"Everyone talks about Sachin, but Inzamam was Asia's greatest middle-order batter": Virender Sehwag

[MenInG]

Virender Sehwag "Everyone talks about Sachin, but Inzamam was Asia's greatest middle-order batter"

Virender Sehwag speaking on YT channel:

"Everyone talks about Sachin Tendulkar, but I believe Inzamam was Asia's greatest middle-order batter. Tendulkar's league is beyond the batter's category now; he's high above all. But amongst all batters of India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka - I haven't seen a better batsman than Inzamam. In 2003 or 2004, teams used to panic when they had to score 80 runs in 10 overs, but he never really worried about it and used to play at eight runs per over on average"

 

[Shafi]

Some flowery talk by Virender Sehwag to win Pakistan's fans. Inzi was never in same league of Tendulkar.

 

[MenInG]

Some flowery talk by Virender Sehwag to win Pakistan's fans. Inzi was never in same league of Tendulkar.

Well India fans are seething apparently if you are to go by reactions to Saj's Tweet

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-partner="tweetdeck"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Virender Sehwag "Everyone talks about Sachin, but Inzamam was Asia's greatest middle-order batter. Tendulkar's league is beyond the batter's category now; he's high above all. But amongst India, Pakistan & Sri Lanka batters - I haven't seen a better batter than Inzamam" <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Cricket?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Cricket</a></p>— Saj Sadiq (@SajSadiqCricket) <a href="https://twitter.com/SajSadiqCricket/status/1664995017994252288?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 3, 2023</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

 

[muqarrab]

Inzi was a great but this is just OTT from Sehwag.

 

[Ab Fan]

Is this comment with respect to ODIs? I think in the 2000s, Inzy was undoubtedly the best middle order batsman from Asia.

 

[topspin]

There's no doubt that any knowledge cricketing fan who saw Inzy would rather have him batting in the last 10 overs over Tendulkar except for [MENTION=135038]Major[/MENTION] ofc, he would rather pick Misbah over Inzy and Tendulkar and happily witness a repeat of Mohali.

However other than the last 10 overs, Tendulkar was well ahead of Inzy in all the other aspects of good batsmanship and therefore makes a significantly better player.

Just like how you can't compare Misbah with Inzy, you also can't compare the latter with the little Master. However the gulf between Inzamam and Tendulkar isn't as big as the gulf between Inzy and Misbah.

 

[RexRex]

How can you compare an opener with a middle order batsman when talking about the final 10 overs of an innings ? Sehwag is nicknamed 'tubelight' for a good reason I guess.

 

[salman24]

To be fair he’s too young and never saw Inzi through the best years of his career. I don’t blame him. He’s a Misbah lover and can’t compare. Misbah was good but not even in the same league as Inzi.

 

[salman24]

Inzi was the backbone of the lineup. I was already had hope while he was at the crease.

 

[Rajdeep]

He never compared Inzy with Sachin...pls read the OP. He is saying Inzy was the best Asian middle order batsman. Sachin was an opener and not middle order batter. Now whether Inzy was best middle order from Asia or not is debatable but he is not comparing both the players.

 

[DeadlyVenom]

Inzi was the Asian GOAT for those that actually watched cricket during that era.

Tendulkar is the GOAT for those that just looked at scorecards.

 

[RexRex]

Inzi was the Asian GOAT for those that actually watched cricket during that era.

Tendulkar is the GOAT for those that just looked at scorecards.

If by GOAT, you mean greatest of all-tummies, then I'd agree

 

[Saj]

Inzi was Mr reliable.

He led the batting unit and at times was the lone warrior.

I felt there was less pressure on Tendulkar as he was part of a very strong batting unit.

 

[Rajdeep]

Inzi was the Asian GOAT for those that actually watched cricket during that era.

Tendulkar is the GOAT for those that just looked at scorecards.

Lol...majority of Pakistanis, including Inzy won't agree with it. Looks like you are clueless about this sport we all love.

 

[DeadlyVenom]

Lol...majority of Pakistanis, including Inzy won't agree with it. Looks like you are clueless about this sport we all love.

