Is AB de Villiers The Best Ever?

[hawkeye]

Is there another batsman who can do what he does? Given modern technology, training methods etc, is he the best ever?

I know this will be viewed as heresy in some quarters but AB de Villiers is the best batsman there has ever been. Better than Tendulkar and Lara. Better than Viv and Sobers. Better than Gavaskar. Better than the three Ws. Better than Hammond, Hutton, Hobbs and Headley. Better, even, than Bradman. That is my position and I am sticking with it.

Before I am summarily dismissed as a heretic let me try and explain. De Villiers is history's best batsman in the same way that Usain Bolt is the history's best sprinter.

As a general rule, sporting performances have improved with time. Modern living and improvements in training methods and technology has allowed today's athletes to reach levels in their sports of which their predecessors could not even dream.

In 1936, Jesse Owens sprinted to the 100M world record in Chicago in 10.2 seconds. Today, the record stands at 9.58, placed there by Bolt at the 2009 World Championships in Athletics in Berlin, Germany. This means that Bolt would have finished all of 21 feet ahead of Owens had they competed in the same race.

Is AB The Best Who Ever Breathed?

 

[Biggs]

No.

[\Thread]

 

[_Sam_]

Quite arguably the best limited overs batsman ever, however it's always going to be debatable and opinionated.

 

[ethybubs]

I don't understand how anyone can compare a batsman's odi talent to a player who never had the opportunity to play in one, who knows how good Bradman, Hobbs, Hammond, Sobers, Jessop ect. would have been in limited overs format. But when it comes to overall best batsman 99.94 sums it up.

 

[Biggs]

Quite arguably the best limited overs batsman ever

He Lol'd.

Ponting, Crowe, Gilchrist, Sangakkara, Tendulkar, Gayle all want to hear from you, and I'm not even mentioning anyone pre-90's before all the wacky rule changes in favor of batsmen...

De Villiers can get in line.

 

[IceAgeComing]

joe root actually is op

 

[Targaryen]

Well,how you know Hammond, Hutton, Hobbs,Headley and Bradman are not the best.Maybe you were not even Infant when they started their cricket career.

 

[abhi_jacko]

Despite being a huge, huge ABD fan there is no substance in this statement. His claim to the best current ODI batsman is also arguable. All time best is simply stretching it too far

Your arguments are very subjective at best. You say no one has decimated a bowling attack the way ABD did to WI. But you only have to look as far as 2 days back, when Gayle annihilated the opposition with that monstrous double ton

 

[Biggs]

...and even I think Gayle is overrated but he has a stronger case than AB. I mean, honestly. I'd put Gary Kirsten ahead on his day. It's such a nonsense thread. Think I'll start one for Daniel Vettori being the best all time limited overs spin bowler...

 

[ethybubs]

As a general rule, sporting performances have improved with time. Modern living and improvements in training methods and technology has allowed today's athletes to reach levels in their sports of which their predecessors could not even dream.

[WARNING THIS POST IS OFF TOPIC] I have often wondered why it is that through all the modern science and technology bowlers have not been able to increase their speed, If you look at the fast bowlers of the '70s they were considerable faster than the bowlers of the last fifteen years (with the exception of Lee and Akhtar). If you look at the speeds of: Lillee, Thomson, Hadlee, Marshall, Garner, Holding, Roberts, Croft, Imran, Snow and even going back to Tyson they were a lot faster than: Lee, Akhtar, Steyn, Morkel, Johnson, Mcgrath, Malinga, Flintoff, Bond, Philander, Gough ect. So why are bowling speeds not only failing to increase but actually decreasing?

If you try to argue that the 1970's bowlers weren't fast I will verbally assault you.

 

[zimrahil]

..Think I'll start one for Daniel Vettori being the best all time limited overs spin bowler...

But he is, isn't he?

 

[Biggs]

*squints* ......yes.

 

[Aislabie]

He is clearly not the best ever. But he stands alongside Viv Richards as the best ODI batsman ever, in my view. It's a subjective thing.

 

[Paree]

Best ever? No but one of the most entertaining batsmen ever.

 

[stefan]

He Lol'd.

Ponting, Crowe, Gilchrist, Sangakkara, Tendulkar, Gayle all want to hear from you, and I'm not even mentioning anyone pre-90's before all the wacky rule changes in favor of batsmen...

De Villiers can get in line.

And the odi stats would like to hear from you as his odi stats (average and strikerate is better then all of them)...