In the aftermath of Sachin Tendulkar’s eventual achievement of 100 test/one-day centuries some discussion has turned to the great Sir Donald Bradman and Tendulkar’s fellow countryman Sunil Gavaskar.
Bradman and Gavaskar are inextricably tied because it was Gavaskar who eventually passed Bradman’s record of most test centuries, which now lies in the possession of Tendulkar.
One of my good mates is a huge Gavaskar fan. What made Gavaskar so great was the fact that he played a good portion of his career before helmets were introduced into Test cricket. Plus the quality of pacemen he faced were very great, especially those from the Windies.
Helmets were first introduced into Test cricket between 1976 and 1978, but there is some discrepancy whether it was Dennis Amiss facing the Windies in 1976 or Graeme Yallop also facing the Windies in 1978 who wore the first official Test helmet. I’m inclined to think it was Yallop.
In any case, I will assume Gavaskar did not wear a helmet until after the 1977/78 series against Australia. At this point he was still less than a third into his eventual haul of 125 tests.
At this point, Gavaskar had played 37 tests, and was averaging a respectable 47.36 for his 11 centuries. But he obviously got better, finishing with an eventual 125 tests, averaging 51.12 with 34 centuries.
Bradman scored his 29 centuries in just 52 tests (one century every 1.79 tests). Gavaskar’s 34 centuries came at a rate of one per 3.77 tests. Tendulkar, with 49 centuries in 188 tests, has a strike rate of one century every 3.84 tests.
For the curious, Gavaskar’s equalling 29th century came in his 95th test, and his 30th century (236no) came in his 99th test. Both theses centuries were scored in a torrid series against the Windies in 1983/84.
Who were the great fast bowlers Gavaskar faced? The fast bowler who appeared most against Sonny was England’s Bob Willis, in 17 tests.
Imran Khan was next with 16 Tests, followed by Mike Holding (15), Malcolm Marshall and Ian Botham (both 14), Tony Greig (13) and Chris Old and Andy Roberts (both 11).
Sonny didn’t face Lillee or Thomson much. He played against Thomson in five Tests in 1977/78 and against Lillee and Pascoe in three tests each in 1980/81. That was it. The Aussie paceman he faced most often was Rodney Hogg (8 Tests).
Interestingly, Gavaskar’s last five tests in 1987 (against Pakistan) were also the first five tests for the young Wasim Akram. This was the only time they would cross paths in Test cricket.
There are also questions as to the quality of pacemen faced by Bradman. The fast bowlers who appeared most against Bradman were of course Harold Larwood, and the English all-rounder Gubby Allen, who each played him 11 times.
Apart from 1932/33, Larwood didn’t really do much, but this has more to do with the poor manner in which he was used by his English captains and authorities (Jardine excepted), rather than his true ability.
Allen was quite fast apparently and, apart from Ken Farnes, was probably the next fastest after Larwood. Farnes only played Bradman eight times, veteran all-rounder Maurice Tate nine times. Bill Voce and Alec Bedser played against Bradman 10 times each.
Of the non-Enlishman, South Africa’s Sandy Bell and Windies Herman Griffith each played Bradman five times.
Interestingly, Bradman averaged 105.72 from his 15 Tests after WW2, when there was an immediate dearth of great fast bowlers (Australia excepted). Bradman’s batting average at the outbreak of war in 1939 was 97.94 from 37 tests.
Curiously, he improved that by an even two batting points to an eventual 99.94.
So what does any of this tell us about either Bradman or Gavaskar? Bradman played against some fine pacemen in his career, without any of them being top-drawer, except for Larwood.
Even allowing for this fact, Bradman is still way in front of any other batsman to play Test cricket.
Gavaskar’s opposition of pacemen is quite compelling, even allowing for the fact he played more than two-thirds of his career with a helmet, or that he rarely appeared against either Lillee or Thomson.
Needless to say, Willis, Imran, Holding, Marshall, Botham, Greig, Old and Roberts are some of the biggest names in fast bowling ranks to grace the cricket turf.
Gavaskar is India’s greatest opener, but Tendulkar perhaps pips him as India’s best batsman in any position.
In my all-time selections, Bradman would be in the First XI, while both Gavaskar and Tendulkar would probably be in the Second XI, and only because of the quality of competition for places.
Cotts
Guest
Really? At First Class level were Clarrie Grimmett and Bill O'Reilly. I can't recall his average against O'Reilly (someone will help me out) but he averaged 62.29 against Grimmett who had a Test bowling average of 24.21 and first class average of 22.28.
ppc
Guest
Midocre players? Are you out of your mind? The current players and standards of fielding, batting or bowling are miles ahead of 1970s or 1980s. Bradman played in a bygone era where nobody dived to save boundaries or bowlers would ball with the same field setup whole day and give away lot of runs to get wickets. Because of one day cricket, the team do not want to give away a lot of runs in tests too. Bradman would find it hard to keep an average of 50 in today's era.
ppc
Guest
Bayman you are just biased and taunting here. I know why Aussies hate Indians so much. Their unstoppable juggernaut crashed and burned in India many times.... ha ha. Its a lot of fun to watch an Aussie fume.
ppc
Guest
Bradman is highly rated only by the Aussies. Viv Richards, Tendulkar and Lara would all cross 20K runs in Bradman's era with an average of 100 or more.
ppc
Guest
Bradman would be an ordinary batsman in modern era. He is overrated. Even Mike Hussey averaged 80 at one point during his career. Ditto with Hadlee till he had some bad series. What Tendulkar has achieved is insurmountable. He has consistently played at international level in 200 tests against formidable opposition in all continents. Bradman pales in comparison to this man's consistency. I would say Lara is no. 1 and Tendulkar no. 2 in test batting.
ppc
Guest
As far as Ponting is considered, Ponting will never be considered a great because of his off the field theatrics and controversies. Also he never faced fast and furious Australian bowlers or an all time great like Warne. It is my opinion that Warne would have been a formidable opponent against Bradman or even Richards. Tendulkar has dominated Warne in subcontinent where pitches are made for leg spinners.
ppc
Guest
Tendulkar has a better average against Australia in Australia compared to Lara. Lara played great innings at home but away he was not so good. It is a common misconception that Tendulkar is a flat track bully. he played a lot of one day cricket in India or Pakistan which gave rise to this notion. He has played many tests and scored heavily in all conditions and venues. He easily surpasses Lara in terms of consistency. But he does not have big scores like Lara's 400 or 375. He used to lose his tempo once he crossed 150 or 200. He was not as thirsty as Lara.