I think you only started watching cricket in the IPL era.

Majority of Pakistanis rate Gavaskar, Dravid and Kohli above tendulkar btw.

 

[Major]

The greatest Asian Middle order who coudnt do anything in ICC tournaments. Just one good innings in 1992 and after that sucked in every ICC tournament..

Was a pure flat track bulley

 

[Major]

I think you only started watching cricket in the IPL era.

Majority of Pakistanis rate Gavaskar, Dravid and Kohli above tendulkar btw.

gavaskar in odis was highly over rated

 

[topspin]

I think you only started watching cricket in the IPL era.

Majority of Pakistanis rate Gavaskar, Dravid and Kohli above tendulkar btw.

Does this include yourself?

 

[DeadlyVenom]

Does this include yourself?

I never seen Gavaskar play but he is rated very highly among my dads/uncles generation.

He is also highly rated by Imran and Miandad.

From the players I have seen ...I rate Kohli higher than Tendulkar in ODI and Dravid higher in tests.

Sachin just aint that guy to Pakistanis.

 

[shaz619]

There wasn’t a better impact player in that role, I’ve lost count the number of times Inzi helped Pakistan escape a crisis situation, a champion cricketer

 

[jnaveen1980]

He said something similar about Murali. lol. Sehwag is not the kind of guy who doesn't do analysis like we do. He might as well have said Younis khan as handsdown Younis was the best performer against India across the format in matches that Sehwag played against pakistan. Younis Khan has piled up close to 2000 runs against India. Even as a fan i always considered Younis a bigger nemesis. He averages more than Zaheer abbas against India in Tests.

 

[Hitman]

Virender Sehwag speaking on YT channel:

"Everyone talks about Sachin Tendulkar, but I believe Inzamam was Asia's greatest middle-order batter. Tendulkar's league is beyond the batter's category now; he's high above all. But amongst all batters of India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka - I haven't seen a better batsman than Inzamam. In 2003 or 2004, teams used to panic when they had to score 80 runs in 10 overs, but he never really worried about it and used to play at eight runs per over on average"

Looks like posters are missing the bolded part.

 

[Hitman]

Inzi was the Asian GOAT for those that actually watched cricket during that era.

Tendulkar is the GOAT for those that just looked at scorecards.

Yea, that's why one makes it to almost every respectable All Time XI produced till that, while the other doesn't even make it to a World XI of his own time. We all know who is who.

 

[Hitman]

Can anyone tell me why hasn't Inzamam made it to the ICC Hall of Fame yet? According to the rules, a player is eligible to be inducted 5 years after he retires. Inzamam retired in 2007. So he became eligible in 2012, and it's 2023 now.

 

[Ab Fan]

I never seen Gavaskar play but he is rated very highly among my dads/uncles generation.

He is also highly rated by Imran and Miandad.

From the players I have seen ...I rate Kohli higher than Tendulkar in ODI and Dravid higher in tests.

Sachin just aint that guy to Pakistanis.

Probably down to jealousy otherwise why would anyone not rate a guy who played such a key role in maintaining that streak of World Cup wins vs Pakistan for 20 years ( 1992, 2003,2011). Out of 5 World Cup wins, he was player of match in three of them excluding the cameo in 1996 WC as well.

 

[Champ_Pal]

I always rated Inzamam as the best Pakistani batsman I saw in 90's. While Saeed Anwar was stylish, he was always suspect against genuine pace. But Inzamam played express pace like he was playing spinner. He had all the time in the world even while playing Brett Lee and Alan Donald.

 

[Hitman]

I always rated Inzamam as the best Pakistani batsman I saw in 90's. While Saeed Anwar was stylish, he was always suspect against genuine pace. But Inzamam played express pace like he was playing spinner. He had all the time in the world even while playing Brett Lee and Alan Donald.

Have a look at his record against Australia and South Africa, the 2 best bowling attacks of his time, in both Tests and ODIs.

A grand total of 1 century in 120 international innings, against those 2 teams in both forms of the game combined.

