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Toughest cricketer both mentally and physically currently

Ankit007

Ankit007

First Class Star
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Nov 30, 2015
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3,446
Some options I have are:

M.S. Dhoni
Afridi
Misbah
Kohli
Russel
Gayle
Warner
ABD

Not talking about retired internationals like Johnson, McCullum etc...

Who do you think is the one most toughest?
 
'Toughest' doesn't really matter in cricket. It is not a game of brute strength but fitness and endurance.

Kohli, Dhoni and Cook are the three fittest cricketers of this generation, and mentally very tough as well. de Villiers is very fit but mentally not very tough.

Afridi is average in both departments, Misbah is decent in both departments and Warner's failures in Asia and when there is swing/seam doesn't suggest that he has the mental discipline to grind runs.

Gayle and Russel don't play enough international cricket across all formats, but Russel is an unbelievable athlete. Gayle has major fitness issues nowadays.
 
Mamoon said:
'Toughest' doesn't really matter in cricket. It is not a game of brute strength but fitness and endurance.

Kohli, Dhoni and Cook are the three fittest cricketers of this generation, and mentally very tough as well. de Villiers is very fit but mentally not very tough.

Afridi is average in both departments, Misbah is decent in both departments and Warner's failures in Asia and when there is swing/seam doesn't suggest that he has the mental discipline to grind runs.

Gayle and Russel don't play enough international cricket across all formats, but Russel is an unbelievable athlete. Gayle has major fitness issues nowadays.
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Surely Misbah's ability to score runs in NZ and Aus is a lack of mental discipline.
 
Gilly said:
Surely Misbah's ability to score runs in NZ and Aus is a lack of mental discipline.
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No, it is a case of him not being good enough to handle bounce and lateral movement. Warner's case is different, he doesn't have the discipline to leave deliveries outside the off-stump.
 
Andre russel hands down. Guy is a beast
 
De Villiers is not Dhoni is the toghest i have seen

From the active players steve smith n du plessis too
 
Mamoon said:
No, it is a case of him not being good enough to handle bounce and lateral movement. Warner's case is different, he doesn't have the discipline to leave deliveries outside the off-stump.
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Nah Misbah was mentally shot, he was even talking about retiring. He was a mess and just didnt have the mental strength to pull through.
 
Mamoon said:
'Toughest' doesn't really matter in cricket. It is not a game of brute strength but fitness and endurance.

Kohli, Dhoni and Cook are the three fittest cricketers of this generation, and mentally very tough as well. de Villiers is very fit but mentally not very tough.

Afridi is average in both departments, Misbah is decent in both departments and Warner's failures in Asia and when there is swing/seam doesn't suggest that he has the mental discipline to grind runs.

Gayle and Russel don't play enough international cricket across all formats, but Russel is an unbelievable athlete. Gayle has major fitness issues nowadays.
Click to expand...

By toughest I mean both physical fittness and mental toughness. If you are physically fit doesnt mean you are able to deal with pressure situations as well. Mental fitness teaches you that. Afridi has many times won matches single handedly because he had power to hit and mentally was able to absorb the pressure too.... My pick however would be Dhoni...
 
One more... Faf Du Plesis

He score century in Mumbai and was hitting sixes at will even though he was struggling with cramps after every ball. That was a pure example of mental toughness...
 
Misbah and Afridi both were exposed in pressure situation, mentally weak although physically fit for their age but of no use.
 
Ankit007 said:
One more... Faf Du Plesis

He score century in Mumbai and was hitting sixes at will even though he was struggling with cramps after every ball. That was a pure example of mental toughness...
Click to expand...

Hiding behind JP Duminy in the batting order in tests doesn't reflect good on him though.
 
Vivek_86 said:
Hiding behind JP Duminy in the batting order in tests doesn't reflect good on him though.
Click to expand...

JP's record at number 4 is very good and he's pretty useless in 5 and 6

Since amla is a natural number 3 can't expect faf to step up
 
Mamoon said:
'Toughest' doesn't really matter in cricket. It is not a game of brute strength but fitness and endurance.

Kohli, Dhoni and Cook are the three fittest cricketers of this generation, and mentally very tough as well. de Villiers is very fit but mentally not very tough.

Afridi is average in both departments, Misbah is decent in both departments and Warner's failures in Asia and when there is swing/seam doesn't suggest that he has the mental discipline to grind runs.

Gayle and Russel don't play enough international cricket across all formats, but Russel is an unbelievable athlete. Gayle has major fitness issues nowadays.
Click to expand...

by this logic Cook's failures whenever he has come across a half decent pace attack rules him out as well
 
Overall Dhoni.

Currently Kohli.

Kohli looks destined to over power Dhoni in both departments very soon.


AB's fitness has been matchless.
 
Smith as a batsman defn although his captaincy doesn't seem to be mentally tough and irrespective of those dropped catches the guy has amazing fitness (nothing new for Aussies).
 
Azhar Ali. Not the most talked about. His fitness and mental strength is great though.

