Pratters
Cricket, Lovely Cricket
Viv Richards wasnt exactly orthodox. Yet he had more of a following than Miandad.SJS said:1. Gavaskar was technically flawless, well almost flawless. He played both defensively and in the aggressive mode in copybook style. Miandad was more of an innovator. His stance onwards his game was unorthodox. Cricket is a game that is partial to orthodoxy particularly towards top order batsmen when allowing them its equivalent of 'sainthood'
Also Dravid is technically flawless, almost flawless - yet gets comparatively less acclaim some how.
Stats wise very little would justify putting Gavaskar ahead of Miandad as you said and till a more convincing reason is given either way, I am not convinced.
Gavaskar also had Vishwanath in the team. Gavaskar himself reckoned Viswhanath was the better batsman of the two!Miandad had greats even in his own team like Zaheer Abbas who were revered more than him let alone in the world. Ask Pakistanis who is their greatest ever middle order batsman and Miandad may not come out as the clear winner.