Unpopular opinions: Cricket edition

[coy0607]

thread title should be changed from 'Unpopular opinions' to 'Bold opinions'

most of the stuff here is actually quite popular with the fan base and media

 

[Savage]

Currently,Ashwin has proven to biggest match-winner for India in Tests.

Pujara didn't got deserved credit from Indian fans due to Kohli.I'm sorry but I couldn't find any better reason.

Steve Smith is one of the weakest leader(if not the) in the history of Australian cricket.
He should not be allowed to lead Australia again.

 

[Savage]

200s in ODIs are overrated.

Only few players have the ability to score 200 in ODIs.

R Sharma has scored 3 double hundreds but he is still not rated as an ATG ODI batsmen.
Last time he scored 200 was against SL,He still wasn't given Man of the series.And it was only 3 match Series.

As an Opener, ATM Dhawan = Sharma

Overall,Dhawan > Sharma(just edges it)

Before CT 2013,R Sharma was liabilty for India against any team other than WI.

 

[Mueez]

Anderson is an all-time great.

Kohli will go down as the greatest batsman of all time.

Yasir and Warner are the two most overrated cricketers in the world.

Waqar would have been half the bowler without bowling with tampered balls.

Younis is the worst batsman in history to score 10k runs.

Muralitharan is a cheat whose records should be wiped out.

Imran Khan’s innings in the 92 semifinal was worse than Misbah’s Mohali, but luckily Inzamam played the innings of his life to save the day. Unfortunately, no one could do the rescue job for Misbah.

Imran Khan takes too much credit for the development of players in his tenure.

Kapil is the greatest ODI all-rounder of all time.

Afridi is an ODI great, and a much better bowler than what his numbers show.

Ganguly was a better ODI opener than Anwar.

Salman Butt was developing into a world class, all-format opener in 2009/2010, and would have broken Anwar’s 20 centuries ODI record by now.

Pakistan will have a miserable World Cup next year.

Jos Buttler is nearly as talented as de Villiers.

India will dominate cricket for years to come.

Mohammad Amir will never take a 5-fer in ODIs.

Haris Sohail will not improve his temperament and will fade away in a couple of years.

Umar and Shehzad will make successful comebacks to the national team.

Pakistan will not make it to the top four of Tests and ODIs in years.

Pakistan’s number one T20 ranking is a complete joke.

Joe Root is the most gifted batsman in the world, he will surpass Smith and Williamson to end up as the second greatest batsman of this era after Kohli.

Steyn is the most overrated fast bowler of all time.

Sangakkara is the second greatest left-handed batsman of all time after Lara.

Sehwag is an ATG.

A young Faisal Iqbal was good enough to have a stellar international career. A mediocre talent cannot handle a peak Warne like he did in Colombo, at the age of 20-21.

Kamran is Pakistan’s greatest wicket-keeper batsman of all time.

Azhar Ali is a rubbish Test batsman.

Last but not the least . . .

Pakistan’s 2017 Champions Trophy win was a fluke.

Somehow, this post made me laugh so hard.

 

[Savage]

kohli Home stat are one of the most misleading stat in Tests

He somehow managed to average 63.50 at home.

IMHO,5 major series in India this decade from batsmen perspective(considering performances when runs were needed badly,on difficult pitches and opposition bowling attacks)

1 Australia vs India(2017)-: Kohli scored 46 @ 9.20

2 England vs India(2012)-: Kohli scored 188 @ 31.33.

103 of those 188 came in 4th test,When the series win hope was already gone.

3 SA vs India(2015)-:scored 200 runs in that series.132 out of his 200 runs were scored on dead rubber test which was also flattest pitch of the series.
Vijay and pujara were comfortably better than kohli and Rahane in that series.

4 Australia vs India(2013)-: He was India's 5th best batsmen of the series after Pujara,Dhoni,Vijay and Dhawan.Although he was very good in that series.

