bagapath
International Captain
Of course it depends on the team composition. Of course I get it.Well it obviously depends on the composition of the rest of the team; that's the point we've been trying to make to you.
I think if you took a cross section of every team in the history of cricket, more of them would benefit more from replacing a player with Imran than replacing a player with Sobers, which is why I rate Imran higher. However, stacking the deck with a certain team composition with an obvious requirement as you did with your ten player team doesn't really help to answer the question.
I can settle for the answer you are giving. I could have settled for it long before this discussion even began. But I am trying to deal with the question this thread is addressing.
I am just trying to ask myself where my heart is leaning. Do I want the superbat+fifthbowler Sobers or superbowler+hardworkingbat Imran if I have to choose only one of them? Considering I have seen a lot of Imran's career as it was unfolding, and seen Sobers in vintage cricket footage and read a lot of stuff written about them both, I can be reasonably sure how good they were in their primary and secondary roles and also as a package. The question is, who is the superior cricketer?
Taking them both in my team is an obvious choice; it also makes this whole thread irrelevant.
Using different permutations for the team composition....
Knowing their strengths and weaknesses....
Understanding the value they bring to the team....
Gun to my head...
Who do I choose?
You are welcome to say you would choose one of them conditionally, or choose one of them in most circumstances. Saying you will choose both doesn't serve the purpose of this thread.
Of course they both were outstanding cricketers.
Of course they both can walk into almost all ATG teams.
But who deserves to be in more such teams than the other one?