 

[Unbiased-Fan]

Sehwag is absolutely right here. Inzamam was indeed one of the best middle order batsman of his time. He is definitely better ODI batsman than Dravid and better test batsman than Ganguly. I rate him equal to Ganguly in ODI format but overall Dravid is ahead of him.
Tests :- 1.Dravid 2.Inzi 3.Ganguly
Odis :- 1.Ganguly /Inzi 3.Dravid
Overall :- 1.Dravid 2.Inzi 3.Ganguly

 

[Hitman]

Sehwag is absolutely right here. Inzamam was indeed one of the best middle order batsman of his time. He is definitely better ODI batsman than Dravid and better test batsman than Ganguly. I rate him equal to Ganguly in ODI format but overall Dravid is ahead of him.
Tests :- 1.Dravid 2.Inzi 3.Ganguly
Odis :- 1.Ganguly /Inzi 3.Dravid
Overall :- 1.Dravid 2.Inzi 3.Ganguly

Pretty apt. Someone like Matthew Hayden was a much better batsman than Inzamam in both Tests and ODis.

 

[DeadlyVenom]

Probably down to jealousy otherwise why would anyone not rate a guy who played such a key role in maintaining that streak of World Cup wins vs Pakistan for 20 years ( 1992, 2003,2011). Out of 5 World Cup wins, he was player of match in three of them excluding the cameo in 1996 WC as well.

Tbh most Pakistanis did not care much about the steak at the time. It became more important in recent times due to the lack of other tournaments. Pakistan performed well in other tournaments where there were Indo Pak games and in bilaterals. It's only in recent times that you guys have lumped two formats together and made a streak up.

When it comes to your childish point about jealousy then shouldn't Pakistanis have been jealous of Gavaskar and Kohli who also performed well against us?

Tendulkar genuinley failed to captivate a Pakistani audience. Now I know you will now claim that it doesnt matter etc etc and thats fine, I can only give you our perspective.

No kid growing up of Pakistan origin wanted to emulate Tendulkar the same way that players like Imran, Wasim and Waqar made an impact on you guys.

However this changed in recent times and Pakistanis highly rate players like Kohli and Dhoni.

 

[Romali_rotti]

Inzi is probably the worst batsmen of pace I have ever seen, if the ball bounced above knee level I just saw him struggle. Still rate Inzi ahead of Dravid though....

 

[Hitman]

Inzi is probably the worst batsmen of pace I have ever seen, if the ball bounced above knee level I just saw him struggle. Still rate Inzi ahead of Dravid though....

Second worst. The worst was Wasim Jaffar.

 

[happydavy]

Well Inzi was certainly one of the best middle order batsmen in Asia but that was until Yuvi arrived on the scene. Also, Inzi was predominantly successful on Asian tracks, really struggled on fast pitches.

 

[Ab Fan]

Tbh most Pakistanis did not care much about the steak at the time. It became more important in recent times due to the lack of other tournaments. Pakistan performed well in other tournaments where there were Indo Pak games and in bilaterals. It's only in recent times that you guys have lumped two formats together and made a streak up.

When it comes to your childish point about jealousy then shouldn't Pakistanis have been jealous of Gavaskar and Kohli who also performed well against us?

Tendulkar genuinley failed to captivate a Pakistani audience. Now I know you will now claim that it doesnt matter etc etc and thats fine, I can only give you our perspective.

No kid growing up of Pakistan origin wanted to emulate Tendulkar the same way that players like Imran, Wasim and Waqar made an impact on you guys.

However this changed in recent times and Pakistanis highly rate players like Kohli and Dhoni.

Waqar has made no impact on Indian audience or fans. He was never seen as a big deal like a Wasim when it comes to big matches or against India.

The streak may have become more popular now but it became a streak only after Tendulkar raised his performance in big matches vs a strong Pakistan side in 90s and won games for his team. He was pivotal in winning 3 of those.

If this isn't enough to captivate Pakistan 's audience, it probably means they were ignorant of the achievements of SRT and were probably deluded with the ego of producing fast bowlers but luckily the delusion ended by the time Dhoni and Kohli became prominent members of Indian team.