5 NZ vs India(2016)-:Scored 309 @ 51.50.He failed in first two test when pitches were more difficult.First test pitch was spinner friendly and 2nd test pitch was seamer friendly where Bhuvi took 5fer.(his 45 was good in that match though).

Again Kohli scored 200+ along with Rahane 188 on a dead rubber Test which also was flattest pitch of the series.

If we compare,Pujara was arguably best in each of these series mentioned.Against Australia(2013),Pujara was consistent and scored runs in most difficult pitches but one can argue Dhoni of being best batsmen as his 200 in Chennai Test was easily the most impactful knock of the series.

Against SA(2015),It's a 50-50 call between Vijay and Pujara.

Nonetheless,Pujara was simply way ahead of Kohli in each of the mentioned series above.Just a reminder,I'm not talking about any 5 randomly picked series but most Important Home series for India.

Pujara thoroughly deserved to be called as India's best batsmen after that Australia series 2017 till SA(2018).Instead he was rated a league below other top batsmen in the world.

Excuses used were pretty weak like "He has to perform in away conditions then only he will rated amongst the top batsmen"

If Ashwin AKA "Bowling Bradman"was rated as best spinner by majority despite averaging 56.5 in countries like Aus,ENG,SA and NZ then why shouldn't Pujara be rated amongst the top batsmen.

Ashwin completely failed in two of the toughest series at Home.

Amongst the 4 spinners on display,Ashwin was worst spinner vs England(2012).

Similarly,Ashwin was again worst spinner vs Australia(2017).

However,Ashwin is still a bigger matchwinner at Home.

 

[BunnyRabbit]

Jacob Oram had the potential to be an one of the best Allrounders of this millenium.

Shane Bond is better than Brett Lee.

Azhar Mahmood was technically and potentially a better all rounder than Abdul Razzaq but couldn't achieve it.

Michael Hussey is one of the most under rated batsmen of all time.

Andy Blignaut was born in a wrong country at a wrong time, otherwise he could've been the hottest commodity in T20 cricket alongside Russell and others.

Younis and Sangakkara are the best players of spin of this century.

AB De Villiers didn't have the killer instinct in him to go one step ahead and be a matchwinner.

 

[Savage]

VIV and Dhoni are two of the greatest ODI cricketer of all time.

ATM Ashwin is best spinner of this generation but not an ATG.

Rahane is worst Limited overs cricketer to ever play for India.He has a large sample size and also was involved in many ICC tournaments.

If you are forced to pick between Rahane opening in a T20 match or play with 10 players excluding Rahane,Then you should always pick the latter.

In terms of versatility,AB is best batsmen of all time.

 

[AssassinatedDevil]

Somehow, this post made me laugh so hard.

You're not alone buddy

 

[AssassinatedDevil]

-Misbah was the best Test captain in the history of Pakistan cricket and from 2012-2016 was the best Test captain in the world.

-Misbah was the best choice to lead Pakistan in all formats after the 2010 spot-fixing controversy

 

[silentkiller187]

ABDV is not an ATG

 

[Usman Chadda]

Yuzvendra Chahal is over-rated and will be in/out of the team throughout his career.

Steve Smith will not be the same prolific batsman he was when his ban is over.

Babar Azam will go onto become Pakistan's greatest ever LOI bat.

 

[Hasan123]

Sarfraz is a rubbish cricketer and ovverated as a captain
Kohli will finish as one of crickets greats
Root will improve as a test player
Bancroft and Handscomb will have brilliant careers
Sri Lanka will become a competitive team again
Dravid is better than Younis Khan
Allan Donald is a better bowler than Dale Steyn
Shadab Khan will be a superstar for Pakistan
Babar Azam will come good in tests
Chandimal will develop into a world class test player
KL Rahul will break into India's LO team
India won't win a test series in Australia or South Africa
India won't lose a test series in India under Kohli

 

[Rayyman]

