The Greatest Cricketer Ever

[silentstriker]

Or Lara. Plenty of Indian fans I know rate him above Tendulkar.

But this angle is so much easier.

 

[Jono]

Of course it has nothing to do with Ponting's poor/aggressive attitude on occasions.

 

[Athlai]

Outside of Indian media and other media pandering to it, Tendulkar seems like a genuinely good bloke while Ponting seems a bit of a dickhead at times.

Whether it's right or wrong a person's opinion on a player's character affects their view on their ability too.

 

[honestbharani]

Meh, It's one thing to call someone calling Sachin the best ludicrous and completely another to say they had ulterior motives for doing so. If Kane Williamson, Nasser Hussian, Graham Onions and Phil Hughes think Sachin is the greatest batsman of all-time, it might be regarded as a fail opinion considering Bradman is a lot better than him but it's lolworthy and insulting to say they're doing it for media attention or headlines and don't genuinely believe in their opinion.

How is any of this relevant to what I said? All I was trying to say was that when Gavaskar praises Sachin, he does that in a sincere manner and not to jump on a bandwagon like some of others in the Indian media do..

 

[Tom 1972]

I think that another reason as to why Bradman was so remarkable was that he had an eight year gap in his career due to WW2 (like a handful of others I guess), from when was 30-38 years old. For many players, their early-mid 30s is the prime of their career.

And came back for a couple of years after the war, aged ~38 and averaged >105.

Wish there was more footage of him batting.

 

[Spark]

Oh, I remember this thread. Man this was funny.

 

[GotSpin]

I think that another reason as to why Bradman was so remarkable was that he had an eight year gap in his career due to WW2 (like a handful of others I guess), from when was 30-38 years old. For many players, their early-mid 30s is the prime of their career.

And came back for a couple of years after the war, aged ~38 and averaged >105.

Wish there was more footage of him batting.

He was actually really ill during the war years as well. I believe he temporarily lost feeling in his left or right thumb. But you're still right, he did lose the prime years of his career for one reason or another

 

[vcs]

Exactly which cricinfo article are people talking about here? While I accept they do get effusive in their praise for Tendulkar (probably more so than other cricketers, though that is entirely subjective), I have not seen them trying to pull any of his contemporaries down by making unnecessary comparisons, etc.

 

[Cevno]

Both are Marathi. Both are from Mumbai. Gavaskar is very patriotic.

Cricinfo is taking big advantage of Tendulkar popularity. I mean when he does something semi-special there is such a big thing and when it's someone else, meh. It has become so obvious now. It's hard to blame them though. Large part of their audience are Indian fans. Indians love when something about them is praised. So it has become a perfect way to attract more viewers and eventually make tons of money.

To be fair they have had huge pieces on Kallis and Steyn too.

Infact there coverage of Kallis was on par even with,if not bigger than Sachin's 50 centuries in the INDIA - SA series.

So do not know where you are coming from here.
I guess there is a preconceived notion that they are only praising Sachin due to their number of viewers.

And in any case there are a large number of Indians too who like to more criticise their own rather than praise them.

Notice how Ponting is portrayed as well. Everyone knows that large part of Indian fans don't like Ponting b/c one he is on par with Tendulkar and two he is an Australian. Every time Tendulkar succeeds and every time Ponting fails, there is some sort of comparison going on trying to make Tendulkar look better. Indian fans bite that, hence more money for Cricinfo.

Really?

There were the same comparisons between Ponting and Tendulkar when Tendulkar was going to his lean patch and Ponting was on the top.
And maybe Ian Chappell was the head of the queue at that.

And the only recent direct comparison they did was between Kallis,Sachin and Ponting i think.

And maybe the recent run out one -

Where Sachin despite being run out by Sehwag walked off calmly and forgave Sehwag ,while Ponting kicked up a fuss and was abusing being out to a great piece of fielding and broke the television in the dressing room too.

And i am not even sure they mentioned it.

 

[Spark]

Still doesn't justify the calls in parts of the Indian media for Ponting to be banned though, which I have seen.

 

[Maximus0723]

Er, fair points but I am not going to dig up article(s). When I read the articles, especially when Ponting fails, I get that impression.

I understand the points about Kallis and your are right, but I wasn't referring to him. I understand that you talked about him to show that Cricinfo doesn't only just praise Tendulkar but others as well. But still Ponting is treated little harshly.

I can't comment on how Cricinfo when Ponting was going good and Tendulkar wasn't. Basically pre-08. At that time, I just used Cricinfo to check scores.

