From: govindra@maya.rutgers.edu (S Govindarajan)
Newsgroups: rec.sport.cricket
Subject: Re: Selfish Gavaskar & Shastri
Date: 25 Jan 93 23:01:25 GMT
Organization: Rutgers Univ., New Brunswick, N.J.

In article <1jv1evINNkre@srvr1.engin.umich.edu>, sudhama@engin.umich.edu (Sudhama Gopalan) writes:
> In article <C1CD2D.JEu@acsu.buffalo.edu> skumar@acsu.buffalo.edu (Shivesh Kumar) writes:
> >Flying Eagle (shankar@remus.rutgers.edu) wrote:
> >
	[Article on Gavaskar's/Shastri's ability to pace an innings deleted]

> >I certainly feel that Vengsarkar & Vishwanath was a better batsman than 
> >Gavaskar though statistics says otherwise.Had Gavaskar got the treatment like 
> >what Jimmy Amarnath used to get(out & in) he wouldn't have stood anywhere near
> >him too.Selectors used to carry on with him even when he used to be out of form
> >just because we've always had problems finding openers rather than middle order
> >order batsman.If Vishy,Vengy or Jimmy were given to play continuously so many 
> >matches as Gavaskar I'm sure they would have landed ahead of Gavaskar or 
> >atleast not that behind as stats would show right now.
> >
> >Comments invited..
> >

I disagree with your opinions about Vishy. In his last series Vs Pak
in '82, I think his highest was 37 in 5 tests and he wasn't even able
to sight the ball properly.

Vishwanath held the record for the max continuous sequence of test
appearances (91) before Gavaskar. He ended up with 6091 odd runs.
While Gavaskar ended up with 10000 runs in 125T. Vishy would have had
to hit 4000 runs in 30 matches, a tall order given the form he was in.
And Vengsarkar would have had to emulate Bradman to come closer to
Gavaskar.

While I am a great form of Vishwanath, I feel that he didn't utilise
his talents as much as Gavaskar did. One thing I will accept. Many of
Vishy's 100s came in real crisis.

> >-Shivesh

> I have never really considered Gavaskar a great one-day batsman. As you 
> correctly pointed out, he never really got a hang of pacing his innings and
			 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Gavaskar has indeed played some superb and spectacular one-day
innings. For instance, his 90 (run out) Vs WI at Berbice in '82-83 was
the corner stone for the Indian victory. So was his 80 odd (not out)
Vs England (at Lords (?)) in '86 when he led India to victory in the
company of Azahruddin with an unbroken 165 run partnership. Besides he
was in the team as an anchorman and not as a hitter. If I remember
correctly, in the '85 WSC (Aus, NZ, Ind) apart from Vengsarkar, only he
scored consistently.

It would be interesting to compare Gavaskar's oneday records with Amarnath's.

> hence his team's - this would be particularly glaring in a run chase. Of the
> lot you've mentioned, I'd probably pick Vengsarkar for my all-time OD Indian

IMHO, the best Indian OD player was Srikkanth. I would rate him among
the best in the world for his capacity to hit off both spin and pace.
Certainly, he has the best record for an Indian against the WI and
Pak, two of the best bowling teams in the mid 80s.

> team any day. I do believe the selectors screwed around with him (was'nt he
> suspended for a while for playing in the US after a WI tour) when he was at
> the peak of his career. Jimmy was also screwed around with - but then Jimmy was
> such an on-off player - he'd be brilliant at times and at others he'd be the 
> pits. I'd still pick him ahead of Gavaskar for the one-day game.
>  But as far as Test cricket goes, no one came close to Sunny. And as we all know
> Test cricket *is* the real thing.
> 
> Sudhama


>Govind
govindra@maya.rutgers.edu
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                      January 24, 1993