Srikanthan
Guest
If Sunny was great so is Kallis. SMG was great but was almost a strokeless wonder for most of his career intent on defence except on a few occasions. Being very good in defence does not make one a great batsman. You gauge the capability with greatet wightage on strokeplay , on that count SMG falls short.
Rao
Guest
I agree with Balesh. Sahin is oerrated by the media. Sunny is way ahead in his technique than Sachin.
ALLAN SADANHA
Guest
Tendukars movements are close to Mardona diff sport. same mechanics. Haing said that thecomparion ends Maradona is the greatest athlete of all times in a team sport no matterhow short lived.
Steve
Guest
LOL, Tendulkar fan well and truly got torn to bits by Bayman, well done good sir, ridding the world of ignorance one day at a time, Lara>>>>>>>>>>Tendulkar
Steve
Guest
The years that Bradman missed were his 26-36 years, the best period for a batsmen, Remember what Pontng was like in those years, take away that part of his career and he only averages around 40...
balesh
Guest
gavaskar comes very close to bradman, he never wore a helmet throughout his career except for the skull cap which he started to wear in 1985. he played on uncovered pitches and with a front foot rule without any restrictions on bouncers and beamers, long boundaries. sachin is no way near him.
Srikanthan
Guest
Generally there is a tendency to romanticise a great player who misses out. Barry Richards, no doubt a great and to Graeme Pollock to some extent are players who are eulogised for what they fleetingly acheived ( Graeme pollock atleast played some 21 tests I think) and people assume that they missed out one of the greatest. I doubt whether if they had played 100 plus tests or near that ,they would have been held in such high esteem.Let us say if Lara had stopped playing after his 375 , would we have hailed as someone better than Bradman, Let us be realistic and compare actual abilities from performance rather than what could have been. Aura gets magnified in such cases. Tendulkar suffers due to his last two years struggle. Look at Viv Richards, people mow have forgotten his last two years struggle and remember his salad days. He was truly great and had performance to show. Gavaskar was a solid but sedate batsmen no where near Tendulakr in stroke production. Was a lousy ODI batsman to boot
john
Guest
well, even with the WI missing Roberts and Holding ( who must surely play ahead of garner and marshall) I'd still fancy them to win
john
Guest
My late father, who started watching cricket about 1921 told me the three best batsmen that he'd ever seen were Jack Hobbs, Gary Sobers and Barry Richards. When I said "What about Bradman"?..he replied "I'm only counting mortals son.." And it's true in cricket you can only ask: "discounting Bradman who is the best...?, much as in tennis you have to say " Leaving aside Rod laver" So leaving aside Bradman, I'd put Tendulkar somewhere behind Barry Richards, Graeme Pollock, sobers, Lara and gavaskar
greatmate
Guest
love hearing stories regarding Barry Richards Have you got any footage of him in world series cricket ? do you remember watching him play in it?any more great stories of crickets lost genius? cheers!!
Srikanthan
Guest
I think Bradman was beyond any kin d of comparison. It wud be a comparison of unequals. Taking him out, I think Tendulkar was the best. Average as a concept can be used and misused. If yoU take out Zim/Bang, there is a case for taking the average against the best team. Kallis does not compare favourably with Tenduljkar on that.lLook at his average againbst OZ. Also look at his record in swinginbg conditions of Englland. SRT comes out better. If you take the avregae in conditions completely alien to a particular batsman, Ponting falls by the wayside, look at his perfomances against India in india as against SRT';s in OZ against OZ. The tendency is also to remember the recent performances. Obviously Tendulkar's has been abysmal. Lara and Tendulkar are in a class of their own. Another look at all round capability in terms of performances in ODI and Tests, Kallis fails. Lara , Ponting and Tendulkar come out on top. If you argue as to the most valuable player, then it has to be without doubt Kallis.
marees
Guest
ODI - world XI Test - WI or draw Since the world XI given above doesn't have a proper opener, I expect it to lose easily to WI in a test match On the other hand, in ODIs, it is a more of a close call. I dont see a proper 5th bowler for WI, and also expect them to bowl more extras and get finedfor over-rate too, so the world XI might make it in the ODIs
Cricket Fan
Guest
This has nothing to do with the topic but who do you think would win between The World XI of the Last Two Decades Vs The West Indies of All Time World XI 1. Mathew Hayden 2. Rahul Dravid 3. Ricky Ponting 4. Sachin Tendulkar 5. Brian Lara 6. Jack Kallis 7. Adam Gilchrist 8. Shane Warne 9. Wasim Akram 10. Glenn Mcgrath 11. Muralidharan West Indies XI 1. Gordon Greendidge 2. George Headley 3. Everton Weeks 4. Rohan Kanhai 5. Gary Sobers 6. Frank Worrel(Captain) 7. Clive Walcot (Wicket-Keeper) 8. Lance Gibbs 9. Joel Garner 10. Malcolm Marshall 11.Wes Halls