 

[Teja.]

I'll take any opportunity when his name comes up to say I think Ian Chappel is a dickhead. Apart from me detesting his entire outlook towards the game, He really makes some very moronic calls sometimes. After Sachin got out for 120(115), He said words to the effect of It's good for India that he got out, You wouldn't want India chasing in the WC final and Tendulkar batting slowly for his 100th 100. What an idiot. The exact words are somewhere in the match thread.

 

[Spark]

He's a dick, but a dick who knows a fair bit about the game, has opinions on it, and isn't afraid to share them. Worth listening to IMO.

 

[Shri]

Ian Chappell is a gun. I like his taste in players and I agree with a lot of what he has to say.

 

[smash84]

To be fair they have had huge pieces on Kallis and Steyn too.

Infact there coverage of Kallis was on par even with,if not bigger than Sachin's 50 centuries in the INDIA - SA series.

So do not know where you are coming from here.
I guess there is a preconceived notion that they are only praising Sachin due to their number of viewers.

And in any case there are a large number of Indians too who like to more criticise their own rather than praise them.




Really?

There were the same comparisons between Ponting and Tendulkar when Tendulkar was going to his lean patch and Ponting was on the top.
And maybe Ian Chappell was the head of the queue at that.

And the only recent direct comparison they did was between Kallis,Sachin and Ponting i think.

And maybe the recent run out one -

Where Sachin despite being run out by Sehwag walked off calmly and forgave Sehwag ,while Ponting kicked up a fuss and was abusing being out to a great piece of fielding and broke the television in the dressing room too.

And i am not even sure they mentioned it.

You make some very good points here.

Having seen some other forums I must say that there isn't really much Tendy fanboyism here on CW (except for some Vishnu Kumars propping up at times). There is usually a balance in praising him and identifying his weaknesses.

I'll take any opportunity when his name comes up to say I think Ian Chappel is a dickhead. Apart from me detesting his entire outlook towards the game, He really makes some very moronic calls sometimes. After Sachin got out for 120(115), He said words to the effect of It's good for India that he got out, You wouldn't want India chasing in the WC final and Tendulkar batting slowly for his 100th 100. What an idiot. The exact words are somewhere in the match thread.

 

[Teja.]

My main criticism of him is that for Ian Chappell, a lot of the time, The need to be brutal overshadows the need to be completely honest and rational, IMHO.

He's a lot better than 80% of commentators though in that he actually has opinions about most things and is not a cheerleader.

 

[salman85]

I think every commentator has a tendency to blab utter nonsense once in a blue moon.Even the best ones.Chappell belongs in the upper tier,and well,is prone to nonsense occasionaly too.That's never changed my opinion of him TBH.I think he's fantastic.

You bring up the brutal vs rational thing.Maybe that's just Chapell's way,his personal rationale,will sound Brutal.You might not agree with it,but that's just him.

 

[vcs]

Teja, where did you hear the Chappell comments? I watched the entire match here on ESPN in India and most of the commentary was done by Nass, Atherton and Botham.

As for not liking what the media says about your favourite cricketers/teams when they go through a slump, it's not rocket science really.. don't read it. There were plenty of calls from cricinfo calling for Tendulkar's retirement during his slump. It's the media's job to exaggerate these things. Of course, the Indian media is unadulterated tripe and to be avoided at all times.

 

[Teja.]

Teja, where did you hear the Chappell comments? I watched the entire match here on ESPN in India and most of the commentary was done by Nass, Atherton and Botham.

Some guy posted it with a link(iirc) in the Eng-Ind thread.

As for not liking what the media says about your favourite cricketers/teams when they go through a slump, it's not rocket science really.. don't read it. There were plenty of calls from cricinfo calling for Tendulkar's retirement during his slump. It's the media's job to exaggerate these things. Of course, the Indian media is unadulterated tripe and to be avoided at all times.

Yeah, AWTA.

 

[Ikki]

Interesting that Indian fans had no problem with Steve Waugh when he was Sachin's greatest rival.

That's because whilst the comparison is there, it is much less of a threat to Tendulkar's standing.

True, a lot of Indian fans appreciate Lara, but whenever the discussion arises there is plenty said against him. I also get the feeling that Lara seems to be used as a buffer these days to further distance Ponting from Tendulkar - where Sachin's fans are more willing to put Lara on a pedestal because he stacks up better statistically to him than Ponting.

Most of this doesn't really apply to CW but a lot of sites in which Indian fans frequent you almost feel like they are fishing for hits.