My Take on the Teams in the World Cup

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Hanumant Singh – a tragic loss in more ways than one

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Is Rahul dravid destined for all time greatness?????

He is without doubt one of the greatest test match batsmen of all time.Statistically,he is likely to surpass Tendulakr and Lara in term sof test average and aggregate runs.He has the 4th highest ever test average batting away and the highest by any one who surpsassed 8000 runs.Rahul has won many games for India and has an outstanding average in test matches India has won.In acrisis he is the best batsmen of his era as well as on bad wickets,more effective than Sachin or Lara.

         The point to be noted is that Rahul has also played for better teams than Sunil Gavaskar or Sachin Tendulkar.Sachin,can dominate the bowling to  afar graeter extent and thus should have won more matches.However he hardly gained support and almost solely bore the brunt of batting.THe same applied to Lara.

In the ultimate analysis it is unfair to compare Rahul with Lara ,Viv Ricahrds or Tendulkar as he is a completely different type of batsmen who plays  adifferent type pof role.They all have ahigher strike rate which is descicive.It is like two members of an army batallion  playing a c ompletely different type of role in  a battle.Rahul is rock-solid but still can't chage the complexion of  agame like Viv Richards,Tendulakr  or earlier Rohan Kanhai.Dravid is remimiscent of Allan Border,Javed Miandad,Steve Waugh,Ian Chappell all stalwarts ina crisis.Etc.Maybe he would be no 1 in that list!

Amongst one down batsmen Dravid would defeat Viv Richards or George Headley statistically,but that is not the sole criteria.A rating by Ananth Narayana places in thirdslip.com  Dravid 4th in the alltime list behind BradmanLara and Ponting.I disagree that Rahul is better than Gary Sobers,Viv Richards,and Tendulkar.Considering the oppostion he has comabted and the strength of his taem I Rate Dravid ahead of Ponting,who benefited playing for achampion team.

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12 Greatest Batsmen of all time-fifth and final part(re-written and corrected version)

Now let us come to our final verdict.What is the fairest method of evaluation?True statistics is important but what is alos most important are the nature of the pitches,the bowling opposition,the strength of the team the batsmenhas played for,the rate at which the batsmen can compile runs,the ability of a basmen to bat in a crisis.

Bradman is still on another planet and even if he payed against the best attacks like Clive Lloyds West India team's bowling attack,or against Australia's very own Dennis Lillee or Jef Thomson  he would average 75 runs.However on the wet tracks i feel Jack Hobbes or George Headley would outscore him.

One Important factor is should match-wiining ability be a major factor?Tis is debatable.One analyst Surjit Bhalla totally eliminated that factor as it would be most unfair to great batsmen who played for weaker teams.A similar view has been endorsed by Rajendra Parikh as he points out that then Rahul Dravid,Ricky Ponting and Inzamam Ul Haq would be rated better batsmen than Brian  Lara ,Sachin Tendulkar,Sunil Gavaskar or Gary Sobers.Should slow batting be penalised?Allan Border and Javed Miandad were masters in saving games in a crisis while Sunil Gavaskar often had no choice.Ian Chappell was he best batsmen in the 1970's ,particularly in the Packer era and averaged 50.94 at one down,then the best average at that position after Bradman.Statistics never reveal however prolific Greg Chappel or Viv Richards were that Ian Chappel was the more difficult batsmen to dislodge in a crisis.Ian often was a greater threat than Greg Chappel to the oppostion,particularly the WEst Idian sand even Gary Sobers rtaed Ia a beetter plaer than Greg and the best batsmen ofthe 1970'sHowever none of these batsme were impressive in match-winning.However they braved the best attacks.George Headley and Brian Lara may have been match-winners had they played for powerful teams.Although Gary palyed for a strong team he was a champion on difficult tracks and faced some of the finest bowling.Viv Richards was statistically a match-winner but remember he played for what was possilbly the greatest ever Cricket team.Steve Waugh played for a champion team and so is Ricky Ponting.Rahul Dravid does not destroy the boliwng but has a better match-wiining record than Tendulkkar and so does INzamam Ul Haq.