This ignorance though doesn't demand the greatness of SRT who is arguably the greatest and most popular Asian cricketer of all-time.

 

[DeadlyVenom]

Waqar has made no impact on Indian audience or fans. He was never seen as a big deal like a Wasim when it comes to big matches or against India.

The streak may have become more popular now but it became a streak only after Tendulkar raised his performance in big matches vs a strong Pakistan side in 90s and won games for his team. He was pivotal in winning 3 of those.

If this isn't enough to captivate Pakistan 's audience, it probably means they were ignorant of the achievements of SRT and were probably deluded with the ego of producing fast bowlers but luckily the delusion ended by the time Dhoni and Kohli became prominent members of Indian team.

This ignorance though doesn't demand the greatness of SRT who is arguably the greatest and most popular Asian cricketer of all-time.

You guys can rate him as high as you like, build statues and worship him if you want too.

He aint that guy for us, not sure why it disturbs you so much.

 

[Ab Fan]

You guys can rate him as high as you like, build statues and worship him if you want too.

He aint that guy for us, not sure why it disturbs you so much.

This ignorance of not accepting reality is the reason behind Pakistan's cricket downfall in last two decades.

 

[Unbiased-Fan]

Tbh most Pakistanis did not care much about the steak at the time. It became more important in recent times due to the lack of other tournaments. Pakistan performed well in other tournaments where there were Indo Pak games and in bilaterals. It's only in recent times that you guys have lumped two formats together and made a streak up.

When it comes to your childish point about jealousy then shouldn't Pakistanis have been jealous of Gavaskar and Kohli who also performed well against us?

Tendulkar genuinley failed to captivate a Pakistani audience. Now I know you will now claim that it doesnt matter etc etc and thats fine, I can only give you our perspective.

No kid growing up of Pakistan origin wanted to emulate Tendulkar the same way that players like Imran, Wasim and Waqar made an impact on you guys.

However this changed in recent times and Pakistanis highly rate players like Kohli and Dhoni.

Same way Indians don't rate softy Babar Azam.

 

[DeadlyVenom]

Same way Indians don't rate softy Babar Azam.

You can rate him however you like.

You wont see me arguing for him on Indian forums.

 

[TheSultan]

Inzi’s calculation of chases was exceptional. Which shows he was more than “just a batsman”

Tendulkar was “just a batsman” - yes a heavy scoring batsman, but he didn’t show much calculation, he just batted.

I was always very critical of Inzi’s captaincy, but his batsmanship was excellent.

 

[TheSultan]

Tbh most Pakistanis did not care much about the steak at the time. It became more important in recent times due to the lack of other tournaments. Pakistan performed well in other tournaments where there were Indo Pak games and in bilaterals. It's only in recent times that you guys have lumped two formats together and made a streak up.

When it comes to your childish point about jealousy then shouldn't Pakistanis have been jealous of Gavaskar and Kohli who also performed well against us?

Tendulkar genuinley failed to captivate a Pakistani audience. Now I know you will now claim that it doesnt matter etc etc and thats fine, I can only give you our perspective.

No kid growing up of Pakistan origin wanted to emulate Tendulkar the same way that players like Imran, Wasim and Waqar made an impact on you guys.

However this changed in recent times and Pakistanis highly rate players like Kohli and Dhoni.

Excellently put.

I really do rate Gavaskar, Dravid, Kohli, even Sehwag, Azharuddin and co.

 

[Justcrazy]

He also said in the same interview , that Sachin is far above the leagues of Batsmaen of his era , he is beyond comparision. Kindly watch the full interview. No kne with iota of knowledge will say Inzamam is better than Sachin. Sachin records is far superior in Australia and England.

 

[Dr_Bassim]

Have a look at his record against Australia and South Africa, the 2 best bowling attacks of his time, in both Tests and ODIs.

A grand total of 1 century in 120 international innings, against those 2 teams in both forms of the game combined.

I mean, if someone has a case for Inzi being better than Tendulkar, this comment shuts it down completely.

