Graeme Smith or Virender Sehwag?

[sohum]

He gets going about once in 20 innings against an opposition like Bangladesh. In ODI's at least.

In tests he's decent, still too rash I feel.

He got starts in every innings of the Asia Cup bar one or two, IIRC.

 

[Leggie]

He pretty well against Australia, and they weren't all Flat Tracks. He at least managed to score runs when everyone else failed. :

 

[Cricketman]

Asia Cup = Roads as pitches.

Sehwag = Flat track bully, any other track sissy

 

[sohum]

Mainly ODI's, and usually lost it by chasing.

I've never been a fan of Sehwag in ODI's. He's far too aggressive to be useful.

 

[Cricketman]

He pretty well against Australia, and they weren't all Flat Tracks. He at least managed to score runs when everyone else failed. :

It was opposite day

 

[sohum]

Asia Cup = Roads as pitches.

Sehwag = Flat track bully, any other track sissy

He was the only Indian batsman to score a century on the whole tour of New Zealand (Tests + ODIs) before World Cup 2003--and he scored two of them IIRC. It's unfair to call him an "any other track sissy" when he has good records in Australia and West Indies and a decent record in England.

 

[Cricketman]

How can you bring up stats from like 5 years ago? 2003 was when he made his debut (I think, or around then) it's been a long time since then, and a lot has changed.

 

[sohum]

How can you bring up stats from like 5 years ago? 2003 was when he made his debut (I think, or around then) it's been a long time since then, and a lot has changed.

They all count. If he had it in him to play through it then, then it is a matter of form rather than ability. What has changed? As a Test cricketer he's only gotten better. He's tightened up his strokeplay a lot more and I'm looking forward to the next couple of years of The Monk.

 

[Leggie]

It was opposite day

Opposite tour

 

[angryangy]

Sehwag only played 2 Tests and one was pretty much a lifeless pitch, strangely enough, that was the one which he scored most of his runs on.

 

[evertonfan]

The innings he's playing right now is pretty much why I want Graeme Smith in my team.

 

[mattfb]

If I was picking an opening partner for Hayden it would easily be Smith. Hayden will play the big shots and Smith will be there to feed him the strike and make sure the partnership goes steady. Shewag will just have a slog first ball hoping that we get of to a 10 an over start.

 

[sohum]

If I was picking an opening partner for Hayden it would easily be Smith. Hayden will play the big shots and Smith will be there to feed him the strike and make sure the partnership goes steady. Shewag will just have a slog first ball hoping that we get of to a 10 an over start.

Yeah, and that's how you score two triple-centuries. And score 195 runs in 2 and bit sessions at the MCG. :

 

[aditya123]

How many player v player threads will you open today...

anyway Smith is better sehwag is nothing but a slogger...

Sehwag is`nt a slogger. He is infact a very clever batsman .
You do not average 50+ test cricket over a period of time by just slogging.
And you guys talk about Sehwag being a flat track bully----
He has scored hundreds in places like Adelaide,Melbourne,St.Lucia,Nottingham. They may have come mostly on flat tracks but point me out someone who does not enjoy flat tracks. In fact, Iam yet to see Smith tested. He struggled against good seam bowling by Sreesanth and Zaheer in the SA tour in 2006 and is yet to score big in Australia.

Another factor going for Sehwag is his ability to get big hundreds and not just baby hundreds. Most of his scores are 150+.

Sehwag for me in tests because he makes the conditions look irrelevant in Tests and can put the opposition on the backfoot straightaway.
Smith in ODIs.

 

[angryangy]

Yeah, and that's how you score two triple-centuries. And score 195 runs in 2 and bit sessions at the MCG. :

It is splitting hairs, but Sehwag is best described as a great player of limited impact. For all 10 of Sehwag's 150+ scores, India have only won one Test and the average first innings score in these games is 493. People asked what was the point of Brian Lara's 400 and so too, where is the meaning in big scores if they never win you anything?

India don't get the lion's share of sporting pitches, but they still don't draw two thirds of their games, which is what happens for more than two thirds of the matches when Sehwag gets a hundred. He has scored 48% of his runs in the 22 matches drawn and only 27% of his runs in the 20 matches won.

When India do win a Test, they can sometimes count on Sehwag. He is certainly not the worst player in the world and in the midst of a session, his entertainment value certainly seems more important than the match result. However, for a win, India have looked largely to Tendulkar and Dravid, but have also been able to count on Laxman and Ganguly more.