In the official Wisden ratings

1.Don Bradman

2.Sachin Tendulkar

2.Viv Richards

4.Gary Sobers

5Alan Border

6.Jack Hobbes

7.Ken Barrington

8.Sunil Gavaskar

9.Greg Chappel

10.Brian Lara

Interestingly Wisden places great emphasis on match-winning in addition to the attacks ,pitches EtcHowever they have given match-saving stalwarts like Ken Barrington and Allan Border their due even though they were not out and out match-winners.However placing Barrington above Gavaskar and Border above Hobbes and Gavaskar was astarnge.They have also not counted Viv Richard's or Greg Chappell's Packer peformances which would have boosted the rankings of the 2 greats..The ommission of greats like Walter Hammond and Len Huttonfrom the top 10 was perhaps strange .

 Surjit Bhalla had a method of assesment In his method he strikes abalance between the batsmen;s worth to the team,consitency in performance, and the quality of the pitches and quality of opositio bowling is taken into account.Te batsmen's average is then adjusted.He made his list in 1987  so the like of the modern greats have been excluded.

His rating was

1.Don Bradman

2.Jack Hobbes

3 George Headley

4.Everton Weekes

5.Graeme Polock

6.Herhbert Surtcliffe

7.Viv Richards

8.Ken Barrington

9.Ken Barrington

10.A.B.Faulkner

11.Gordon Greenodge

12 Gary Sobers.

I just went through Chula's ratings this is his list.He has made a great efort but i disagree with many of  his ratings.800 points and above is an all-time great,650-8000 is great 550 -649 i s very good and 400 -550 is good.

These are the strange ratings

1. Viv Richards is at 20 and not even in top half dozen .

2.Ponting is rated ahead of Sir Garfield Sobers,Greg Chappell and Sunil Gavaskar. Ponting as discussed earlier has not played for a weaker team and weathered the best bowling.Sachin and Lara have been better at their best.

3.Steve Waugh makes the top 12 batsmenSteve Waugh,a great palyer in a crisis was not as good as Hutton or Hobbes.A great temperament and durability is no substitute for class ,otherwise Herbert Sutcliffe could be right there behind Bradman and Steve Waugh ahead of Tendulkar and Lara!

4.Jack Hobbes is not even in this 12 which is another surprise ommision.

5.I also disagree that Hamond and Gavaskar were better than Gary Sobers.His analysis has palced great emphasis on number of runs and perhaps that's the reason why players like George Headley and Polock are excluded or even Everton Weekes for that matter.The order of Lara ,Tendulkar and Hammond may be correct all ahead of Gavaskar but To me none of them were better than Gary Sobers who had everything.He was a match-winning destroyer of pace bowling ,master of bad wickets ,fine player of spin bowling and great batsmen in a crisis .Gary combated strong opposition  bowlers like Dennis Lilee,Fed Trueman and John Snow,even if he played for a top team .

6.Correctly Gavaskar has been  placed ahead of Hayden as Sunil faced the greatest bowling while Hayden has played for a champion team. I think Hutton and Hobbes should have been placed above Hayden who were masters on uncovered pitches and scored heavily in the most difficult situations.

There was another rating by Rajendra Parikh.No doubt he has done a job of great analysis  and we must congragulate him However his criteria may not be totally correct.

The first filter, Rajendra Parikh used was

1. Scored 6000+ runs in test Cricket.
2. Average of 45+.
3. 15 + Century in test Cricket

In his view Viv has not combated the best bowling  of his day and has had the advantage of playing for a champion team.He rates Sunil Gavaskar ahead of Richards as he played the greatest bowling of his time and Lara as the best ever West Indian batsmen.In his ratings he excludes those who have scored less than 6000 runs and average less than 50 .Thus he eliminated Hobbes which i disagrred with.To make 5000 or 6000 runs could be an unfair criteria as well as having a 45+average.So many greats did not score 3000 or 4000 runs?How easily George Headley ,Graeme Pollock are eliminated! I alos feel that the strength of bowling and the wickets have to be taken into account.Greg Chappel is rated above Viv Richards in Parikh's list.True Greg was statistically better but he copuld not make the same impact as Viv on pace bowling.Only Viv;s consistency went against his perhaps being in the top 5.

