Imran Khan vs Kapil Dev (ODIs)

[capt_Luffy]

Two World Cup winning captains of the two most underdog WC winning teams, who elevated their performance in times of absolute crisis. Ofcourse it's not close in a Test comparison (duhhh); but I think they are very close as ODI bowlers, Imran better captain while Kapil better fielder; and while I think Imran was the better batsman, I also think Kapil was much more suited to bat down the order as a slogger.

 

[subshakerz]

Imran. Until his last 2-3 years, he was a worldclass bowler, and was a better batsman pretty easily. Also better captain.

 

[capt_Luffy]

Imran. Until his last 2-3 years, he was a worldclass bowler, and was a better batsman pretty easily. Also better captain.

Yeah, on the batsman point, I think Imran is better but Kapil more useful for most teams.

 

[Sunil1z]

Kapil . More handy 7/8 , excellent fielder and great 3rd seamer . Only allrounder to touch 600 peak ICC ratings.

 

[ashley bach]

It's Imran but Kapil easily has the best ODI innings.

 

[h_hurricane]

Kapil at his peak between 1983-87 was like Mcgrath with the ball and Sehwag with the bat in ODIs. Think this is close, but will go with him.

 

[subshakerz]

Kapil at his peak between 1983-87 was like Mcgrath with the ball and Sehwag with the bat in ODIs. Think this is close, but will go with him.

His peak is only around 1/3rd of the games he played.

No amount of contortions can make us work around a 10 point batting average difference between these two.

 

[subshakerz]

Yeah, on the batsman point, I think Imran is better but Kapil more useful for most teams.

This is unfair. You have to judge Imran as a bat based on the times he played. He was a proper bat in the top six, an innings builder.

 

[h_hurricane]

His peak is only around 1/3rd of the games he played.

No amount of contortions can make us work around a 10 point batting average difference between these two.

No one is comparing them purely on their averages. There is also a small matter of 23 runs difference in their SR which is significant.

Anyways, whatever we wanted to debate was already done in a similar thread about a year back, which I am unable to locate now.

 

[capt_Luffy]

This is unfair. You have to judge Imran as a bat based on the times he played. He was a proper bat in the top six, an innings builder.

No doubt there. I just think that, while building a team, Kapil's batting will more valuable more often than not

 

[Sunil1z]

Please not this debate again. Imran was a better middle order batsman, Kapil was a better lower order batsman. We had this debate in ODI Team of decade (80s Team) . Let’s not repeat same thing again and again.
Both options can be correct depending on your requirement.

 

[ankitj]

Imran. He should be in top 15 ODI cricketers. Possibly the best ODI all-rounder of all time.

 

[Fuller Pilch]

Two World Cup winning captains of the two most underdog WC winning teams,

I'd say Arjuna Ranatunga's SL team and Allan Border's Australian team would also be contenders.

 

[Fuller Pilch]

His peak is only around 1/3rd of the games he played.

No amount of contortions can make us work around a 10 point batting average difference between these two.

Strike rate is important though.

 

[subshakerz]

Strike rate is important though.

Yeah but if your average is 23, then runs are more important.

 

[h_hurricane]

Yeah but if your average is 23, then runs are more important.

For lower middle order and lower order batsmen both SR and average are equally important. One could even argue that SR is more important.

For top order batsmen(especially openers of that era), average is far more important. No one is rating Srikanth ahead of Greenidge or Haynes because he has a better SR.

 

[honestbharani]

Yeah but if your average is 23, then runs are more important.

If your SR is good and avg is bad, I will say ur avg is important.

If your avg is good and SR is bad, I will say ur SR is important.

 

[subshakerz]

For lower middle order and lower order batsmen both SR and average are equally important. One could even argue that SR is more important.

For top order batsmen(especially openers of that era), average is far more important. No one is rating Srikanth ahead of Greenidge or Haynes because he has a better SR.

I think the point is, regardless of batting position, that you need at least a certain degree of output to have some notable effect on a game regardless of how fast you score. Averaging 23 is belong even Pollock/Razzaq level as a bat.

However, I know that Imran was more than capable of bashing the ball down the order when he needed to, maybe not at Kapil's rate, but could also adapt himself to bat up the order. He is just a more valuable ODI bat.

 

[subshakerz]

If your SR is good and avg is bad, I will say ur avg is important.

If your avg is good and SR is bad, I will say ur SR is important.

If Kapil averaged around 28 with the bat at his SR, I wouldn't mind saying he is more valuable as an ODI bat. 23 is too low to consider.

 

[ashley bach]

Having said that their batting ratings are a lot closer than 1st inspection.
Imran's role was more to build an innings, particularly towards the end of his career, while Kapil was more likely be having a slog towards the end.
That differential of 10 in the averages is almost worth nothing in reality.