Gayle blows away Dhoni from top spot

[tech.007]

I had forgotten Gayle before I came across this post...

 

[sohum]

Gayle is already a legend. People will forget players like KP, Sehwag, Ishant, Hayden etc etc someday. But they will never forget Gayle. They will remember him as the first man to score a hundred in International T-20 cricket. This is Gayle's biggest achievement in his career.

I didn't even know he was the first man to score a hundred in International T20 cricket.

He will definitely not be remembered over the likes of KP and Hayden, and it is doubtful he will be remembered over the only Test opener and one of only three Test players to score two triple hundreds, unless he goes ahead and does it himself.

 

[sammy]

I didn't even know he was the first man to score a hundred in International T20 cricket.

He will definitely not be remembered over the likes of KP and Hayden, and it is doubtful he will be remembered over the only Test opener and one of only three Test players to score two triple hundreds, unless he goes ahead and does it himself.

KP's future is uncertain. Chris gayle is growing as a player each day, no one knew chanderpual would go down as one of the greats a few years ago.

sammy added 36 Minutes and 57 Seconds later...

Cricinfo - Chanderpaul, Gayle, and little else

 

[Geekery]

He's pretty much in the Jayasuriya/Hayden/Sehwag category, the kind you want to get rid of asap as a bowling side. His last ODI innings against NZ was amazing to watch though. The match was on late here and I think I tuned-in at around 12am, saw Gayle batting and thought I'd go sleep as soon as he's out, he only went onto hit 135... Tuesday wasn't a very productive day

 

[sohum]

KP's future is uncertain. Chris gayle is growing as a player each day, no one knew chanderpual would go down as one of the greats a few years ago.

Actually, Chanderpaul was always a pretty well-respected cricketer. At least, I think he had good performances against India, which is why I didn't look forward to it whenever he came to the crease, batting against us. By that account, yes, Gayle may became a great. But to suggest that he will and KP won't is a little illogical. KP has already achieved a lot in his career and unless he suffers an almighty fall, he probably has found a place amongst the great batsmen to have played the game.

 

[Precambrian]

Actually, Chanderpaul was always a pretty well-respected cricketer. At least, I think he had good performances against India, which is why I didn't look forward to it whenever he came to the crease, batting against us. By that account, yes, Gayle may became a great. But to suggest that he will and KP won't is a little illogical. KP has already achieved a lot in his career and unless he suffers an almighty fall, he probably has found a place amongst the great batsmen to have played the game.

KP still has to go a looooooong way before he is called a great.

For starters, see his record in the subcontinent.

 

[irottev]

I don't think i've ever seen a batsman hit the ball onto so many roofs in one series. Heck, he even hit it onto a house down the street's roof. I think it bounced off though.

 

[vaibhav mehta]

KP still has to go a looooooong way before he is called a great.

For starters, see his record in the subcontinent.

But then again He just has played 11 test matches in subcontinent.You have to give him couple of more series to judge in subcontinent.
Same time He has awesome recored against India in ODIs and He averages nearly 50 in subcontinent in ODIs.
Overall figure will surely favour him to be called as a great.

 

[King Pietersen]

The only place Pietersen actually struggled was Sri Lanka. He made a hundred in both India and Pakistan, and maintained decent averages against them, it's just the Sri Lankan tour where he struggled, and he also struggled in New Zealand, so that was his only real patch of poor form, and it only lasted 6 Tests, and he made a hundred, whilst also maintaining an average above 40 in New Zealand. Not bad considering he was in such bad nick. The guy's already made 15 hundreds in 45 Tests, which is a phenomenal record, and a fantastic 50/100 conversion rate, 15 hundreds and 11 fifties, can't ask for much better than that.

Pietersen will end his career as a great of the game, he'll probably surpass Graham Gooch's England Test Run record, he'll probably break the record for the shortest time taken to make 10'000 Test runs. He's already the fastest to reach 2000, 3000 and 4000 Test runs, in terms of actual time, so if he keeps this up, and plays into his mid/late 30's he'll have one heck of a record, could possibly even be up with Tendulkar in terms of hundreds scored, probably not, but you never know.

 

[sohum]

KP still has to go a looooooong way before he is called a great.

For starters, see his record in the subcontinent.

No, he's great already. He's not yet in the upper echelon of this generation, alongside Ponting, Tendulkar and Lara, but he's definitely done enough to be remembered. His situation is similar to Sehwag and Smith--they've done a lot in their career, but need to keep it up for a couple more seasons to achieve a higher status.

 

[Precambrian]

But then again He just has played 11 test matches in subcontinent.You have to give him couple of more series to judge in subcontinent.
Same time He has awesome recored against India in ODIs and He averages nearly 50 in subcontinent in ODIs.
Overall figure will surely favour him to be called as a great.