He was a good batsmen.

Just like Babar is a good batsmen.

But Ponting, Tendulkar and Sanga were in another league.

 

[Hitman]

I mean, if someone has a case for Inzi being better than Tendulkar, this comment shuts it down completely.

He was a good batsmen.

Just like Babar is a good batsmen.

But Ponting, Tendulkar and Sanga were in another league.

No wonder no one has countered that post of mine, because there is no way any one can counter it with any valid logic or facts.

 

[Mamoon]

Inzamam was a great ODI batsman. Pakistan became a strong chasing side in the mid 2000s mainly due to him.

His record in Australia and South Africa was very poor but as I mentioned in one of my threads recently, such dissection of stats didn’t happen in the previous eras because such information was not readily available before the days of Cricinfo Statsguru and social media etc.

No one in the 90s and 2000s knew that Inzamam has only 1 century in Australia and South Africa and I’m sure Sehwag isn’t aware either, so this perception of Inzamam didn’t become part of his narrative.

We also need to understand that players rate those players very highly who perform against them even if their overall record is not great.

Sehwag’s adulation of Inzamam has everything to do with the fact that he was brilliant against India in the 2000s. The two teams played a lot of cricket from 2004 onwards and Inzamam was a problem for India.

 

[Mp812]

Have a look at his record against Australia and South Africa, the 2 best bowling attacks of his time, in both Tests and ODIs.

A grand total of 1 century in 120 international innings, against those 2 teams in both forms of the game combined.

Sehwag,probably himself has more centuries against SA/Aus. But it was kind of him to say what he did say.

 

[sweep_shot]

Sachin was an opener. Inzi was a middle-order batter. Not a proper comparison. Apple and orange.

 

[SportsWarrior]

Inzy was extremely bad against pace. He probably was one of the worst against pace among all successful batsman in history. He is very good against medium pace. I wouldn't rate him above Yosuf, who himself was not the greatest against pace.

 

[SportsWarrior]

Inzy also struggled in major tournaments. Apart from his breakout innings in 1992 world cup, i don't know any other major innings in other tournaments. You can easily attribute that semifinal innings to him being a complete newcomer.

 

[BunnyRabbit]

As long as Inzi was at the crease, Pak fans had hope for a victory. Him batting with the tail was a treat. His last ball 4 to Tendulkar in 2005 chasing 300+ was a testament to that. Him scoring a 70 not out on a damp Rawalpindi wicket chasing 150 against WI with the tail was exceptional too. He never needed time to get going or find his range (the problem Younis and Yousaf had in ODIs)

Anyone who doesn't rate Inzi hasn't watched cricket till 2006.

 

[DRsohail]

Inzy also struggled in major tournaments. Apart from his breakout innings in 1992 world cup, i don't know any other major innings in other tournaments. You can easily attribute that semifinal innings to him being a complete newcomer.

He was good in 1999 world cup, had one goodish innings in 96?

 

[Hitman]

He was good in 1999 world cup, had one goodish innings in 96?

Innings - 9; Runs - 254; Ave - 31.75; SR - 62.10; 100's 0; 50's- 2

 

[Hitman]

He was good in 1999 world cup, had one goodish innings in 96?

Apart from the numbers posted above, he played 2 good innings in the 1999 World Cup. 1 against Australia and 1 against New Zealand.

 

[Ab Fan]

Definitely among the top 10 Asian batsman of all-time

 

[DRsohail]

Innings - 9; Runs - 254; Ave - 31.75; SR - 62.10; 100's 0; 50's- 2

HAd two good innings, so not a compelet failure by any means, but overall his worl cup record is poor. I agree.

 

[DRsohail]

Apart from the numbers posted above, he played 2 good innings in the 1999 World Cup. 1 against Australia and 1 against New Zealand.

Thats not bad .considering both of these innings were match winninh knocks.

 

[pratiktc]

Some thread here was trying to compare Misbah to Inzy as ODI batter. Absolute nonsense.

