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Kevin Pietersen vs VVS Laxman

Who was the better test batsman?

  • Total voters
    42
S

subshakerz

Hall of Fame Member
Laxman for all his top innings had a ridiculously good cushion batting late in the order after Sehwag, Dravid and Tendulkar for much of his career.

KP had more pressure he dealt with IMO plus fresher bowlers. And as mentioned, he had an extra gear of attack which Laxman didn't.
 
BazBall21

BazBall21

International Captain
Pietersen batting higher up the order is a very reasonable point and why I thought Laxman winning this by a huge margin was unfair despite his markedly superior longevity. It enabled Pietersen to make more big hundreds and comfortably more hundreds per innings. Batting 5/6 in a robust batting lineup is also a noteworthy blanket that helped a player who wasn't too great against lateral movement. I also read somewhere that Laxman's record in instances where he arrived at the crease with the team score below 100 is poor, indicating that he would struggle more batting higher up.
 
BazBall21

BazBall21

International Captain
The longevity point I understand, but affording so much weighting to one innings, which Laxman does benefit from, is a nonsense, and I think the extent of the cushion he was provided with has been undersold here. The average score upon his crease arrival will be thunderously high. Kevin had a decent cushion of his own, but he came in early far more frequently. Seventeen hundreds in 134 tests and a worse record against swing than Pietersen against any bowling type too. VVS isn't without his issues and this is a close one.
 
S

subshakerz

Hall of Fame Member
BazBall21 said:
The longevity point I understand, but affording so much weighting to one innings, which Laxman does benefit from, is a nonsense, and I think the extent of the cushion he was provided with has been undersold here. The average score upon his crease arrival will be thunderously high. Kevin had a decent cushion of his own, but he came in early far more frequently. Seventeen hundreds in 134 tests and a worse record against swing than Pietersen against any bowling type too. VVS isn't without his issues and this is a close one.
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KP was basically England's best bat and one the opposition genuinely feared from his first test onwards.
 
S

subshakerz

Hall of Fame Member
This is one of those threads where CW is clearly on their own planet because I don't think there would be a captain alive would take Laxman over KP in their team, unless it is for off field reasons.
 
Coronis

Coronis

International Coach
subshakerz said:
This is one of those threads where CW is clearly on their own planet because I don't think there would be a captain alive would take Laxman over KP in their team, unless it is for off field reasons.
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We should ask Ponting. Played and captained against both of em.
 
trundler

trundler

Request Your Custom Title Now!
subshakerz said:
This is one of those threads where CW is clearly on their own planet because I don't think there would be a captain alive would take Laxman over KP in their team, unless it is for off field reasons.
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Why are you like this? This is why people hound you. I don't think this is close at all because Laxman had a) a higher ceiling and played more ATG knocks than KP which is what KP's claim to fame is and b) had a much, much longer career. Even the claim that Laxman wasn't attacking enough doesn't stand to reason. He has some of the best such knocks in dicey conditions. You rate KP for runs against McWarne which is fair enough but Laxman excels on that metric too. This is why people accuse you of making **** up and retrofitting criticism after deciding whom you like more. This is right up there with faulting Bumrah for failing in 4th innings in comparison to... Cummins. Basically, KP gets BTFO'd on every measure and pretending he wins this at a canter is ridiculous.
 
S

subshakerz

Hall of Fame Member
trundler said:
Why are you like this? This is why people hound you. I don't think this is close at all because Laxman had a) a higher ceiling and played more ATG knocks than KP which is what KP's claim to fame is and b) had a much, much longer career. Even the claim that Laxman wasn't attacking enough doesn't stand to reason. He has some of the best such knocks in dicey conditions. You rate KP for runs against McWarne which is fair enough but Laxman excels on that metric too. This is why people accuse you of making **** up and retrofitting criticism after deciding whom you like more. This is right up there with faulting Bumrah for failing in 4th innings in comparison to... Cummins. Basically, KP gets BTFO'd on every measure and pretending he wins this at a canter is ridiculous.
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Chill it wasn't even that stark a comment.

But yeah, KP was a much more attacking that is simply obvious to anyone who watched them.
 
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