Swingpanzee
International Regular
What happened to Hazlewood? Surely he can bowl now if it was just a cramp?
I must admit, I've always held Gavaskar in the highest regard based on his 13 (IIRC) hundreds against the Windies, so taking that article with a pinch of salt. To counter that article, I've heard many opposition players from his era suggesting what you have.Meh, even if you filter for purely in matches when 2 or more ATG pacers were bowling, Gavaskar was still exceptional and better than pretty much anyone in the world at accumulating vs great quicks. You'd have to do an analysis like 'It was a hot day in Madras so his 236 in a series where Holding and Marshall took 60 wickets @ 20 doesn't count" to discount his record. He obviously doesn't average 70 vs. the absolute best WI attacks he faced but who does?
Gavaskar was also the only batsman with the technique to open the batting and score run-a-ball hundreds against the great WI attack.
What's admirable is that Gavaskar actually played at the worst possible time for an opener in cricket history and had a career significantly longer than Sehwag and Hayden. Their weaknesses which made them frustrating were also his strengths.If you open the batting you're not going to always have the prettiest record even if you're great. Look at the averages of great openers compared to great middle order batsmen.
Most of the 50+ opening batsmen I can think of played in ancient times. Gavaskar and Hayden the two modern 50+ guys. I'd have to double check Smith (who I regard as better than Hayden) and Sehwag.
Yeah, fair enough. My bad but I often just get riled up when this 'myth' thing comes up because averaging 50 instead of 70 vs Marshall, Holding and bros is no disgrace.I must admit, I've always held Gavaskar in the highest regard based on his 13 (IIRC) hundreds against the Windies, so taking that article with a pinch of salt. To counter that article, I've heard many opposition players from his era suggesting what you have.