.


Rajendra Parikh's Conclusion:

1. Bradman remains the greatest batsman ever to have played Cricket. He outclasses every one else by a huge margin and that was an expected conclusion.
2. Tendulkar is the 2ND greatest batsman ever as of now. There is no doubt about by any statistical measures. I have tested this hypothesis by altering point system in different ways. If he retires at this point in career, he will have nothing to prove to any one else. His stats are simply staggering. His consistency is beyond dispute and except one poor year in 2003, he truly is a 2nd greatest run machine after Bradman.
3. Dravid has clearly climbed new heights and is easily the most consistent batsman in all conditions and all kind of pitches and all days of a test match. In this regards he resembles Gavaskar though he still trails Gavaskar and Tendulkar by 2500 runs. If he manages to keep his momentum going for at least next 3 years, he will very likely be one of the three greatest batsmen ever. (That indeed is “iffy” proposition as he is bound to come down from the mountaintop that he has climbed in last 5 years, as history of all sportsmen will readily tell you).
4. Hammonds has been vastly under-rated batsman because his misfortune of being in the same era as the great Bradman. I have to put him behind Tendulkar because a gulf of approx. 3000 runs separates them.
5. Lara is clearly the best batsman from West Indies by statistical yardsticks. Although he remains fragile and volatile reaching new heights and also failing and reaching a new low on and off. His inconsistency has denied him the highest ranking but at his peak, he is a better batsman than Tendulkar although much less dependable and consistent across the globe and time line. He will definitely be ranked higher than Richards who had luxury of playing in one of the best side ever while Lara is doomed to hang around with a ragtag outfit most of his career putting him under enormous pressure.
6. Gavaskar is indeed an immutable force that cannot be challenged as the greatest opening batsman ever to have played test Cricket. There is very little doubt about it based on these extra ordinary statistics. Gavaskar also had the same issue as Lara as he was by far the best player on whom entire Indian team depended on foreign land and always played under tremendous pressure.
7. Although Tendulkar had a similar problem in earlier part of his career, emergence of Dravid as class act has reduced his burden to a great extent so much so that Dravid is now number one player for India in test matches.
8. Len Hutton was indeed a very high quality player who some how never got his dues because of Bradman’s extraordinary performances
9. Sobers is indeed the greatest batting all rounder in the history of the game.


Concluding observations-

It is important to recognize that Gavaskar has the highest batting average (58) on the last inning of a test match followed by Dravid (50)and Maiandad(54).

Unfortunately Tendulkar is much worse (Ave-34) in this regard and Lara (Ave-38) is not far from him as 3rd worst. This blemish will need to be corrected and improved by both (Lara and Tendulkar) of to be counted-permanently-among the three greatest batsmen after Bradman.

Dravid is on the course to join great Gavaskar, Tendulkar, Lara and Hammonds as all time greatest batsmen. He will need to keep his current averages and at least go past 10000+ runs as Lara, Tendulkar and Waugh have raised the bar permanently.

Ponting in due course of time will become one the greatest batsman replacing Chappell, Waugh and Border in the list of best from Australia.

Kallis will also join the ranks in next few years.

Inzamam will very likely replace Miandad but may fall short of a select list by a narrow margin.


Myth Shattered:

Most astounding fact that emerged from this analysis is that in spite of all the hoopla about dependability of Waugh, he is absolutely the worst in 4th innings of a test match. He fairs very poorly in 3rd innings as well.

In the similar fashion Richards clearly is not in the same league at least on a statistical scale. In spite of all grandiose claims his average is 40 + in three (out of four continents) he played test match Cricket.
Waugh, Richards and Border along with Miandad form the bottom of the list in 12 great batting talents of all time.

So who is the 2nd greatest batsman ever?

Oh, Well SACHIN TENDULKAR without a doubt but very closely followed by Hammonds, Lara Gavaskar and Dravid.