Inzy at his peak was a beast in ODIs. In 90s and early 00s he was one of the few batters who could really control and pilot big chases in middle overs.

 

[Major]

Some thread here was trying to compare Misbah to Inzy as ODI batter. Absolute nonsense.

Inzy at his peak was a beast in ODIs. In 90s and early 00s he was one of the few batters who could really control and pilot big chases in middle overs.

sucked in world cups and sucked in SENA

 

[Hitman]

sucked in world cups and sucked in SENA

Equally sucked in Tournament Finals.

 

[Hitman]

Thats not bad .considering both of these innings were match winninh knocks.

That's not bad considering how miserable he was in the 2003 and 2007 World Cups.

 

[SportsWarrior]

HAd two good innings, so not a compelet failure by any means, but overall his worl cup record is poor. I agree.

You already saw the stats. Overall who saw him bat he looked pretty ordinary apart from few innings in major tournaments. I was a huge fan of Inzi and Azharuddin around 1993. My adulation for them had me believing they were better than Sachin. I was wrong. Sachin was clearly in different league, Azhar was fixer and Inzi was a very good ODI batsman who was clearly a league below Sachin.

Inzi also strugglwd against good fast bowling which was surprising for me. He had some of the best fast bowlers in his team and must have faced them in nets. But whenever I saw against good bowlers from Aus, SA it was clear he was not as good against them. He still achieved a lot and had a great career.

 

[Major]

Equally sucked in Tournament Finals.

He is one of the most over rated batters in ODI, He was the biggest flat track bully ever produced. When it came to pancakes, there was no one better than him.

A breakdown of Inzamams scores in SENA,

Avg of 26 in 45 odis in Australia
Avg of 34 in 31 odis in England
Avg of 24 in 23 odis in New Zealand
Avg of 26 in 34 odis in South Africa

If this guy was Asia's best, than Sehwag has also insulted himself and many other players from Asia. He has insulted Virat Kohli aswell

 

[Mamoon]

He is one of the most over rated batters in ODI, He was the biggest flat track bully ever produced. When it came to pancakes, there was no one better than him.

A breakdown of Inzamams scores in SENA,

Avg of 26 in 45 odis in Australia
Avg of 34 in 31 odis in England
Avg of 24 in 23 odis in New Zealand
Avg of 26 in 34 odis in South Africa

If this guy was Asia's best, then Sehwag has also insulted himself and many other players from Asia. He has insulted Virat Kohli aswell

Neither Sehwag nor Kohli were (are) middle-order batsmen in ODIs. Also, if you read his full statement or better, watch the interview, he is clearly talking about the time period in which Inzamam played and most specifically the mid 2000s.

Inzamam during his captaincy was undoubtedly the best ODI middle-order batsman in Asia. He was brilliant from 2004-2006. Pakistan-India played very frequently in that period and Inzamam was the standout batsman from Pakistan who gave India huge problems so it is understandable why Sehwag rates him the best from that period.

Sehwag didn’t say anything deep or complicated but it is amazing how so many people have completely misunderstood, misinterpreted and butchered what he is trying to say. It seems like they just looked at the thread title and didn’t bother to read what’s written or watch what Sehwag said.

 

[Blistering Barnacle]

I always rated Inzamam as the best Pakistani batsman I saw in 90's. While Saeed Anwar was stylish, he was always suspect against genuine pace. But Inzamam played express pace like he was playing spinner. He had all the time in the world even while playing Brett Lee and Alan Donald.

Imo, Saeed Anwar was the better, more impactful player when Inzi and he played together.

There's a reason the Aussies rated Saeed Anwar so highly - he was just an insane batsman in his prime and his career strike rate of around 80 was exceptional back then. He still leads the list for most ODI centuries for Pakistan I believe, though Babar will overtake that soon.

As far as his ability against genuine pace, I think Inzi was susceptible early to LBW while Anwar was susceptible to getting a nick to slips.

Both of them didn't do that well in Australia.