:azhar2
 
Convict said:
by this logic Cook's failures whenever he has come across a half decent pace attack rules him out as well
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That's also more of a technical problem. Warner's failures are primarily down to his mental indiscipline.
 
Gilly said:
Nah Misbah was mentally shot, he was even talking about retiring. He was a mess and just didnt have the mental strength to pull through.
Click to expand...

Misbah has never been good enough to score runs against lateral movement and extra bounce. His poor series in SA in 2013, when he was at the top of his game, sums it up.
 
Those who play only 1 format shouldn't qualify in this list. Guys like Kohli and Smith play in all three formats of the game, captain their sides and still perform better than the rest of the guys.
 
Dhoni doesn't look tough to me.
Just because he's still playing doesn't mean he's the same Dhoni if 3/4 years ago. He might as well retire now as he's past it.

Afridi? Lol, he doesn't belong in any category.

I can't think of a current player cut from the same cloth as Smith and S. Waugh. All are softies with no desire to win when the going gets tough.
 
soso_killer said:
Dhoni doesn't look tough to me.
Just because he's still playing doesn't mean he's the same Dhoni if 3/4 years ago. He might as well retire now as he's past it.

Afridi? Lol, he doesn't belong in any category.

I can't think of a current player cut from the same cloth as Smith and S. Waugh. All are softies with no desire to win when the going gets tough.
Click to expand...

Kohli?
 
King Kong said:
Kohli?
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Kohli has to win matches away from home leading from the front to have anywhere the aura those guys had. Smith batting at the SCG with a broken elbow and broken hand epitomises his greatness
He didn't want to be there only when it was all sweet and rosy, he wanted to be there when it was tough and near impossible as well.

(SA are on a roll now, won against NZ, Australia and are seemingly on their way to annihilating Sri Lanka, i bet one AB de Villiers doesn't want to be rested no more)
 
soso_killer said:
Dhoni doesn't look tough to me.
Just because he's still playing doesn't mean he's the same Dhoni if 3/4 years ago. He might as well retire now as he's past it.

Afridi? Lol, he doesn't belong in any category.

I can't think of a current player cut from the same cloth as Smith and S. Waugh. All are softies with no desire to win when the going gets tough.
Click to expand...

Did you see his sprint in India vs Bangladesh game in T20?
 
because he never stayed for more than 10 balls in an innings.
Had pak invested in other players such as younis, yousuf, razzak, and other decent guys properly , instead of Afridi, they would have an entirely consistent team...
 
lol Afridi wasn't mentally strong. if yes he'd have won 2007 WT20 WC11 by himself. he hasn't any confidence on his batting that's why his batting avg too low.
 
iniqbal223 said:
because he never stayed for more than 10 balls in an innings.
Had pak invested in other players such as younis, yousuf, razzak, and other decent guys properly , instead of Afridi, they would have an entirely consistent team...
Click to expand...

lol all those players played 100+ games and 10+ years. YK was a failure in ODI, Moyo fall out with PCB, Razzaq didn't care about his fitness. not Afridi's problem.
 
Obviously, without a shadow of doubt it has got to be Virat Kohli. Those who are mentally tough are those who can deliver in the toughest of circumstances, like Kohli does, winning matches from ultra-difficult situations in LOIs. Mentally tough guys are the one who can handle pressure and win games for their country. Mentally weak cricketers cannot win you high pressure games. VK is also physically fit & strong. MS Dhoni too fits the bill. He too, like Kohli is, mentally tough to handle high pressure games, and is also physically strong and fit. These two are perfect candidates for mentally and physically toughest cricketers.
:msd:kohli2
 
Michael Hussey also should have been included in the options as he's mentally and physically tough too, though he's retired.
 
Last edited:
Physically, Wahab. He's been playing non-stop cricket this past year and still operating at 145+ with ease.

Mentally, Kohli or Bairstow.
 
JattMaula said:
It's quite sad that you have ask that question.

Lala is playing for 20 years and has never looked fatigued.
Click to expand...

OP talks about physical and mental toughness. If Afridi was one of the most mentally tough players in the world he would have atleast had a 35+ average and would have won more games for Pakistan.

He might be strong physically strong yes but mentally, no.
 
Ankit007 said:
There are many examples for this. He has won you so many matches single handedly in pressure situations. Example he won a match in Asia Cup against India vs Ashwin in last over....
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He has had some good games, but he has probably put Pakistan in more losing situations than winning ones. He might be physically tough, but mentally no. If he was mentally tough he would control his urge to clear the boundary ropes. Afridi himself has said when crowd start chanting for a 6, I want to hit a 6. Not something a mentally tough person can do.

In recent times I have not seen any players from Pakistan to have those physical as well as mental traits. Perhaps Javed Miandad is the best example from Pakistan.

In the world, only Kohli fits this description.
 
Well I think Mohammad Amir is also mentally tough guy.... Coming back into team after that spot fixing scandal was not very easy
 
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