I dont think so tbh given the lack of options IND had in the 90s opening, Mongia & Jadeja opened for a period. Plus i struggle to see how he was going break into a post 96 middle order of Dravid/Tendy/Ganguly/Azhar.
I think you gave it away there. You admit that Sehwag in the 90s would be all at sea as a opener whereas Anwar was the best of his time in that position. That is the difference between them as players. And hitting spinners around the park at no.5 doesn't mean that you don't face pace and can end up averaging 50+, otherwise guys like Azhar and Laxman would average around that.
Haaa
Fyi, every batsman in the world struggles against good swing bowling. Find me one player who played perfect shots to every swinging ball bowled on a green top. Being just an express pace bowler without any variation doesn't trouble Sehwag's style of batting. Mohd. Sami not being good against him(and many other players) is an example.
Yes. I never claimed that Sehwag never had problems against decent pace bowling. Him being promoted as an opener was a freak decision by Ganguly that paid off. His original position was 5 and he has said in an interview recently that he still wants to play as a middle order bat at 5.
Sure, every batsman struggles against good pace but not to the same degree. I wouldn't say Anwar was as good at playing it as, say, Steve Waugh, but certainly a notch or two above Sehwag based off of Anwar's sporadic successes against quality pace attacks and in seaming conditions. Given that both were excellent at playing spin (Anwar never really seemed troubled by either Warne or Murali, whereas Sehwag can demolish any spinner), that fact alone is enough to rank Anwar as a better opener.
None of course. But a batsman with the least technical flaws is always likely to do better in bowler friendly conditions, that a Sehwag type player who is not as technically sound.
Yes & the bowlers with pace & variations have troubled him over & over.
Ye good point i remember seeing Sehwag batting @ 7 vs ENG in 2001 & being shocked when IND opened with him during the tour to ENG in 2002, since i really just saw him as ODI slogger. It really was freak decision. But regardless of his problems, he has made a brilliant transition of course.
lol.. gotta agree.. Wonder how many guys would feel bad here at the boards if you gave Sehwag and Hayden to open for their teams...
I'm sorry, but this is based on your assumption and not the reality. The fact is, during Anwars' main playing years from 94-2000 (after which his daughter unfortunately passed away and he lost a large interest/motivation in cricket), Pakistan played full series in New Zealand, England, South Africa and Australia once. His performances are below and as you can see he did quite well outside the subcontinent.
Perhaps you should check his century against Donald and Pollock in Durban in 98 on a sporting pitch when he took them to the sword in style, one of my favorite innings of his. And I wouldn't dismiss the innings you mentioned in a conversation about him and Sehwag, who never scored a century on foreign soil against such a high quality attack.
I am sorry.. he did the same in 2001 in Bloemfontein on a tougher track.. Durban has pace and bounce but this one had swing too...
No way Bloemfontein was a tougher track. India managed a healthy 379 and SA scored over 500. The match in Durban had no team scoring over 260. Shoaib and Donald were swinging it around corners on that pitch from memory. Check out Shoaib's fifer on that pitch for proof:
The Steve Waugh era would have definately done without him. The Ponting era up until up until last summer vs SA when Hayden retired could have done without him as well, right now he would make the AUS team.
Very poor interpretation of stats sir. The only thing funny is you using the example to illustrate your point.Azhar Mahmood has three centuries against Donald and Pollock, two of them in South Africa. It does not matter that his overall average is less than Anwar's.Fact is that Mahmood has done better against the great South African attacks than Anwar (average 65 in South Africa vs Anwar's 34).Clearly Mahmood is a better batsman than Anwar
I meant, if they absolutely had to play one of Sehwag and Anwar in their XI, they'd go with Sehwag imo. Lets not extend this to a Sehwag vs Anwar vs Hayden vs Langer vs Law debate.