Sarfraz is a rubbish cricketer and ovverated as a captain
Kohli will finish as one of crickets greats
Root will improve as a test player
Bancroft and Handscomb will have brilliant careers
Sri Lanka will become a competitive team again
Dravid is better than Younis Khan
Allan Donald is a better bowler than Dale Steyn
Shadab Khan will be a superstar for Pakistan
Babar Azam will come good in tests
Chandimal will develop into a world class test player
KL Rahul will break into India's LO team
India won't win a test series in Australia or South Africa
India won't lose a test series in India under Kohli

TBH on PP none of these are unpopular opinions. Most of them are quite logical statements that a lot of people would agree with.

 

[King Kong]

Sangakkara is the best Asian batsman after Tendulkar.

Mitchell Marsh has potential to be a world class allrounder.

AB was the best batsman of his generation.

Amla is not ATG.

Dhoni is the worst batsman to have played a significant no. of matches for India in T20s.

India will win the upcoming test series in England.

 

[Donal Cozzie]

Vast majority of cricket fans are idiots who have no idea what the sport, or sport in general, should be about and merely use it as a tool to massage their otherwise damaged nationalistic ego's. Little respect for the opposition, common sense or general decency is displayed, just celebrate a win like a lottery victory or display insane amounts of bitterness when they lose, with copious amounts of abuse.

Far too many cricket fans view cricket as a personal object to be hoarded instead of shared with the world.

No other sport is as insecure as cricket, Constantly changing for no reason to appeal to people who will never like it (t10, t100, refusal to enter the Olympics, rule changes nobody asked for or werent needed). An inherent sense of "its boring but I like it" instead of "its fantastic as it is, like it or lump it".

t20 world cup should have 16 teams in 4 groups of 4, with a Super 8 stage..

 

[JattMaula]

Vast majority of cricket fans are idiots who have no idea what the sport, or sport in general, should be about and merely use it as a tool to massage their otherwise damaged nationalistic ego's. Little respect for the opposition, common sense or general decency is displayed, just celebrate a win like a lottery victory or display insane amounts of bitterness when they lose, with copious amounts of abuse.

Far too many cricket fans view cricket as a personal object to be hoarded instead of shared with the world.

No other sport is as insecure as cricket, Constantly changing for no reason to appeal to people who will never like it (t10, t100, refusal to enter the Olympics, rule changes nobody asked for or werent needed). An inherent sense of "its boring but I like it" instead of "its fantastic as it is, like it or lump it".

t20 world cup should have 16 teams in 4 groups of 4, with a Super 8 stage..

Message received.

 

[gazza619]

There is no one in the world currently who plays offspinners better than Shoaib Malik.

 

[gazza619]

India will win the upcoming test series in England.

No chance! May be yes if they import the best fielders in the world and take hold of all of the half chance slip catches.

The thread is about unpopular opinions (not wishful thinking)

 

[Pete Rose]

I would fancy Pakistan winning an odi game vs India chasing with Tendulkar playing vs Kohli playing.

 

[Rayyman]

Am not a fan of Shadab. Kid is overrated, show-off and being played too much by Pakistan team. Love his fielding, but aside from that his bowling is expensive and batting useless. He will be a good player in a few years, but hasn't convinced me that he is a guaranteed starter in the XIs. Should be in all squads tho.

Sarfraz is a good player and will prove everybody on here wrong. He is a fighter and one of the best in the world against spin. Just going through a bad patch right now and will come back strong.

Pakistan's bowling is overrated in LOIs. They are all prone to being smashed as we saw with 444. Yes, they can be lethal on the day, but still need to be more consistent to improve further.

Asad Shafiq is Pakistan's best Test batsman.

 

[Chrish]

53.78 > 99.94

 

[Khan12]

Am not a fan of Shadab. Kid is overrated, show-off and being played too much by Pakistan team. Love his fielding, but aside from that his bowling is expensive and batting useless. He will be a good player in a few years, but hasn't convinced me that he is a guaranteed starter in the XIs. Should be in all squads tho.