 

[TheSultan]

Whoever wants to say what they can say about Inzi - but he achieved in his first World Cup what the little mister took over 20 years to achieve. And to boot he performed in the semi final AND the WC final too. The impact he had on the World Cup was massive and guess what it didn’t require a century as some keep singing about. This is the difference between people who follow a scorecard and people who watch matches. A century is not a gauge of your impact.


I’m as infuriated as the next man about his dismal performances in subsequent world cups. Obviously it’s hard to get back to that high again when you’ve experienced it so early in your career.

And did I read correctly that somebody tried to compare Misbah to Inzi. Go back and educate yourself!

 

[NishanKonar]

Probably down to jealousy otherwise why would anyone not rate a guy who played such a key role in maintaining that streak of World Cup wins vs Pakistan for 20 years ( 1992, 2003,2011). Out of 5 World Cup wins, he was player of match in three of them excluding the cameo in 1996 WC as well.

Not jealousy. More bcoz Pakistan was far superior to India in the 90s when Sachin was at his peak. People generally dont rate players so highly if they dont win against you. THis is one reason Kohli is highly rated by Pakistanis. During his career India had the upper hand over Pakistan

Good example is Babar Azam - he is not so highly rated by most Indians bcoz he rarely won matches against India on his own

 

[Major]

Whoever wants to say what they can say about Inzi - but he achieved in his first World Cup what the little mister took over 20 years to achieve. And to boot he performed in the semi final AND the WC final too. The impact he had on the World Cup was massive and guess what it didn’t require a century as some keep singing about. This is the difference between people who follow a scorecard and people who watch matches. A century is not a gauge of your impact.


I’m as infuriated as the next man about his dismal performances in subsequent world cups. Obviously it’s hard to get back to that high again when you’ve experienced it so early in your career.

And did I read correctly that somebody tried to compare Misbah to Inzi. Go back and educate yourself!

Inzamam isnt even good enough to tie Tendulkars shoes.

By your logic, Kapil Dev is better than IMran cause he won the world cup before him.

He was never at the high, the guy was terrible in a track where the ball moved. Tendulkar has performed all over the world.

As for Misbah, his overseas record comparison speaks for itself.

 

[Hitman]

Inzamam isnt even good enough to tie Tendulkars shoes.

By your logic, Kapil Dev is better than IMran cause he won the world cup before him.

He was never at the high, the guy was terrible in a track where the ball moved. Tendulkar has performed all over the world.

As for Misbah, his overseas record comparison speaks for itself.

Kapil Dev won a World Cup for India in his very first attempt at the age of 24, while Imran won it during his last series as a player at the geriatric age of 40

 

[Ab Fan]

Not jealousy. More bcoz Pakistan was far superior to India in the 90s when Sachin was at his peak. People generally dont rate players so highly if they dont win against you. THis is one reason Kohli is highly rated by Pakistanis. During his career India had the upper hand over Pakistan

Good example is Babar Azam - he is not so highly rated by most Indians bcoz he rarely won matches against India on his own

Sachin won 3 World Cup matches against Pakistan, he was player of match in three of the five games he played vs them in World Cup. Pakistan did well in bilaterals but in big games Tendulkar owned them.

 

[da_don]

i watched the interview, he never said inzi is better then sachin.. he said you cant compare sachin with anyone because he is god.. so sachin was not part of the comparison…

 

[proud_pakistani]

Hes right. Inzi was like Kohli. If he was on the crease at the 50th over chasing a game Pakistan would be on the winning side. The only game where he couldnt finish while chasing was the first ODI of the Samsung Cup in which he got a brilliant 100. I think one of the best 100s in a losing cause.

Besides that Inzi's 100s generally converted to a win even when we batted first. Really one of the finest players and in the era when he was captain post 2003 was our real WC batter along with Yousuf. All the other batters were average

 

[proud_pakistani]

Not jealousy. More bcoz Pakistan was far superior to India in the 90s when Sachin was at his peak. People generally dont rate players so highly if they dont win against you. THis is one reason Kohli is highly rated by Pakistanis. During his career India had the upper hand over Pakistan

Good example is Babar Azam - he is not so highly rated by most Indians bcoz he rarely won matches against India on his own

Babar has barely played any games against India.