RajendraParikh's order after Don Bradman

1.=Rahul Dravid

1=Sachin Tendulkar

3.Walter Hammond

4.=Sunil Gavaskar

5=Brian Lara

5=.Len Hutton

7.Gary Sobers

8.Greg Chappell

9.Steve Waugh

10.Allan Border

11.Viv Richards

12 Javed Miandad

I will re-complement his effort but i will asert my strong disagreements again of not giving due consideration to the bwoling attcks encountered and the pitches the batsmen havce encounterd.Below I am reproducing an exchange with him in my comments on his thesis.The  pointed  arrows indicate my comments.The line crossings indicate Parikh's reply.

>> I wish you could have considered Everton Weekes,Geame Pollock ,George Headley Etc.even if they have not scored 5000 runs.Headley was a strong contender for the 2nd best batsmen and averages 60.83.This is unsatisafctory to me One has to judge the batsmen by his true merits.So many people rank Headley and Weekes or Hobbes just next to the Don

## I did not include them because of TOTAL RUNS scored. That was a different time and opportunities were less as compared to current era so it may unfair to them in that respect. But let me ask you this question? If for some reason Sehwag (or Graham Smith) is unable to play any more, would you consider him in the same class?

If Vaughn had retired after 2002 series, would you extrapolate his future POTENTIAL ACHIEVEMNTS based on a few years data? Would you consider Kambli (average of 54) on par with Gavaskar or sachin etc?

.

>>Regarding comparing Gavaskar better tha Viv i feel it is only statistical.Viv was a greater match-winner even taking into consideration Sunil played for a much weaker side and Viv  could destroy attacks to such an extent taht in the late 1970's he was ina different league from the liske of Barry Richards,Chappell brothers tc.

### I respectfully disagree. Please read year to year breakdown (or series break down) of scores. I would say that but for England series when he scored 800+ runs, he did not dominate any series as you imply. His averages against TWO OTHER BEST BOWLING attacks is ordinary (Pak and Australia).

Here Rajendra Parikh has forgotten Viv's superlative efforts versus Autralia and the Rest of the World ((averaged 86.2against them)Viv made a record 1710 runs in a calendar year.Viv dominated the 1979-80 series like a champion against Austrlai and in 1980,1981 averaged over 60 runs.He made the likes of great contemporaies look pedstal and looked in a different league from Barry Richards or the Chappell brothers!

>>>I would be fascinated if you could make an evaluation considering attacks faced ,wickets run-scoring rate ,situation in which hundred is made Etc.

### Strike rates were not used in olden times and hence comparison is difficult. As for situation demands, all batsmen face similar situations in a long career.

We need to analse strike rates .This can tell us to what extent the batsmen dominated the bowling.In this respect Viv Richards and Walter Hammond were outsatnding as well as Brian Lara when making mammoth scores and SAchin in full flow.

Strangely in the current I.C.C Ratings Hutton is second to Bradman anfd Ponting and Hayden are in the top8.

 After all this debate I feel statistics can never be the sole criteria.A very important factor is that should the batsmen be rated at the peak of their carees or should the times when thry were say 75-80%of their actual best be included.At his best Lara has done better than Tendulkar as he has scored 8 double centurues,including a quadruple and a triple Century .No batsmen in the modern era has dominated certain test series as Brian He single-handedly won 2 test matches in the 1999 FRank Worrel Tophy .from  a losing position  and almost won his team the Frank Worrel Trophy against test Champions Australia.Against Sri Lanka Lara scored 688 runs with 3 centuries scoring the highest percentage of a team's total runs ina series since the War!

Gavaskar is placed at 33rd below Rohan Kanhai(24),Ted Dxter(32),Greg Chappell(21),Javed Miandad917) and Walter Hammond(19).I cannot understand how Dxter could be rated above Gavaskar .In both analysis Ken Barrington is in the top 10 which isquestionable.Whee thsi analysis is good is that it has done justice to Weekes and particularly Headley and Polock.We have to analyse whether how many points should be awrded fror raching various thouisand run figures.However this has been unjust to Gavaskar.Bhalla adjusted Data according to his judgement of the pitch and quality of the bolwing.He made an assumptio that all the matches were played on an average Lords pitch against an average bowling team.Te percentage of the batsmen's score out of the total tewam score was adjusted.For consistency Bhalla took into account percent of innings above 50,number of inning staken to score 2000 runs and number of inningsbelow 10 runs.

