a Test batsman IMO but so far both decidedly poor.

Based on that, irrelevant-third it has to be.

 

[Leslie1]

Dhoni is a captain, and a better test batsman just because McCullum bats like the way he bats come hell high water, even when having to save a test.

McCullum is a one season good, next season average type of player. So far. His averages tend to suggest that. His test batting technique is definitely not for the purists. If we play a steady diet of 20 20 and ODIs, McCullum will benefit in the long run.

So I think Dhoni is better now, and will be better than McCullum when both retires. Long way to go yet though.

 

[99*]

You asked two questions and there is one poll. Which one do you want us to answer in the poll?

Sorry, who will be better.

 

[social]

Whilst Dhoni's keeping has improved markedly, it's no better than McCullum's.

Meanwhile, the latter is quickly developing into an extremely dangerous batsman whilst the former is on the slide

Today - McCullum

Future - ditto

 

[shortpitched713]

The poll clearly asks who is better though. So I went with that.

Its hard to tell how they both might improve or not. I'd say they're both likely to remain at a similar level to what they are at right now, and overall I'd have to say they're very close.

 

[Richard]

The poll clearly asks who is better though. So I went with that.

Polls between players whose careers are still in motion are such tricky things.

 

[ret]

It's pretty close but Dhoni will end up being more successful, esp with his ability to get big ones like his 150 odd against Pak, along with a few big ones that he has got in the ODIs .... and he will make a good captain too

 

[Prince EWS]

Dhoni quite easily. McCullum's over-ratedness is beyond a joke now.

 

[Somerset]

Dhoni quite easily. McCullum's over-ratedness is beyond a joke now.

Not sure how he can be so over-rated given hes averaged 50+ in ODIs since the 2007 World Cup and has looked one of the most dangerous batsman in world cricket since the tournament.

 

[Richard]

But he's played 11 innings against ODI-standard teams in that time, all as an opener. And I'll almost eat my computer if McCullum ends-up a terribly good ODI opener. Bashing England around means little. And it's hardly like he was phenomenal in his whole 6 games against South Africa and Australia - 1 big knock against both sides (seem to recall him being dropped early in the one against Australia too, though may be mistaken), 1 40 and 3 failures. Hardly compelling. McCullum has much to do if he wants to be a ODI-standard batsman, never mind a ODI-standard opener, and the way people talk, well - you said it, "one of the most dangerous batsmen going around". Not a chance.

 

[Somerset]

Obviously averaging 50+ isn't enough these days then. Given the quality of the Australian and South African attacks to make one big score in three knocks against them each is pretty reasonable IMO. The English attack consisted of Sidebottom who was oustanding throughout the whole series, Broad who was impressive and Anderson who probably should've been a bit better - though thats hardly Brendon's problem.

 

[Prince EWS]

Not sure how he can be so over-rated given hes averaged 50+ in ODIs since the 2007 World Cup and has looked one of the most dangerous batsman in world cricket since the tournament.

That's the sort of talk that makes him over-rated in my eyes. So much talk of him being the form batsman in the world and he delivered squat in the Test series. His Test career has been ordinary at best as he's not even half as good as his fans would have you believe.

Yes, he's having a purple patch in ODI cricket at the moment and he may well actually carry that form on for longer than 35 seconds. He's shown nothing at all to suggest he's worthy of being compared to Dhoni in Test though, really.

 

[Somerset]

Agreed he failed to deliver on any massive scale in the England test series though he still averaged 35 against the English. Better than his career average and that was still disappointing. Since the 2007 World Cup, Dhoni averages 37.5 (which is bumped up by a good series against Bangladesh) which puts things into perspective a little.

 

[Richard]

Dhoni against ODI-standard teams from his first game after WC2007 to the end of the VB Series 2007/08 averaged 40.77. In 29 innings. McCullum, on the other hand, averaged 48.90 in 11 innings.

Not really compelling, for my money.

 

[silentstriker]

I count Tests, and Dhoni has become a very good Test wicketkeeper. He has not become an acceptable Test wicketkeeper-batsman yet. He has way too many brain freezes. I have not seen McCullum in Tests behind the stumps much, so I won't vote on this till I see a little bit more of him.

 

[Richard]

McCullum's a very fine wicketkeeper.

Usually.

His batting, though, has regressed horribly of late, and don't anyone try and pretend it's solely due to the recent fanaticism with absurdly quick scoring (much as that hasn't helped in his last 3 games, he's actually done much better in those 3 than the previous 7).

After a highly promising start to his Test career in 2004, 2005 and 2006 (where he scored against every Test-class team he came-up against except Australia) he's tapered-off badly. And in his last 10 Tests he averages less than 24.

In fact, out of 26 Tests against Test-class teams in 4 years (reflective of New Zealand's itinerary if ever), 19 of these (including 35 innings out of 45) have come against England, South Africa and Australia. He's yet to even face India or Pakistan and has batted just 3 times against West Indies.

 

[haroon510]

McCullum got my vote here.. just cuz he is a better wicket keeper..