Steve Waugh vs Rahul Dravid (Tests)

[jaideep]

Who was the better test batsman?

 

[Coronis]

Greg Chappell.

 

[jaideep]

Greg Chappell.

Wrong thread

 

[ankitj]

This one is much closer. I will go Steve Waugh instinctively without looking at their records.

 

[OverratedSanity]

Closer than the other comparison. Will go for dravid since he batted up the order at 3 like a real man should.

 

[Burgey]

Don’t know why this comparison is closer than the other one tbh. Waugh’s record from 93-01 in a tough era is phenomenal. Tendulkar and Lara looked better but Waugh was objectively the batsman of the 90s.

 

[Slifer]

Don’t know why this comparison is closer than the other one tbh. Waugh’s record from 93-01 in a tough era is phenomenal. Tendulkar and Lara looked better but Waugh was objectively the batsman of the 90s.

Awta.

 

[ankitj]

Don’t know why this comparison is closer than the other one tbh. Waugh’s record from 93-01 in a tough era is phenomenal. Tendulkar and Lara looked better but Waugh was objectively the batsman of the 90s.

How so? Only place where Tendulkar was poor was in SA. Waugh was poor in India and SL.

 

[ankitj]

Interestingly, Lara scored "only" 13 hundreds in 90s in 112 innings. Batsmen who scored more or same number of hundreds in fewer innings: Tendulkar, Azhar, De Silva, Slater and Boon!

 

[harsh.ag]

Don’t know why this comparison is closer than the other one tbh. Waugh’s record from 93-01 in a tough era is phenomenal. Tendulkar and Lara looked better but Waugh was objectively the batsman of the 90s.

TIL

means Waugh was objectively the batsman of the 90s.

 

[Top_Cat]

Sachin dined on minnows like Australia in the 90s, therefore, Waugh easily.

 

[Xuhaib]

TIL

means Waugh was objectively the batsman of the 90s.

Sachin numbers are insane this was golden decade for ATG pacers.

 

[ankitj]

Sachin numbers are insane this was golden decade for ATG pacers.

10 out of top 25 bowlers in DoG's recent list of bowlers were active in mid to late 90s. Great era.

 

[trundler]

Don’t know why this comparison is closer than the other one tbh. Waugh’s record from 93-01 in a tough era is phenomenal. Tendulkar and Lara looked better but Waugh was objectively the batsman of the 90s.

I'm interested why you rate Chappell so low compared to others.

 

[Slifer]

How so? Only place where Tendulkar was poor was in SA. Waugh was poor in India and SL.

Not saying I agree that Steve was greater than srt during the 90s but Steve did have very good series vs all the great attacks of his time ie averaging 50+ . He did it vs rsa, Pakistan and wi. Sachin as far as I remember sucked (relatively speaking) vs rsa and Pakistan. Did very good in his only series vs Ambrose and did good vs Australia in the only series where they had a great attack (99 series). Sachin averaged 58 in the 90s but he sure as hell didnt average close to that overall vs the great attacks of the 90s.

 

[Zinzan]

Don’t know why this comparison is closer than the other one tbh. Waugh’s record from 93-01 in a tough era is phenomenal. Tendulkar and Lara looked better but Waugh was objectively the batsman of the 90s.

Objectively better with an objectively worse record? How does that work?

 

[TestMatch]

No other batsman of the 90s tamed great bowlers like Waugh did.

Waugh averaged 61 with 23 centuries from 1993 to 2001.

His away average for the same period was 62, very high when compared to Tendy's average of 49 outside the subcontinent in the 90s (over 20 percent of Tendy's runs came from beating up SL on subcon tracks).

And Waugh averaged in the 60s vs all teams, except Sri Lanka, whom he averaged in the 100s, and India, who he averaged 49. But what's staggering is that Waugh averaged in the mid 40s vs Pakistan. I can't think of anyone averaging higher vs that great Pak attack.

And remember Waugh played three iconic series vs tough West Indian attacks. The 95 and 99 WI vs Aus battles were particularly epic, Waugh weathering the storm in 95 and doing even better in 99 (a century and a 199). You can't envision the moment WI cricket dies without seeing Waugh's annoyingly steely eyed grimace.

Waugh also averaged 68 vs Alan Donald in 12 tests, with 2 centuries and 4 scores in the 80/90 range. Again, nobody else in this period was doing this well vs Donald. As a comparison, these are Lara and Tendy's stats vs Donald:

Lara's average vs Donald in the 1990s in test's home and away = 40 and 31
Lara's average vs Donald in the 1990s in odis home and away = 136 and 38.5

Tendulkar's average vs Donald in the 1990s in test's home and away = 17 and 36
Tendulkar's average vs Donald in the 1990s in odis home and away = 28 and 21

The big criticism of Waugh is his slow, defensive batting, but that was true of Dravid as well. They were also both pampered by relatively strong teammates; Steve had Border, Ponting, Boon and Mark Waugh around him for most of his career, always somebody solid surrounding him, which allowed him to drop anchor and play conservatively. Dravid sort of had the same luxury, though you feel with Dravid it bizarrely worked the other way around; the Indian team had the luxury of Dravid.

 

[srbhkshk]

So basically Waugh is better when you remove all places/bowlers where/against whom Tendulkar did better than Waugh. Will agree.

 

[Burgey]

Yeah, my premise for saying Waugh was the player of that period is basically as set out by Test Match. He massively influenced a **** load of series he played in during that era - 95, 99 vs WI; virtually every series vs SA. The Saffers used to call him the Iron Man, and virtually conceded their inability to win vs Australia pretty much came down to him at times. He basically did it all, home and away, from 93 through to 2001. Bloke was a machine.

Obviously over the course of their careers I would put Lara and Tendulkar ahead of him, but for the 90s I'd have Waugh over either of them tbh.

 

[Burgey]

So basically Waugh is better when you remove all places/bowlers where/against whom Tendulkar did better than Waugh. Will agree.

Lol, Waugh's record in the 90s is a lot more complete than Tendulkar's, and far more so than Lara's. Lara had a real trough before 99 (happens to the best).