Uh what? You can never combine Tests and ODIs to become a great. Tests are wholly different from ODIs FFS. And 11 tests is more than enough to find out if a player can adjust in the subcontinent or not. FFS, he has played 4 test series!

The only place Pietersen actually struggled was Sri Lanka. He made a hundred in both India and Pakistan, and maintained decent averages against them, it's just the Sri Lankan tour where he struggled, and he also struggled in New Zealand, so that was his only real patch of poor form, and it only lasted 6 Tests, and he made a hundred, whilst also maintaining an average above 40 in New Zealand. Not bad considering he was in such bad nick. The guy's already made 15 hundreds in 45 Tests, which is a phenomenal record, and a fantastic 50/100 conversion rate, 15 hundreds and 11 fifties, can't ask for much better than that.

Excuse me? Making 100s are the only criteria? He averages 33 in Pakistan, 25 in SL and 40 in India. While they might be good for an English batsman, it is nowhere near "greatness" mark.

Pietersen will end his career as a great of the game, he'll probably surpass Graham Gooch's England Test Run record, he'll probably break the record for the shortest time taken to make 10'000 Test runs. He's already the fastest to reach 2000, 3000 and 4000 Test runs, in terms of actual time, so if he keeps this up, and plays into his mid/late 30's he'll have one heck of a record, could possibly even be up with Tendulkar in terms of hundreds scored, probably not, but you never know.

If he has got there in the quickest time in terms of days, it is just because England plays more tests than ODIs as compared to other teams, save perhaps Australia.

He might might might end up surpassing Gooch. However that is pure IF at this point. And he has double the amount of runs he has scored already to reach anywhere near that. If Pietersen is a great based on IFs, then Sehwag is a super great.

No, he's great already. He's not yet in the upper echelon of this generation, alongside Ponting, Tendulkar and Lara, but he's definitely done enough to be remembered. His situation is similar to Sehwag and Smith--they've done a lot in their career, but need to keep it up for a couple more seasons to achieve a higher status.

He's not great already. Only if he keeps this average and performances going for atleast 2-3 years, he has got any chance of being bracketed as great. It is not a throwaway term.

Just because England does not have a batsman averaging consistently over 45, except Pietersen, doesnt make him a great. He might be a great English batsman of modern times.

Precambrian added 10 Minutes and 25 Seconds later...

Pietersen's away average is just 41 from 19 test matches. How can he be a GREAT???

 

[Dare]

hey buddy, do you see Pietersen anywhere in the thread title. Its about Gayle, so discuss that.

 

[King Pietersen]

Pietersen's away average is just 41 from 19 test matches. How can he be a GREAT???

Matthew Hayden's not great then? He also averaged 41 away from home in his career, are you trying to say that that's not a good enough record away from home to be considered a great? Inzamam Ul-Haq only averaged slightly higher than that, averaging 44 in away Tests, Mahela Jayawardene only averages 38 away from home, Justin Langer only averaged 41 in Tests away from Australia, Gordon Greenidge averaged 42 away from home, Sourav Ganguly averaged 41 away, VVS Laxman averages 43 away, Mark Waugh averaged 41, Desmond Haynes averaged 33, Mark Taylor 43, and Graham Gooch 36. Averaging 41 away from home's truely a shocking record isn't it. None of those players above are considered greats of the game are they........

 

[mattfb]

Excuse me? Making 100s are the only criteria? He averages 33 in Pakistan, 25 in SL and 40 in India. While they might be good for an English batsman, it is nowhere near "greatness" mark.

Making Hundreds is a big part of the criteria as it shows a players temperament and skill to go on with an innings. 40 is good in India too.

Pietersen's away average is just 41 from 19 test matches. How can he be a GREAT???

41 away from home is exceptionally good. Just look at the list KP gave you.

 

[vaibhav mehta]

11 tests is more than enough to find out if a player can adjust in the subcontinent or not. FFS, he has played 4 test series!

Ya so ultimately you don't think that Ponting also should be called as a Great!!!
Because He averages just 31.59 in subcontinent and only has played 13 test matches after 2000 till now.

Check out Sachin Tendulkar's average in Africa and New Zeland after 14 tests! It is shocking ya!

If you don't think that either Ponting or Sachin should be called as great because they have low averages in particular countries then Can I have some great player lists from you?


It is very easy to use stats to criticize any player in the world.I can do that(except Sir Bradman though).and that is why someone like Ben would impress me with his stats because He always presents them in neutral manner.

I bet you,just check the number of matches that KP has took to reach his 1k,2k,3k...and he will beat most of your favorites.But that doesn't mean that He must be better than them just like averaging somewhere 41 in 19 test matches doesn't mean one should not be called as a great.