[EXCLUSIVE] "Sachin faced positive pressure, Babar faces hostility": Jonathan Agnew

[Bhaijaan]

21 year old Sachin in 1994 scored 82 from 49 deliveries at Auckland, New Zealand when he was sent in as opener for the first time in his international career. 30 years ago. Sachin was freakishly gifted.

 

[TheSultan]

We can agree to disagree but as far as I'm aware mcgrath is often considered the no 1 bowler of all time, aka the Bradman of bowling. He's not just your avg run of the mill ATG.

Defo bro - no harm in agreeing to disagree.

But, just to clarify. McGrath is not the Bradman of bowling - for that he needs to be an outlier - he isn’t.

And remember brother we are not discussing who’s greater - it’s who will be remembered.

 

[TheSultan]

21 year old Sachin in 1994 scored 82 from 49 deliveries at Auckland, New Zealand when he was sent in as opener for the first time in his international career. 30 years ago. Sachin was freakishly gifted.

I’ll be honest in his early career, I was a fan. When someone is establishing themselves is the best time to watch them bat.

When they become stat padders, I lose respect for them. It’s not about him being Indian - it’s just about stat padders. And I’m harsher on the Pakistani stat padder babar.

 

[pakistani pride]

I’ll be honest in his early career, I was a fan. When someone is establishing themselves is the best time to watch them bat.

When they become stat padders, I lose respect for them. It’s not about him being Indian - it’s just about stat padders. And I’m harsher on the Pakistani stat padder babar.

Only issue here is that Babar is not even 0,0001% of the player Sachin was.

 

[TheSultan]

Only issue here is that Babar is not even 0,0001% of the player Sachin was.

No argument from me here. Forget Babar, I was also on Inzi’s case for a long time too ask @MenInG - brother knows how harsh I was with him

 

[rpant_gabba]

I’ll be honest in his early career, I was a fan. When someone is establishing themselves is the best time to watch them bat.

When they become stat padders, I lose respect for them. It’s not about him being Indian - it’s just about stat padders. And I’m harsher on the Pakistani stat padder babar.

https://www.espncricinfo.com/series/india-tour-of-south-africa-2010-11-463136/south-africa-vs-india-3rd-test-463148/full-scorecard

what stat padder Sachin was. Preying weaklings like Steyn and Morkel and a feather bead like cape town

 

[Dr_Bassim]

Akhtar and Afridi are not legends but they will be remembered as entertainers of their generation.

People want sixes in the game every ball and people want 160 kmh searing bowls destroying the stumps as a form of entertainment.

No one wants to see Imam ul Haq, Rizwan and Babar block bowl after bowl and hit those useless 50s with shameless fans clapping as Pakistan canters to another loss.

Having said that, Mcgrath will be remembered as ATG of the game long after Afridi and Shoaibs legacies turn to dust.

Mcgrath, Warne and Gilchrist are 3 Australian players who wont be forgotten even 200 years from now simply because the skill level was at another level.

After the initial excitement of Afridi and Shoaib dies down in 50 years, you better have some stats to prove that you made a difference.

Wasim will always be remembered no matter what because he was the finest left arm paceman to grace the game (under achieved definitely).

 

[mominsaigol]

Defo bro - no harm in agreeing to disagree.

But, just to clarify. McGrath is not the Bradman of bowling - for that he needs to be an outlier - he isn’t.

And remember brother we are not discussing who’s greater - it’s who will be remembered.

By Bradman of bowling i meant the best bowler of all time.

He is definitely the greatest odi bowler of all time and in tests very few like Malcolm Marshall can be considered better in test cricket however While Marshall faced top tier batters, Mcgrath consistently faced the likes of Sachin, Dravid, Chanderpaul, Lara and dominated them.

He turned Ponting, Hayden, Martyn and Gilly into his bunny in FC as well.

 

[jnaveen1980]

I’ll be honest in his early career, I was a fan. When someone is establishing themselves is the best time to watch them bat.

When they become stat padders, I lose respect for them. It’s not about him being Indian - it’s just about stat padders. And I’m harsher on the Pakistani stat padder babar.

Sachin was not a statpadder until he picked up the tennis elbow injury. Sudden loss of form made him desperate. But his statpadding happened mostly in the later part of his career that too when he approached 100. He didn't go after 100 from ball 1. He would play normally up to a point. But in the 1990s he was opposite of statpadding. He was in absolute command against every single bowling. If he had shown statpadding tendency he could have scored way more runs than now. He threw his wicket away in Tests.

 

[Aang_The_last_airbender]

Analogy between Sachin and Babar ends with both being the best of their team.
Babar Azam's pains shows how several miles above Sachin was carrying the team of average batters but also of utterly mediocre bowlers. People will overhaul SRT's records and now have better averages but being the ONE guy carrying a team of billion people, no player has had to bear that much burden in any sports in history.

 

[BouncerGuy]

THREAD IS NOT ABOUT SHOAIB AKHTAR... PLEASE STAY ON TOPIC NOW

 

[jeeteshssaxena]

Analogy between Sachin and Babar ends with both being the best of their team.
Babar Azam's pains shows how several miles above Sachin was carrying the team of average batters but also of utterly mediocre bowlers. People will overhaul SRT's records and now have better averages but being the ONE guy carrying a team of billion people, no player has had to bear that much burden in any sports in history.

In terms of talent Saim Ayub is better than Babar Azam.

There is absolutely no similarity between the two.

 

[TheSultan]

By Bradman of bowling i meant the best bowler of all time.

He is definitely the greatest odi bowler of all time and in tests very few like Malcolm Marshall can be considered better in test cricket however While Marshall faced top tier batters, Mcgrath consistently faced the likes of Sachin, Dravid, Chanderpaul, Lara and dominated them.

He turned Ponting, Hayden, Martyn and Gilly into his bunny in FC as well.

Bro - Marshall is greater. He also faced great batsmen, and had more skills. He played in an era where batsmen had a lot more patience and could just wait until out metronomes like McGrath. Marshall forced the batsmen out where McGrath’s game was patience - eg wait until the batsman gives in to that nagging line and length. McGrath’s era also coincided with the explosion of ODI cricket and the batsmen mindset that came with it - ie more shots, less patience. IMHO McGrath wouldn’t have been as effective before the 90s. Even statistically Marshall has a better average and strike rate.

With ODIs it’s hard to judge because the white ball game has changed so much over the years. Some people even make the argument that the likes of Starc, shami etc are the ODI GOATs.

For me, judging tests is the best barometer - and Marshall trumps him comfortably.

And a side note, the other advantage both McGrath and Marshall had is that they played in great teams, had runs on the board and safe fielders.


The reason why Pakistani bowlers like Imran, Wasim, Waqar and Shoaib get a lot of credit the world over is that they played alongside some pathetic fielders, catchers and the batsmen didn’t always put heavy runs on the board. They had to get their wickets against the odds - which is why they have such a high percentage of bowleds and LBWs. Manz had to literally hit stumps.