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Better combo round II. Sobers & Marshall vs Sachin and Imran

Which pair

  • Garfield Sobers & Malcolm Marshall

  • Sachin Tendulkar & Imran Khan


Results are only viewable after voting.

OverratedSanity

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Imran still had a RPI of 30 which to me is quite par for a lower order bat of the 80s.
Yes, I'd say Imran was about as good a batsman as a mid to high 30s average specialist batsman at the time. Which is excellent for a second skill.

Sobers being almost as good as Jon Snow/Peter Pollock in his peak and being the 7th highest wicket taker of all time when he retired is more incredible though. The production is just on a different level.
 

subshakerz

Hall of Fame Member
Yes, I'd say Imran was about as good a batsman as a mid to high 30s average specialist batsman at the time. Which is excellent for a second skill.

Sobers being almost as good as Jon Snow/Peter Pollock in his peak and being the 7th highest wicket taker of all time when he retired is more incredible though. The production is just on a different level.
Sobers peak was a bit too short though. But I give him the edge for his overall bowling load.
 

subshakerz

Hall of Fame Member
This is exactly why I think Sobers shits all over Kallis as an all rounder too, by the way. Kallis was always the support act, Sobers had to do the heavy lifting as WI's primary wicket taker for a while.
Yeah it's the true dividend line and often gets overlooked in Sobers and Kallis comparisons.
 

Coronis

International Coach
I don’t think even the most ardent Kallis fan on here (idek who that is tbh) would suggest he was better than Sobers.

I do feel he is underrated at times but obviously Sobers was a better bat and far more integral part of his bowling unit despite similar averages.
 

subshakerz

Hall of Fame Member
I don’t think even the most ardent Kallis fan on here (idek who that is tbh) would suggest he was better than Sobers.

I do feel he is underrated at times but obviously Sobers was a better bat and far more integral part of his bowling unit despite similar averages.
Kallis fans often do rate his bowling better than Sobers.
 

ankitj

Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
Yes, I'd say Imran was about as good a batsman as a mid to high 30s average specialist batsman at the time.
So at his peak he was about the same as his career average? I think this is just cognitive dissonance trying to work out how do we rate such astonishing batting numbers from someone who is mainly a bowler, one of the greatest at that.
 
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subshakerz

Hall of Fame Member
So at his peak he was about the same as his career average? I think this is just cognitive dissonance trying to work out how do we rate such astonishing batting numbers from someone is mainly a bowler, one of the greatest at that.
There is a definite reluctance to give full credit to Imrans batting in the 80s onwards. Yet he doesn't have the same output as a top order bat but it is still darn impressive.
 

ankitj

Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
There is a definite reluctance to give full credit to Imrans batting in the 80s onwards. Yet he doesn't have the same output as a top order bat but it is still darn impressive.
I could adjust it down to mid to high 40s but no way does it fall back to his career average of mid to high 30s.
 

Johan

International Captain
Imran should be seen as 82-88 instead of 82-92 because at one point he dropped/lost his bowling which allowed him to focus fully on batting and thus average like 70 with bat.
 

ankitj

Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
Imran should be seen as 82-88 instead of 82-92 because at one point he dropped/lost his bowling which allowed him to focus fully on batting and thus average like 70 with bat.
Wow, he must be a truly special player if he could just casually raise his batting average to 70 without bowling load.
 

Johan

International Captain
Wow, he must be a truly special player if he could just casually raise his batting average to 70 without bowling load.
I think it's very well known that Imran Khan was indeed quite a special player, but for the time he was an all rounder he wasn't exactly 50 averaging.
 

OverratedSanity

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So at his peak he was about the same as his career average? I think this is just cognitive dissonance trying to work out how do we rate such astonishing batting numbers from someone who is mainly a bowler, one of the greatest at that.
The average is astonishing. The amount of runs is not. That's why it's a bit inflated.
 

OverratedSanity

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There is a definite reluctance to give full credit to Imrans batting in the 80s onwards. Yet he doesn't have the same output as a top order bat but it is still darn impressive.
I gave him credit ?

I'm just comparing his output to Sobers' peak which had better production which you agree with.
 

OverratedSanity

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Is it inflated? He has a healthy average against most teams, only slightly soft against WI but then that's the greatest bowling attack ever assembled.

View attachment 45327
It's less than 50 runs per game. Not really comparable to Sobers' peak where he had the output and average of a quality frontline seamer.

Sobers was legit one of the 5 or so best bowlers in the world for a while. Itd be a real stretch to say imran was ever at that level during his peak as a batsman.
 

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