Is Dhoni greatest OdI cricketer off all-time

[trundler]

Another way of looking at this is:

Who was a better foil for Tendulkar, Ganguly or Sehwag?

 

[vcs]

Both were perfect for their time. Older Sachin wasn't as aggressive (though he still effortlessly struck at 85-90) so Sehwag to come in and bash immediately was ideal while Sachin could take his time.

 

[srbhkshk]

Another way of looking at this is:

Who was a better foil for Tendulkar, Ganguly or Sehwag?

Ganguly by far.

 

[vcs]

Think Ganguly must have dropped off quite a bit in the '00s. There were times in the late '90s when he'd even outperform Sachin.

 

[trundler]

Another thing to consider would be how much you want a left-right combo

 

[srbhkshk]

But have those been era adjusted?

Yes, to 0.

 

[_00_deathscar]

Another way of looking at this is:

Who was a better foil for Tendulkar, Ganguly or Sehwag?

Not sure how to sort it on the Cricinfo filter specific to opening partner but Sachin playing in the #2 position in matches involving:
Ganguly: 152 matches, average of 53.92 @ 89.91 between 1996-2007 (I assume they'd be opening the majority of matches together here)
Sehwag: 113 matches, average of 51.81 @ 86.87 between 2000-2012 (and I suspect much of the best of that was when he was opening with Ganguly anyway instead of Sehwag - can't find a way to filter that out without hurting my head).

You may have to account slighly for how Sachin changed as a player (but the change was more prominent in tests than ODIs anyway IMO) over the years, but that's pretty conclusive...

 

[h_hurricane]

It is Sehwag for me. Under-rated as an ODI cricketer.

I am in the "Ganguly is over-rated" club. Dravid gets much flak for a slow scorer(and rightly so) in ODIs. Ganguly's isn't any better either. Of course, he was capable of hitting more sixes which also means he was worse in rotating the strike.

Distinctly recall many ODIs in late 90s and early 2000s when he would play way too many dot balls, keep Sachin away from the strike and increase the pressure on him.

As an example, the Sharjah cup final in 1998 when Sachin scored that epic 134, Ganguly was dismissed after 8.5 overs, facing 42 balls. Tendulkar at the other end faced 11 balls in the mean time. It didn't prove that costly that day as he was at the peak of his powers.

An ideal partner for Sachin would be someone who rotates the strike very well. Among non openers, Virat comes to mind. Among openers, not sure who else, but Sehwag would be ahead of Ganguly, at least imo.

 

[indiaholic]

As a partnership the one with Ganguly worked far better than the one with Sehwag though. The difference in the partnership average was something huge like 10 runs or so..

 

[harsh.ag]

Dhawan's your man.

Ganguly's played some beautiful ODI innings though. Was great in the Independence Cup final chase against Pakistan, in the Natwest final chase, and that 183 in the 99 WC still one of the great innings. One of my favourite ODI batsmen honestly.

 

[indiaholic]

 

[h_hurricane]

Here are a few other examples of the strike rotating issue. Ganguly was a fine ODI batsman overall, but watching these matches were so excruciating at that time. Impoverishing the potential of his more gifted batting partner is something he used to do when Tendulkar was on song, as my memory goes.

AUS vs IND Cricket Scorecard, 6th Match at Sharjah, April 22, 1998

Live Cricket Scoreboard: Get Australia vs India 6th Match, cricket scorecard, Coca-Cola Cup 1997/98 dated April 22, 1998.

www.espncricinfo.com

IND vs AUS Cricket Scorecard, 4th ODI at Visakhapatnam, April 03, 2001

Get cricket scorecard of 4th ODI, IND vs AUS, Australia tour of India 2000/01 at Indira Priyadarshini Stadium, Visakhapatnam dated April 03, 2001.

www.espncricinfo.com

 

[Victor Ian]

You don't want a foil for tendulkar. Today, you want your cannons blazing from both ends

 

[harsh.ag]

Dhawan
Tendulkar
Kohli
Sehwag
Yuvi
Dhoni (wk-c)
Raina
Kapil
Spinner
Zaheer
Bumrah

It's a beautiful combination of players. Great fielders in there as well.

 

[Daemon]

Dhawan
Tendulkar
Kohli
Sehwag
Yuvi
Dhoni (wk-c)
Raina
Kapil
Spinner
Zaheer
Bumrah

It's a beautiful combination of players. Great fielders in there as well.

Rohit pls

 

[Daemon]

You don't want a foil for tendulkar. Today, you want your cannons blazing from both ends

sounds like my friday night

 

[harsh.ag]

Rohit pls

Dhawan's better for that team

 

[Pap Finn Keighl]

It is Sehwag for me. Under-rated as an ODI cricketer.

I am in the "Ganguly is over-rated" club. Dravid gets much flak for a slow scorer(and rightly so) in ODIs. Ganguly's isn't any better either. Of course, he was capable of hitting more sixes which also means he was worse in rotating the strike.

Distinctly recall many ODIs in late 90s and early 2000s when he would play way too many dot balls, keep Sachin away from the strike and increase the pressure on him.

As an example, the Sharjah cup final in 1998 when Sachin scored that epic 134, Ganguly was dismissed after 8.5 overs, facing 42 balls. Tendulkar at the other end faced 11 balls in the mean time. It didn't prove that costly that day as he was at the peak of his powers.

An ideal partner for Sachin would be someone who rotates the strike very well. Among non openers, Virat comes to mind. Among openers, not sure who else, but Sehwag would be ahead of Ganguly, at least imo.

Ganguly was a slow scorer, but definitely better than Dravid. If a Target of 150 runs from 150 balls to chase with only one specialist batsman remaining, Ganguly anyday over Dravid. With Ganguly you still have hopes and opposition will be cautious, With Dravid its game over.

 

[cricketsavant]

Well, we have some brilliant arguments here. Gilly being the better gloveman over MSD is absurd to the extreme and what you expect of an one eyed India-bashing Paks supporter who is also pissed off by his side currently being crap. I mean, if you hate MSD so much, it explains why you are hardly ever around here to post, as there is only so much salt a human body can take.

Ok, let us break this down Mr Biryani - "Gilly being the better gloveman over MSD is absurd to the extreme"
I assume you do not know what absurd and extreme means, because if you did, it would be absurd to think Dhoni, who has taken 28 fewer dismissals in 63 more matches is better. Add to that Gilly's 1.68 dismissals per game to Dhoni's 1.29 (with keepers who have more than 200 dismissals, this is 4th worst...ech our own Buttler is better and he isn't even considered a great keeper).

"I mean, if you hate MSD so much, it explains why you are hardly ever around here to post, as there is only so much salt a human body can take. " This part I do not understand, I am supposed to be around more to hate on Dhoni more?

"India-bashing Paks supporter who is also pissed off by his side currently being crap"....this is assuming I am Pakistani or a Pakistani supporter, neither of which is true. In fact, your racial bias is making me mull over the idea of messaging the admins.

 

[Red]

Dhoni vs Gilchrist is a non-starter as argument simply because there are other alternatives to Gilchrist as opener which is where he was at his most valuable. Dhoni's role as keeper + batting shepherd however has no realistic contender therefore he makes the grade every single time. This is not slighting Gilly; I believe his average belies the impact and intimidation his batting conveyed and he pulls his own weight as opener alone, but his overall skillset is surplus to requirement with Dhoni in the side.

This is if you are assuming Dhoni is already in the side? lol
There are other alternatives to Dhoni if Gilchrist keeps and opens.