 In my personal viewAt his best Viv Richards performances were the best after sir Don.He scored 1710 runs ina calendar year including 829 runs ina single series in England in 4 tets (A West Indian recod agregarte)and destroyed the likes of Lillee and Imran at one stage averaging over 90 inPacker Cricket n the fastest Australian tracks?Ricky Ponting is the best statistically but has played for a champion team never faced the same calibre of bowling  or played for such weak team sas Sachin or Brian Lara so even if he scores 10,000 runs at 55+avaerge I would not rate him better.No batsmen after Bradman Headley has made such a big percentage of his team;s total runs as Brian Lara.In difficult condition s George Headley and Jack Hobbes wee masters.Jack Hobbes scoreda  record 12 centuries against Australia and hsi hundreds were scored in the most demanding situations like his great partnerships with Herbert Sutcliffe in 1926 at the Oval and in 1929-30 at Melbourne.Hobbes won many matches while Headley palying for a wek team held the fort like a genius.Walter Hammond was a great destoyer pof bowling like Viv Richards.Len Hutton was a master who won many matches hile Sunil Gavaskar alamost nevr got a chance as he hardly had support .He may have been an architect of many a famous victory hasd he palyed for a great team .Remember his 221 at the Oval which almost single-handedly won the game for India .

My final12 for consideratin in no order are

1.Don Bradman

2.Jack Hobbes

3.Gary Sobers

4.Viv Richards

5.Brian Lara

6.SAchin Tendulkar

7.Sunil Gavaskar

8.Walter Hammond

9.Rahul Dravid

10.Greg Chappel

11.George Headley

12 Len Hutton.

One thing is for certainBradman is at the top!In my final 12 unlucky ommisions could be Allan Border,Javed Miandad,Ricky Ponting,Graeme Pollock,Everton Weekes,Steve Waugh ,Matthew Hayden,Ian Chappell.Inzamam Ul  Haqand Rohan Kanhai.The last named was perhaps the most complete batsmen of all but his temperament worked against him.Kanhai was brilliant one down at his best playing like a match-winner .However consistency went against him.Miandad,Steve Waugh  and Ian Chappell were great batsmen  in a crisis but in match-winning ability were not in the same class as Brian Lara or Viv Richards.Similarly Allan Border,brilliant against the greatest bowling  in losing causes was the ultimate player to bat for your life but was not a match-winner.Statistics hardly put Ian Chappell in the true light.Graeme Pollock was not tested enough in his era having his test career cut short.and not fully tested against short pitched bowling.Inzamam is a great match-winner but has not been a champion against the best pace attacks of his day and hsi great scores have not been made against the best oppostion of his era.Ricky Ponting statistically is likely to be 2nd best to Bradman but one has to consider that he has played for a champion test team against convincingly inferior opposition and not had to carry the burden of his team's batting like Sachin Tendulkar or Brian Lara.At his  best i don't feel he has dominated pace and spin bowling as well as Brian and  Sachin.If one adds Viv Richards and Greg Chappell's Packer performances and compare the pace attacks against which they scored their centuries I would still not rate Ponting equally good.Hayden similarly has the adavntage of playing for a team of world beaters and not faced as strong opposition as Gavaskar of played in as difficult conditions as Hobbes and Hutton.

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Who is the second greatest test batsman of all time? A statistical analysis.

I really appreciate your replies to my comments to which you have given desrving consideration.You have displayeda painstaking approach unlike some people  who just cannot consider other people's views.It is great to know that you feel I have made valid points.

           An Important debate is the comparison between Viv Richards and  Sachin Tendulkar.In their era sthey were considered the greatestbatsmen,being even compared to Sir Don Bradman.

Staistically Sachin outscores Viv.Sachin has a highr test average home and awy,a higher run aggregate,a higher rate of centuries per test and innings,a higher average in all 4 innings of the game,and scored 1000 runs more time ina calendar year.Sachin played spin bowling better than Viv.Sachin alos played for a relatively weaker side unlike Viv who played for one of the greatest teams of all time.Sachin has a statistically better record against Australia and in Australia,the champion team of his eraSachin combated graet bowlers like Allan Donald,Wasim Akram,Shane Warne,Murlidharan,Wasim Akram,Glen Mcgrath Etc.Viv has a greater match-winning record winning half the number of tests in which he has scored hundreds..However Viv played for a far stronger team so the comparison is unfair.

