Did AB de Villiers bat more like Viv Richards than anyone else? Viv Richards of the modern era?

[Harsh Thakor]

Skill wise you won't find anyone better than de Villiers. Comfortably the most versatile and complete batsman of the game. I am not sure if Viv had the defensive technique and temperament to block for a whole day to save a Test.

However, Viv's achievements are nothing to scoff at. Certainly the best ODI batsman of all time for now, but Kohli is right on his heels. Someone of de Villiers' capabilities should have been the undisputed number one, but he has not been able to deliver those crunch knocks under pressure, and his reluctance to bat up the order cost South Africa plenty of games, most notably the 2015 World Cup semifinal.

I would politely disagree

Ricky Ponting (in his prime) was a more dangerous batsman than AB imo, the closest I have seen to Viv

(ps. talking only about right handers here)

Not Sehwag Gilchrist ,Gayle or Pieterson?

 

[Tusker]

Did Devillliers face as great bowling as Viv or win as many important games and finals?Had an advantage of playing against minnows and on flatefctracks.Viv was better against supreme pace.Viv would have averaged over 5 runs more had he played today in both forms of cricket.

Why do you even bother quoting me when you are really not interested in any proper discussion other than indulging in hit-and-run tactics ?

 

[Harsh Thakor]

Skill wise you won't find anyone better than de Villiers. Comfortably the most versatile and complete batsman of the game. I am not sure if Viv had the defensive technique and temperament to block for a whole day to save a Test.

However, Viv's achievements are nothing to scoff at. Certainly the best ODI batsman of all time for now, but Kohli is right on his heels. Someone of de Villiers' capabilities should have been the undisputed number one, but he has not been able to deliver those crunch knocks under pressure, and his reluctance to bat up the order cost South Africa plenty of games, most notably the 2015 World Cup semifinal.

Great without a doubt but ABD did not create equal psychological presence and impact.I think Viv was morally more intimidating considering the bowlers he faced.

 

[Tusker]

Viv would have averaged above 60 in tests in the modern era and around 55 in ODI cricket.Pitches much flatter and bats much harder.

Come back here when you have developed deeper understanding of the game beyond copy/pasting bunch of text from history books and quoting X,Y,Z and the discipline to indulge in a proper serious discussion. So far I don't see you are interested in such a discussion at all. Can't be bothered to waste time responding to you until then.

 

[Tusker]

As I said there’s absolutely nothing that suggests ODI batting post mid 2000s has been tougher than the late 70s and the 80s on the whole (ie when you take into consideration things like pitches, rules and field restrictions, boundary distance, bats and gear etc as well).

And who is going to account for bowling quality ( something that you doggedly refuse to answer ) , fielding standards , Testmatch Mindset of batsmen ?


BTW there is no evidence whatsoever that pitches were minefields in the 70s and 80s or that they were prepared differently from now. infact Most grounds have the same groundsman for decades.

And if batting is sooo easy due to the big bats and short boundaries how do you explain bowling stats of modern bowlers that are better than some of the 70s and 80s greats ? [ Prediction : Circular logic incoming !! ]

Speaking of Testmatch mindset ... have a look at Englands batting in this score card : http://www.espncricinfo.com/series/8039/scorecard/65063/england-vs-west-indies-final-world-cup-1979/

Chasing a stiff target of 286 - Brearly and Boycott batting in a WC Final no less used up nearly 40 (out of 60 ) overs between them and scored 135 runs by the time they got out. What exactly is the challenge that such Idiotic headless batting poses to the bowling attack ? Pretty sure even the headstrong Boycott will now realize the problem - i.e he should never have played a single freakin ODI !!. Not one single opener today will bat like that. If anyone does that today he will get killed by his own fans and there will be a enquiry into possible match fixing.

A difference of day and night really.

The eyes are useless when the mind is blind. We are only as blind as we want to be.

That seems more applicable to you. You even claimed fielding was "not bad" in those days !

 

[anoop]

[MENTION=134300]Tusker[/MENTION] is right. Bowling quality increased after 90's. Apart from garner, lillee and hadlee 70's 80's did not had good Odi bowlers. Imran took 182 wickets in 175 matches, he wasnt even better than bowlers like darren gough who took around 230+ wickets in 150+ matches.

 

[Harsh Thakor]

[MENTION=134300]Tusker[/MENTION] is right. Bowling quality increased after 90's. Apart from garner, lillee and hadlee 70's 80's did not had good Odi bowlers. Imran took 182 wickets in 175 matches, he wasnt even better than bowlers like darren gough who took around 230+ wickets in 150+ matches.

What about test cricket ?Bowling standard was higher in the 1980s than last decade. Look at the great bowlers of Vivs time.

 

[hk031992]

[MENTION=134300]Tusker[/MENTION] is right. Bowling quality increased after 90's. Apart from garner, lillee and hadlee 70's 80's did not had good Odi bowlers. Imran took 182 wickets in 175 matches, he wasnt even better than bowlers like darren gough who took around 230+ wickets in 150+ matches.

Imran's bowling declined a lot in his final few years, he played till he was almost 40.

http://www.howstat.com/cricket/Statistics/Players/PlayerYears_ODI.asp?PlayerID=0928#bowl

Notice the decline in the last 3 years in particular. He was averaging under 25 every year except 88.

 

[Harsh Thakor]

Imran's bowling declined a lot in his final few years, he played till he was almost 40.

http://www.howstat.com/cricket/Statistics/Players/PlayerYears_ODI.asp?PlayerID=0928#bowl

Notice the decline in the last 3 years in particular. He was averaging under 25 every year except 88.

Imran was past his peak by then.note this

 

[Harsh Thakor]

Imran's bowling declined a lot in his final few years, he played till he was almost 40.

http://www.howstat.com/cricket/Statistics/Players/PlayerYears_ODI.asp?PlayerID=0928#bowl

Notice the decline in the last 3 years in particular. He was averaging under 25 every year except 88.

Got. 23 wickets in West Indies in 1988 , against best team in the world.

 

[anoop]

Got. 23 wickets in West Indies in 1988 , against best team in the world.

His over all record against west indies isnt good. I think by 1988 WI batting was already declining.

 

[anoop]

Imran, only had one good year as wicket taking bowler in 1987 where he took 37 wickets in 21 matches. Other than that there isnt much. In tests though he was one of the greatest to have ever played.

 

[Harsh Thakor]

[MENTION=134300]Tusker[/MENTION] is right. Bowling quality increased after 90's. Apart from garner, lillee and hadlee 70's 80's did not had good Odi bowlers. Imran took 182 wickets in 175 matches, he wasnt even better than bowlers like darren gough who took around 230+ wickets in 150+ matches.

I am mainly analyzing test cricket here.Imran wsa briliant in 1982 and 1987-88.

 

[Mamoon]

Great without a doubt but ABD did not create equal psychological presence and impact.I think Viv was morally more intimidating considering the bowlers he faced.

Viv certainly had a bigger presence than de Villiers. In spite of his brilliance, I don't think the bowlers feared him as much as they feared Viv. de Villiers is definitely a better batsman than Gilchrist, Pietersen and Gayle. He could match them in brutality, but they did not have the defensive technique of de Villiers.

He was as good as Lara in my view.