Both Gambhir and Laxman are exceptional players of spin bowling. I think it's fair to say out of the current Indian batsman that Gambhir would rank as #1 as far as ability against the slow bowlers is concerned, while Laxman is simply a magnificent player of spin.
Barring Tendulkar and a Dravid at his prime.
Well, yes and no. Obviously Gambhir has been playing spin in this series much better than Tendulkar and Dravid, and also in general over the last year or so, where Gambhir has emerged as an effective Twenty20 and ODI batsman. It's also logical that a batsman of Dravid's calibre will play spin bowling better when he is in prime form, but that is almost irrelevant as you aren't comparing two players equally.
cricinfo article said:
I think Gambhir has definitely played spin better than Dravid this series. But Tendulkar? Well the stats doesnt say so. Tendulkar has played Mendis quite superbly the whole series, scoring at a Strike rate of over 90 ( 53 off 57 balls) and not got out even once to him. Of course another matter he did get out to Murali two times, So did Gambhir. So I won't go to the extent of calling Gambhir a better player of spin bowling than Gambhir at the moment. He is just too new and raw for that. Atleast in the Test format.
Hmm.. I was following entire series on ESPN STAR, and Cricinfo, such a comment did escape me. However, Australia is hardly the place to judge one's ability to play the slower variety. Still Gambhir I would say currently is the second best overall player of spin in the Indian ranks. I think a certain Shane Warne would second my opinion.
When I made my initial comment about Gambhir's ability in comparison to Tendulkar, I wasn't specifically referring to Mendis in the current series, as I am well aware that Tendulkar hasn't been dismissed by the young mystery spinner. However, there are two spinners playing in the series and Gambhir has been the one to score runs against both Muralitharan and Mendis bowling in tandem. Tendulkar is one of the greatest batsmen the world of cricket has seen, but I do think that Gambhir is the best player of spin bowling in the Indian side. Obviously Tendulkar a bigger reputation due to his feats at international level, but for me, Gambhir is more able and comfortable.
I'm fairly certain that there was discussion amongst the commentators during the CB series about Gambhir's ability against spin bowling, and I am also pretty sure that the CricketWeb community gave it a fair amount of thought, and there were quite a few members who heaped praise upon Gambhir for the way he plays spin so effectively.
He probably would, as Tendulkar played some magnificent innings against Warne during his career. However, I don't think that Gambhir faced Warne extensively in Test cricket, so any claim that Warne would support your opinion is slightly misleading, as Warne would be biased towards Tendulkar due to the history between the two, whereas he has barely bowled to Gambhir.
...or at all.
Yeah, wasn't exactly sure whether they had faced each other in Test cricket or not, but I had a feeling they may have. My mistake.
You mean he will ionvent a new mystery ball every time his old one is figured out. I hope I live to see that. We would have discovered the greatest cricketer, nay greatest sportsman, ever and so close from home - WOW.
SJS doesn't know what he's talking about. Mendis to invent everything from a teesra to pachaswa.
Oh my God. It's a good job no one asked you to list them then isn't it?
May be you want Nasser Hussain?
To do what?