Sarfraz is a good player and will prove everybody on here wrong. He is a fighter and one of the best in the world against spin. Just going through a bad patch right now and will come back strong.

Pakistan's bowling is overrated in LOIs. They are all prone to being smashed as we saw with 444. Yes, they can be lethal on the day, but still need to be more consistent to improve further.

Asad Shafiq is Pakistan's best Test batsman.

His useless batting played a massive part in us winning tests against England and Ireland. But oh well what can you expect when someone rates imad.

 

[msb314]

Vast majority of cricket fans are idiots who have no idea what the sport, or sport in general, should be about and merely use it as a tool to massage their otherwise damaged nationalistic ego's. Little respect for the opposition, common sense or general decency is displayed, just celebrate a win like a lottery victory or display insane amounts of bitterness when they lose, with copious amounts of abuse.

Far too many cricket fans view cricket as a personal object to be hoarded instead of shared with the world.

No other sport is as insecure as cricket, Constantly changing for no reason to appeal to people who will never like it (t10, t100, refusal to enter the Olympics, rule changes nobody asked for or werent needed). An inherent sense of "its boring but I like it" instead of "its fantastic as it is, like it or lump it".

t20 world cup should have 16 teams in 4 groups of 4, with a Super 8 stage..

Be careful what you wish for...

Without innovation and changes in cricket - Ireland would have never gotten Test Status.

In fact - we would still be stuck in the 19th century with cricket being played only between England and Australia throughout the year in Timeless Tests in uncovered pitches, with bats as wide as the wicket and no protective equipment

 

[happydavy]

Graeme Smith was a much bigger matchwinner in test matches than overhyped Lara and Tendulkar.

 

[Markhor]

Most of these are hardly controversial ! I'll give you controversial.

Javed Miandad's Test average is inflated thanks to patriotic home umpires. Younis Khan played no home Tests for the last 8 years of his career and played in an age of neutral umpires.

Javed Miandad has sullied his playing legacy through his politicking, ceaseless whining and sense of entitlement during his multiple disasterous stints as coach and administrator.

Abdul Qadir is not an ATG spinner.

Australia is an overrated venue for Test cricket - dead pitches and the Kookaburra ball which stops swinging after 15 overs means there's hardly any fair contest between bat and ball. At least in England the Dukes ball keeps your seamers in the game even if the pitch is flat as it swings and retains its shape for longer.

Waqar Younis and Wasim Akram should've retired long before the 2003 World Cup and did huge damage to Pakistan cricket thanks to their egos and endless politics.

The fact a serial cheat, pathetic captain and coward like Shahid Afridi, who ran like a hare when the going got tough in the MIDDLE of an overseas Teat series, is feted like a hero shows the maturity and cricketing knowledge of the Pakistani awaam.

Saeed Anwar as an ODI batsman is overrated - see his average in Australia and South Africa. He was infuriating as he had the tendency to throw his wicket away - see the 1999 World Cup final.

The 1999 World Cup team is MASSIVELY overrated and is only hyped because of nostalgia. You don't deserve to be World Champions after losing FOUR times (including to Bangladesh) in a tournament. It was heavily dependent on fantastic bowlers who CARRIED a weak batting lineup which relied heavily on Anwar, Inzamam and lower order contributions from Moin and Wasim. The 1996 team was more complete.

If the speculation is true and Pakistan did throw a match to Bangladesh - which I believe they did (see those ridiculous run outs) for political reasons then they didn't deserve to win the 1999 World Cup.

Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif are an absolute disgrace and do not deserve to be treated as heroes.

Both men FAKED injuries to get out of the 2007 World Cup because they were scared Nandrolone was still in their systems and wanted to avoid drug testing - robbing Bob Woolmer of his two best pacers and leading to a group stage exit that led to his death.

