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Sobers vs Viv vs Lara

The Best WI Batsman

  • Sobers

    Votes: 28 43.1%
  • Richards

    Votes: 17 26.2%
  • Lara

    Votes: 12 18.5%
  • Headley

    Votes: 8 12.3%

  • Total voters
    65

kyear2

International Coach
Kinda on topic but how would we rank the next group below the big 4:

Weekes
Kanhai
Worrell
Walcott
Chanderpaul


Lloyd
Hunte
Greenidge
Nurse
Richardson
Kallicharan
Disagree slightly.

I don't like Chanderpaul, so may be a little biased.

But

Lloyd
Greenidge
Chanderpaul


Richardson
Hunte
Nurse
Kallicharan
 

Burgey

Request Your Custom Title Now!
Basically u accept what suits you and reject what does not. Sure.
Isn’t the difference that Warne has a well known beef against Steve Waugh which colours his opinion whereas he doesn’t have a known beef against Tendulkar or a love child with Sidhu?

Not that I really care one way or t’other tbh. Unless he’s playing at home, Sidhu is likely out before Warne gets to bowl anyway
 

Red

The normal awards that everyone else has
I can’t believe I just opened the last page and people are literally saying ‘aura’ and ‘swagger’. How many layers of irony are we operating at here and how many people do you think Viv beat up behind the grandstands on a typical day.
Ask guys who played against him, or read what they said about him.
 

honestbharani

Whatever it takes!!!
Isn’t the difference that Warne has a well known beef against Steve Waugh which colours his opinion whereas he doesn’t have a known beef against Tendulkar or a love child with Sidhu?
Exactly, but that was not what subshakerz was saying though. His opinion is hardly anything to consider in most cases AFAIC.
 

subshakerz

Hall of Fame Member
Isn’t the difference that Warne has a well known beef against Steve Waugh which colours his opinion whereas he doesn’t have a known beef against Tendulkar or a love child with Sidhu?

Not that I really care one way or t’other tbh. Unless he’s playing at home, Sidhu is likely out before Warne gets to bowl anyway
Yeah I thought he would get the reference of Warne's beef with Waugh.
 

subshakerz

Hall of Fame Member
Exactly, but that was not what subshakerz was saying though. His opinion is hardly anything to consider in most cases AFAIC.
Um, it was what I was saying. He downgrades Steve Waugh in his rating of him because of petty personal issues. But that doesnt affect Sidhu.

I dont consider Warne's word as gospel but I can consider his opinion of batsmen who are good at playing spin as that would be something he knows better than others (aside from Salim Malik).
 

subshakerz

Hall of Fame Member
Sidhu arguably not even in the top 5 Indian batsmen against spin, let alone better than Tendulkar. The guy snacked some good cameos, he wasn't some unstoppable beast, its the silliest thing.
One thing common in both Sidhu and Sehwag when it came to playing spin was their fearlessness in coming down the track. Sidhu mentioned once that spinners are limited in having to bowl to one sort of good length compared to pacers and therefore can be effectively countered if batsmen use their feet.
 

Arachnodouche

International Captain
Not sure what more Sidhu could've done to demonstrate his prowess against spin tbh. SL were the only spin-based attack he faced and he ground out runs for fun against them. The overwhelming memory I have of him against spin, from when I was rather young, admittedly, is of a smothering, sure-footed presence; tall guy unlike most Indian batsmen, so had a long lunge forward, but was equally adept at going back and tucking the ball behind square. And of course, none of that cat-and-mouse bullshit bringing close-in fielders into play when he charged out; when he went down the wicket he was going big and fielders under the lid best be shielding their nuts and skulls.
 

ankitj

Hall of Fame Member
Sidhu arguably not even in the top 5 Indian batsmen against spin, let alone better than Tendulkar. The guy snacked some good cameos, he wasn't some unstoppable beast, its the silliest thing.
This.

I mean yes, he had one good series against Warne and one against Murali when he was a barely OK bowler. But to be in contention for best players of spin you have to demonstrate that you can repeatedly dominate a variety of them even as they keep reinventing their bowling and plans. Lara and Tendulkar did this. Sidhu hasn't demonstrated it and he just didn't have the level of resilience for me to trust he would have consistently done it over 2 decades.

It's like putting Mohinder Amarnath at Gavaskar/Richards level when it comes to playing pace bowling. Amarnath played some stunning knocks in WI that he and India can be proud of. But over an extended career I would back Gavaskar to outdo him if they started all over again.
 

subshakerz

Hall of Fame Member
This.

I mean yes, he had one good series against Warne and one against Murali when he was a barely OK bowler. But to be in contention for best players of spin you have to demonstrate that you can repeatedly dominate a variety of them even as they keep reinventing their bowling and plans. Lara and Tendulkar did this. Sidhu hasn't demonstrated it and he just didn't have the level of resilience for me to trust he would have consistently done it over 2 decades.

It's like putting Mohinder Amarnath at Gavaskar/Richards level when it comes to playing pace bowling. Amarnath played some stunning knocks in WI that he and India can be proud of. But over an extended career I would back Gavaskar to outdo him if they started all over again.
I think Sidhu had a reputation for being exceptional against spin from the late 80s onwards. But yeah would put Lara and Sehwag over him as spin players I have seen, and maybe others like Salim Malik, Laxman or Azharuddin. Not sure about Tendulkar who seemed to struggle at times against particular spinners.
 

Shri

Mr. Glass
I think Sidhu had a reputation for being exceptional against spin from the late 80s onwards. But yeah would put Lara and Sehwag over him as spin players I have seen, and maybe others like Salim Malik, Laxman or Azharuddin. Not sure about Tendulkar who seemed to struggle at times against particular spinners.
i enjoyed the way tendulkar played ajmal in the 2011 wc semi final that still makes ajmal cry about some lbw that everyone else has forgotten
 

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