capt_Luffy
Cricketer Of The Year
As batsman, yes. As Test batsman, No.
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Rahul Dravid vs Graeme Pollock
- Thread starter PlayerComparisons
- Start date
subshakerz
Hall of Fame Member
Do you rate Headley behind Dravid
capt_Luffy
Cricketer Of The Year
Not as a batsman, but as a Test batsman it's really tough to make a compelling case for him. Though Headley actually had a full test career, unlike Pollock.
Last edited:
rated by whom?
you use poor stats analysis when it suits you and you use amorphous “ratings” when it sutis you
no one outside of some edgelords on this forum who jizz at the thoughts of players they’ve never seen thinks a dude who played 20 tests is better than Dravid
headley had a full test career, pollock didn’t
we never saw pollock’s decline phase so people romanticise about him
when Dravid averaged 59 after 100 tests people thought he was the best Indian batsman ever
subshakerz
Hall of Fame Member
So Headley you can grant a full career, but why cant Pollock be judged as having a 7-year career?
capt_Luffy
Cricketer Of The Year
A 7 year career vs a 20 year one really.
OverratedSanity
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Headley effectively only had a 9 year career
capt_Luffy
Cricketer Of The Year
Which would had been greater if not for WWII.... I know, same kinda applies for SA, but Headley did came back post War briefly.
ww2 and apartheid are different
also Headley had a decline phase in test cricket after the war, pollock had no decline phase
kyear2
International Coach
You do love to insult everyone who doesn't agree with you.
Yet the poll is somehow tied.
It is possible to accept that there's a viable alternative perspective.
Pollock was a beast, I don't rate him quite as highly as some others for various reasons but he had a quality that's been seldom seen in test cricket and it wasn't as if he was dropped or had a bad patch of form.
We can only judge in what actually transpired and what we saw. Try to extrapolate from what he did after test cricket and go from there.
Dendarii
International Debutant
We can extrapolate a bit from the matches he played for South Africa against various invitational and rebel teams during isolation. Those matches can't be put on the same level as test cricket, but he still faced some decent players in those matches.
He hit 144 in his final "test" against Australia at the age of 42, which suggests that he may have done well in the longevity stakes if he'd had the opportunity for a full test career. However, he was still performing at that age not having experienced the rigors of a lengthy test career, so there's no way of knowing whether he would have been able to maintain it if he had.
Arachnodouche
International Captain
I'm certain Pollock himself would cede ground to Dravid or anyone else with that amount of international experience, and not out of misplaced humility either. The grind of performing at an elite-very good level in two formats for sixteen years outflanks any talent/sample-based extrapolation you care to come up with.
Coronis
International Coach
Don’t be silly. Dravid never averaged 59 after his first two tests.
Also I don’t recall him ever being rated above Tendulkar.
OverratedSanity
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His average touched 59.14 in his 104th test before his dismissal in the second innings.
Arachnodouche
International Captain
He was considered more or at least as reliable as Tendulkar for a considerable chunk of his prime. At least that was the fan perspective; we were never unduly worried with one or two down early doors.
Coronis
International Coach
Really? Taking averages in the middle of an innings?
OverratedSanity
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I guess so, why not, averages are live stats. It's not like they just disappear into the void in the middle of games.
I reckon you underestimate the level of self-confidence that top players have. Pollock would only have had to play until 35 to match Dravid's career length. His decline started around 38, and he was still by far the best bat in the rebel tours after that age. I can't see him saying this at all.
Dravid did have a greater test career though FTR.
kyear2
International Coach
Is the question who had a greater career?
Or who is the better test batsman?
First question is Dravid, the second one for me is Pollock