 

[TheSultan]

Inzamam isnt even good enough to tie Tendulkars shoes.

By your logic, Kapil Dev is better than IMran cause he won the world cup before him.

He was never at the high, the guy was terrible in a track where the ball moved. Tendulkar has performed all over the world.

As for Misbah, his overseas record comparison speaks for itself.

It’s about impact when winning a World Cup and not about just winning the WC. Otherwise I would have mentioned Kohli who won a World Cup at his first attempt too.

Kapil apart from a monumental innings against that monumental side Zimbabwe did precious little in the World Cup against top sides apart from shaking his head.

Again, it’s not about monitoring scorecards, watch the game!

 

[TheSultan]

Sachin won 3 World Cup matches against Pakistan, he was player of match in three of the five games he played vs them in World Cup. Pakistan did well in bilaterals but in big games Tendulkar owned them.

Another scorecard response.

Sachin’s innings in 2011 was a terrible innings where he was dropped 5 times - quite an impact less innings, I wouldn’t even think he would be proud of that.. The 1992 innings was just 54. I think the Indian bowling got a hard deal in that match - they won that game, not Tend.

 

[Ab Fan]

Another scorecard response.

Sachin’s innings in 2011 was a terrible innings where he was dropped 5 times - quite an impact less innings, I wouldn’t even think he would be proud of that.. The 1992 innings was just 54. I think the Indian bowling got a hard deal in that match - they won that game, not Tend.

Tendulkar was part of that bowling. He was the standout player of the game in all three matches which is why he was awarded the man of match.

 

[NishanKonar]

Sachin won 3 World Cup matches against Pakistan, he was player of match in three of the five games he played vs them in World Cup. Pakistan did well in bilaterals but in big games Tendulkar owned them.

This World Cup streak became a thing after the 2011 WC. Nobody really cared about it before that. Especially in the 90s those 3 WC wins were seen as flukes as Pakistan had a much superior H2H

 

[NishanKonar]

Babar has barely played any games against India.

He has played enough games against India by now - without any real impact. 2017 CT, 2018 Asia Cup, 2019 WC, 2022 Asia Cup and 2 T20 WCs

Anyways he will get at least 3 more games in 2023 - Asia CUp and World Cup. So lets see

 

[NishanKonar]

It’s about impact when winning a World Cup and not about just winning the WC. Otherwise I would have mentioned Kohli who won a World Cup at his first attempt too.

Kapil apart from a monumental innings against that monumental side Zimbabwe did precious little in the World Cup against top sides apart from shaking his head.

Again, it’s not about monitoring scorecards, watch the game!

By that logic Imran Khan made little impact in 1992 WC. He was like a passenger in that team ! Took very few wickets and scored some runs but at a slow pace. Almost lost the game against NZ due to his slow scoring !

 

[Buffet]

Besides that Inzi's 100s generally converted to a win even when we batted first.

You know how you can have all 100s in wins? By never scoring hundreds against good sides.


If you score 10 ton against Aus/SA then some of them will still result in loss.
If you score 10 tons against BD/Zim then it's unlikely that any ton will result in loss.

 

[Buffet]

Asia greatest middle order batsman has a very ordinary record in ODI,

70+ innings against top two sides of his era(SA/AUS) - Avg 31 with Zero ton.
35 WC matches - Avg 23 with Zero ton.
35 Tournament Final - Avg 29 with Zero ton.

Inzzi was top class in the Test format. Yah, even in test he struggled against SA and Aus even at home, but he was much better in the test format.

 

[shamaan]

Virender Sehwag speaking on YT channel:

"Everyone talks about Sachin Tendulkar, but I believe Inzamam was Asia's greatest middle-order batter. Tendulkar's league is beyond the batter's category now; he's high above all. But amongst all batters of India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka - I haven't seen a better batsman than Inzamam. In 2003 or 2004, teams used to panic when they had to score 80 runs in 10 overs, but he never really worried about it and used to play at eight runs per over on average"

He didn't say he's in the same league of Tendulkar.