India's best test batsman ever

[Ajit]

Sunil Gavaskar
1. had to play the likes of the toughest bowlers(Roberts,Marshall,...,Lillee,Hadlee,I.Khan) of all time...
2. without a helmet,...
3. when bowlers could bowl as many as 6 bouncers per over
4. the first batsman to score 10000 runs
5. was an opener, averaged 50+

Sachin Tendulkar
1. has a much better average
2. played with helmet and bouncer relaxation but still Wasim,Waqar,McGrath,Pollock,Murali,... are too hard to face
3. had to deal with a lot of pressure situations
4. scored 34 centuries, in lesser tests and much lesser innings
5. played when too much cricket is being played

Rahul Dravid
1. still better average
2. plays brilliantly in all situations
3. very very consistent, rarely been out of form
4. been a major part of many huge victories(Kolkatta,Adelaide,...)
5. the wall, cause he never throws away his wicket and has more double hundreds than any of the remaining

Note:
1. You can't consider the ODI performances at all.
2. I haven't given Veeru a place, coz he hasn't played many tests.
3. Don't be biased.

 

[squiz]

Between Sachin and Rahul, I rate Sachin higher overall in the career, but Rahul is better currently. Havent really seen Gavaskar playing so I can't really rate him, although he has a very handsome record.

 

[littlegenius90]

Rahul Dravid outright

As far as sunny is concerned as some people say that he might have played against "toughest bowlers" but sachin and rahul has played against "smartest bowlers"...cricket has evolved a lot...it has more intellectual game with availability of all this high fi devices...moreover playing without helmet was his own choice...no one forced him to do that...

Sachin's record speaks for himself but I prefer rahul as Ajit pointed out that he has been a major part of our many victories...plus he has the next best avg. after bradman...and he has scored runs against every nation and that too when the team needed the most...plus he is "the wall"

 

[ronny_kingsley]

I think what criteria I have gone for , most of the others will go for as well.
Rahul Dravid has won more overseas tests for India than both Gavaskar and Tendulkar.
Also Rahul has saved quite a few humilations for India as well .

 

[The Champ]

Eventhough i am a fan of Sachin iwould love to see sach face against Holding, lillee, Hadlee, Imran Khan and succeed, Sunny has proven himself against all these bowlers. Therefore Sunny overtakes Sachin in my views( Since it is test cricket)

 

[sachinisgod]

frankly i am a diehard Sachin fan and hence my vote would have gone to him...but Ajit has given clear cut instructions - no biased opinions... i have to say that at present its very very hard to differentiate between Sachin and Jammie...

though - my opinion is not formed by the misleading stats that say that rahul has the second best avg after bradman...in fact sir don scored 6994 runs at 99.99...and Rahul Dravid is third in the list of batsmen who have scored above 7000... but one simply cannot overlook Kolkata, Headingley, that victory in Lanka(2001), Adelaide, Rawalpindi and Kolkata again... these are moments that make us Indians jubilant and a huge chunk of that joy is indebted to this great batsman... also his ability to perform anywhere and everywhere... he is at present the best in the world - undoubtedly...

but then u cannot overlook 10000 runs with an avg of 57+ either...u cannot overlook the fact that since long before the wall laid its foundation, a man has been batting brilliantly and that the best in the business found him similar to himself... any batsman can be the best for a brief period but no one in the game can dominate it as this man can...or to quote Alan Donald "he's the best cricketer to walk on this planet."...

in short at present its a very tough call between them...and thats my choice...

Gavaskar - well I haven't seen his test batting - the only instance i remember seeing him batting live was when he scored his first and last odi century... he was great in there...and to score 700 plus runs in one tour(first) to the land of the most fearsome bowlers of the time is a big achievement but i think that he had to take care of lesser pressure and tech-aided bowlers... he must have been great but fades a little bit in our minds in front of the other two...

 

[gold639]

I've never seen Gavaskar play,so I voted for "Hard to pick between Dravid and Tendulkar"


But I think Tendulkar just edges Dravid.

 

[ZoraxDoom]

It is between Gavaskar and Tendulkar.
Dravid is in a class of his own, more of a matchwinner then crowd pleaser, while Gavaskar and Tendulkar were a little of both, actually, a lot of both.

 

[boss]

For me it is very Hard to pick between Gavaskar,Tendulkar and Dravid!, any how i go for Dravid due to his consistency, Relentless quality, Flexibility, and more over he is a hiding match winner for INDIA i could say!

Boss

 

[The Champ]

Eventhough its everybodys choice i dont know how all of u miss out on Sunny.

What kind of bowlers he faced and amt of runs he has scored really surprises me that everybody go for Sach and Rahul

To me next to Bradman, Sunny and VIV richards r the best ( See i am great fan of Sachin though)

 

[bharat]

Hard to pick between Gavaskar and Dravid.

Tendulkar is not as consistant as them.

 

[shahid6995]

You have to have seen Gavaskar's 96 in the 1989 Bangalore test vs Pakistan to see what a superb batsman he was. I agree that bowlers now cant hold a candle next to the greats like the WI battery, Imran, Lillee, Thompson, Hadlee. It would be wrong to think that those bowlers did not "think" and bowlers now are more "intellectual". Still, it is difficult to compare them all together and I feel that the quality players that Tendulkar and Dravid are, they would probably have done just as well against that attack too. I would like to have seen that though, Holding, Marshall, Ambrose, Clarke, Croft, Lillee, Thommo, all in one side and having a go at Bradman, Hutton, Sunny, Sachin, Dravid, Zaheer, Azhar etc... would have been so much fun then to see who is left standing.

 

[ravigoteti]

my vote would go for gavaskar. I saw many of his test innings, his 220 odd against ENG. at old trafford, his 185 or something against ROW in lords, his 96 against pakistan, his 236 against WI etc. He played the best attacks of all time, and looking at team india at that time..those were priceless performances. Sachin comes next because he played much more innings and the pressure on him is intense. But to say the least, all three are great batsmen.

 

[sachin]

sachin!

 

[Ritwik]

Sportspersons are basically public entertainers. So that aspect must also be taken into account while choosing the "best batsman". Gavaskar and Tendulkar have undoubtedly been much bigger crowd entertainers than Dravid will ever be.

Dravid is a great batsman, technically refined, highly consistent and with a knack of scoring in pressure situations. He has been amazingly consistent in overseas tours, and often has had to bat in the early overs of a test match, because of India's unreliable opening combinations over the last decade.

Gavaskar was even more of a technician and had to bat against better bowlers (atleast better pacers) on hostile pitches. The fact that he averages 50 being an opening batsman can't be overlooked either. His overall contribution to the team was immense, because he usually game the team solid starts, on which others like Wadekar, Vengsarkar, Amarnath, Vishy and Kapil could build on.

Tendulkar has played under immense pressure for the last 16 years. His overall levels of consistency have been amazing. He plays with a lot of flair, and inspite of changing his style over the last couple of years, basically remains an aggressive batsman. He's got a great range of shots, is able to improvise (the paddle sweep, the late cut, the cut above the slips' heads) and possesses essentially perfect technique against both pacers and spinners. Tendulkar has been a phenomenon in the history of cricket, so much so that it is expected of him to break virtually all records in the book. Playing under such pressure and expectation, and not getting bogged down, without any extended slumps, is the stuff legends are made of.

Hence, taking all factors into consideration, my choice is Sachin Tendulkar