Battle of the Cricketers

[Pedro Delgado]

A terribly rude fellow off the field Holding, Kapil Dev gets my vote. A gent off the field.
He's gonna lose anyway so I may as well stick to my honourable guns.

 

[marc71178]

not really, as an all-rounder, hadlee's position was the weakest....as a bowler, kapil was...

I'd have said that Hadlee's far superior bowling meant that he was the better allrounder than Kapil.

Neither of them came close to Botham or Imran though.

 

[Dasa]

Holding.

 

[Slifer]

Holding

 

[Anil]

I'd have said that Hadlee's far superior bowling meant that he was the better allrounder than Kapil.

Neither of them came close to Botham or Imran though.

no...hadlee's far superior bowling meant just that, he was clearly a far superior bowler than kapil, an all-rounder means a little more than just a bowler as you will agree and for a majority of his career, kapil actually merited his place as an explosive middle order batsman in the indian lineup in addition to being the country's best bowler and one of the best fielders, while any good score from hadlee was just considered as a bonus to his exceptional bowling....

completely agree about botham and imran though....

 

[honestbharani]

I cannot go against my principles here. So Kapil for me. BTW, that is a really cool picture of Holding you put up, Jamee.

 

[Jono]

Kapil Dev for me. Holding was a champion pace bowler without a doubt, but the amount of times Kapil performed for India was amazing. His bowling obviously can't compare to Holding, but he could more than hold his own and his batting was explosive and often came through when needed. I still can't forget the Zimbabwe World Cup match, and granted I didn't watch it live but the footage I've seen and the stories I've heard of that innings from my family sways me that much more.

 

[Slow Love™]

Hmmm... tough one here. I'm gonna go for Kapil Dev. I like Holding, but Dev was so important individually in terms of India's fortunes, a capable leader, and a very powerful, clean hitter of the ball. And a fast bowler with such a record hailing from India of all places deserves much credit. He also looked a bit like Freddie Mercury - was he born in Zanzibar? I just hope he wasn't dirty.

 

[Barney Rubble]

Kapil Dev.

 

[steds]

Holding

 

[Piper]

Holding

 

[Deja moo]

Kapil Dev. Superman and Lone Ranger. To bowl fast on Indian pitches, without any support from the other end unlike Imran or Botham, as a stock bowler and strike bowler rolled into one, as captain marvellous, and for the length of time that he did so without a single injury, he makes this a no-contest for me.

 

[C_C]

Got to be Holding - IMO Kapil's position in the "big 4" of the 80s was the weakest.

That would be Botham.

 

[cameeel]

Kapil Dev

 

[C_C]

Kapil Dev.

Mikey is amongst the top 10 pacers alltime for me. His bowling is superior to Kapil's and while their fielding is comparable, Holding's batting is far inferior to Kapil's batting.....
So its Kapil for me.

 

[Jono]

Kapil Dev. Superman and Lone Ranger. To bowl fast on Indian pitches, without any support from the other end unlike Imran or Botham, as a stock bowler and strike bowler rolled into one, as captain marvellous, and for the length of time that he did so without a single injury, he makes this a no-contest for me.

Great post. Kapil was more than an all-rounder really, he literally did it all to the best of his ability with very little support with the ball.

 

[BoyBrumby]

Kapil Dev for me. Holding has, for my money, the most aesthetically pleasing action of any of the great seamers; a triumph of feline athleticism. Kapil Dev certainly contributed more overall to his team tho. He's arguably India's best ever captain (at least in terms of results) & was a savagely destructive batter (I remember his 4 consecutive 6s against dear old Eddie Hemmings in 1990 to take India past the follow-on target in the game when Goochie scored his 333). His bowling declined dramatically, but in his earlier days from the film I've seen he looked genuinely brisk.

 

[marc71178]

That would be Botham.

Sorry, but I think I know what my own opinion is.

We all know your opinion and where its coming from (ie the basis behind it)

 

[Jamee999]

you appear to have an extra s and misspelt it Marc, the word is bias

 

[C_C]

We all know your opinion and where its coming from (ie the basis behind it)

as do we for your's.