Shoaib Akhtar is a scumbag for pushing a frail old man like Woolmer like he was caught on camera doing. If Imran Khan was captain (as he endless fantasises about), Imran would've shown him his place.

 

[SarfiBabarHaris]

No matter how many big runs they are scoring, England wont win the odi world cup with this bowling line up.

 

[Mamoon]

Yousuf was a better Test batsman than Younis.

 

[SarfiBabarHaris]

Yousuf was a better Test batsman than Younis.

Its the popular opinion, no?

I mean outside pp atleast, generally in Pakistan Yousuf is rated higher.

 

[Mamoon]

Its the popular opinion, no?

I mean outside pp atleast, generally in Pakistan Yousuf is rated higher.

Yousuf is generally rated higher because he was a much better ODI batsman, and the general public doesn’t care much about Tests.

On PP, Yousuf is very underrated.

 

[Slim]

Yousuf was a better Test batsman than Younis.

Agree, his technique was 2x better. Top class bat.

 

[SarfiBabarHaris]

On PP, Yousuf is very underrated.

That's true.

 

[Chief Destroyer]

A fully healthy Ryan Harris was better than Steyn.

 

[AssassinatedDevil]

-Kohli will fail again in the upcoming India vs England series.

 

[Suleiman]

Jos Buttler is going to be better than AB De Villiers in the long run. Similar skill level, but doesn't have the mental ineptness and choking tendency - or so I hope.

Pakistan may be a top 5 or top 3 side in the near future, all formats considered, but they lack the professionalism and are not clinical and ruthless enough to be the #1 side of their time like WI or Australia of theirs.

 

[LastManstanding]

Manish Pandey deserves a place in the indian middle order in ODIs.

 

[LastManstanding]

Pujara is the best Indian test batsman.

 

[Gullycricket]

Australia should not have banned S.Smith,Warner, Bancroft.

 

[jagatk]

Australia should not have banned S.Smith,Warner, Bancroft.

Don't think it is an unpopular opinion per se, most non aussies thought it was going overboard, that was basically a reaction to years of hypocrisy being exposed.

 

[Sadozai]

Muhammad Asif is the best bowler Pakistan has ever produced.

 

[EliteCynical]

Muhammad Asif is the best bowler Pakistan has ever produced.

Agreed 100%. No doubt in my mind. Guy was a genius!

 

[shaz619]

Ishant Sharma has turned out to be a decent Test pacer

 

[shaz619]

Sarfraz Ahmed has more passion for Biryani then batting in Test Cricket

 

[jeetu]

Ishant Sharma has turned out to be a decent Test pacer

He did something what was considered impossible few years back. His test bowling average is under 35 now.

 

[hussain.r97]

Fawad Alam is very rightfully being overlooked, isn't cut for international cricket.

 

[ManFan]

Haris Sohail is the most all-round talented player in cricket today.

Classical batsman, gun slip fielder, and above all, has a left-arm spin with dip, turn and flight that cannot be taught.

 

[AMSS]

-kohli will fail again in the upcoming india vs england series.

lol

 

[JattMaula]

lol

Why "lol".

He did fail again. Just in a different way.

India lost to a lower ranked team 1-4 because of his leadership.

 

[CadPakFan]

Sarfraz Ahmed will score runs in the upcoming tests.

 

[AMSS]

Why "lol".

He did fail again. Just in a different way.

India lost to a lower ranked team 1-4 because of his leadership.

In case you missed the news, Kohli also failed as a human being in England as he was noticed strangling a puppy and chowing down a burger before a homeless, hungry man.

But my suspicion is that the poster I quoted had Kohli's batting in mind, hence my 'LOL'. Now jog along, little troll.

 

[Nikhil_cric]

A fully healthy Ryan Harris was better than Steyn.

That's a redundant argument. Fully healthy Akhtar might've been the greatest bowler too. As would Shane Bond etc. etc. Harris broke down a lot and had lengthy periods of time to recuperate and therefor less workload.