         After all those arguments favouring Sachin we must throw light on why Viv simply was a superstar.Viv combated the likes of Lillee,Thomson,Hadlee,Botham,Kapil Dev,Imran Khan,Bob WillisEtc.His performances in the 1976-91 era have never been equaled by Sachin.In 1976 Viv scored a record aggregate of 1710 runs for a calendar year.That  year in the English season in the test serieswhere heplayed 4 tests he aggregated a record 829 runs-the highest ever  by any West Indian in a test series.In Packer Cricket he demolished the likesof pacemen like Lillee,Imran Etc on he bounciest surfaces  like a butcher chopping meat.At one stage he averaged over 90 runs and was instrumental in his team wining the Supertest championship ovrpowering a Champion Australian team (then the championsof test Cricket) and a powerful Rest Of he World team.Cosidering the competitiveness o the opposition he averaged he equivalent of over 60 runs in official tests.After he Packer Cricket Viv simply set he hames on fire averaging 96.50 in the 1979-80 test serise in Australia enabling WEst Indies to win the FrankWorrel Trophy for the first time in Australia and slaughtering bowlers like Botham and Willisaveraging ovr 85 runs scoring 2 centuries at home against England.The previous year he averaged 63 in a series in  England and over 70 in Pakistan in tests scoring 2 remarkable Centurise and a serise of superbly compiled fifties at a super scoring rate.In 1981 he averaged over 60,something Tendulkar has never touched.Viv Richards has a superior record against the graetest fast bowlers than Sachin.Remember Viv mastered he English pace attack which consisted of stalwarts like Ian Botham,Bob Willis,Tony Greig and Derek Underwood.Sachin too mastered the English bowling but never faced the same quality of English bowling.Just as Viv had to contend so much with Imran in test Cricket Sachin has hardly faced Wasim or Waqar.Although Sachin had a high average in the 2004 test seriesin Pakistan that was mainly because of one unbeaten century and the real heroes wereRahul Dravid and Virendra Sehwag.Sachin has never versus Pakistan equalled Viv's performance i the 1980 series on Pakistani soil where he averaged over 70 runs including a match-winning Cntury at Multan on a turning track.True Sachin has faced comparably strong Australian bowling having negotiated Shane Warneand Glen Mcgrath  but he has nevr equaled Viv's performances in he 1979-80 test serise in Australia or in Packer Cricket against he Aussies.Viv has also batted at the  more difficult one down position compared to Sachin who batted at 2 down throughout his career.Viv averaged over 61 runs at the one down position which is remarkable.

      Where Sachin scores over Viv is th consistency he has shown mantaining an average of 57+.Viv's batting average progressively fell in the  from 1982  on wards but he always delivered the goods when histeam required it.The best examples are his record breaking 56 ball Century at Antigua against England i 1986,his match-winning 125 not out on a wearing wicket against India in Delhi in 1987-88 and his blistering century against Australia at Brisbane in 1988-89.

                  Only if Viv and Sachin had played for the same team ,in the same conditions against the same oppostion can a fair assesment be made.We should have seen the performances of  both the batsmen in both champion and relatively weaker teams .(Like West Indies today)One factor to betaken into consideration  is that  Viv had to bat in an era (1970's)where their  was no protective headgear and no restrictionsi n the number of bouncers a fast bowler could bowl in a single over.I feel after Bradman and Sobers no cricketer has made such an impact on the game as Viv.In the late 1970's Viv made batsmen like Barry Richarsd look pedestalreminding fans of Brdaman i he 1930's who was simply a class above anyone.It is absolutely correct that Viv has been given the acolade of being  amongst the top 5 cricketers of all time  by Wisden.In my opinion Sir Don Bradma ,the graetest batsmen of all time did gross injustice in Excluding Viv Richards in his all -timeteam.Viv could change the complexion of a game to a greater extent than Sachin could.

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Who is the second greatest test batsman of all time? A statistical analysis.