 

[Nikhil_cric]

Abbas > Philander

 

[Mamoon]

Shadab is unbelievably overrated. He is a mediocre spinner and a glorified tail-ender. He is there for show only.

Faheem is equally bad as a player. A proper minnow-basher with the ball and a glorified tail-ender as well, but unlike Shadab, he cannot compensate for it with showboating.

They are overhyped by our fans because of their desperation for a quality all-rounder. However, they are not Pakistan’s answer to the likes of Pandya and Curran, let alone Stokes.

 

[Mamoon]

Shaw and Agarwal will be the best opening pair in Tests for many years.

 

[Haroon786]

Imran Khan is the greatest cricketer of all time.

 

[TalentSpotterPk]

Shadab is unbelievably overrated. He is a mediocre spinner and a glorified tail-ender. He is there for show only.

Faheem is equally bad as a player. A proper minnow-basher with the ball and a glorified tail-ender as well, but unlike Shadab, he cannot compensate for it with showboating.

They are overhyped by our fans because of their desperation for a quality all-rounder. However, they are not Pakistan’s answer to the likes of Pandya and Curran, let alone Stokes.

Shaw and Agarwal will be the best opening pair in Tests for many years.

Indeed barring any career ending injuries.



When you talk about Faheem what is your take wrt his batting specifically ? You see him as someone not having the skill sets like Pandya, Stokes or Curran ? Or u think that at present mental side of his game is not upto mark ?



Did you see Faheem’s knock vs Bangladesh in Warm Up match of CT & one of his signature 30 odd runs knock in Pakistan domestic Cricket which got him the required reckoning in Pakistan Cricket ?


Faheem has been constantly backed by Mickey, Flower & Inzamam and is not rated highly by some fans alone hence you see him in Pakistan team despite not having the numbers expected of him.

 

[hadi123]

Indeed barring any career ending injuries.



When you talk about Faheem what is your take wrt his batting specifically ? You see him as someone not having the skill sets like Pandya, Stokes or Curran ? Or u think that at present mental side of his game is not upto mark ?



Did you see Faheem’s knock vs Bangladesh in Warm Up match of CT & one of his signature 30 odd runs knock in Pakistan domestic Cricket which got him the required reckoning in Pakistan Cricket ?


Faheem has been constantly backed by Mickey, Flower & Inzamam and is not rated highly by some fans alone hence you see him in Pakistan team despite not having the numbers expected of him.

A knock in a Warm-up game??? Don't look too much into that bro

 

[Mamoon]

Indeed barring any career ending injuries.



When you talk about Faheem what is your take wrt his batting specifically ? You see him as someone not having the skill sets like Pandya, Stokes or Curran ? Or u think that at present mental side of his game is not upto mark ?



Did you see Faheem’s knock vs Bangladesh in Warm Up match of CT & one of his signature 30 odd runs knock in Pakistan domestic Cricket which got him the required reckoning in Pakistan Cricket ?


Faheem has been constantly backed by Mickey, Flower & Inzamam and is not rated highly by some fans alone hence you see him in Pakistan team despite not having the numbers expected of him.

I don’t see any finesse in Faheem’s batting. He is a gifted striker but his decision making and ability to construct an innings is non-existent. Considering our track-record of player development, I don’t see him making the jump from the Anwar Ali standard to the Pandya or Curran standard.

 

[topspin]

A knock in a Warm-up game??? Don't look too much into that bro

Yeah not forget the 30m boundaries on one side as well

 

[Ozymandiasza]

I'd love to hear from [MENTION=129948]Bilal7[/MENTION].

[MENTION=129948]Bilal7[/MENTION]

 

[Gullycricket]

Kohli's behaviour is no different than Warner but gets away due to huge fan base,being one of the powerful individuals in world cricket

 

[shaz619]

He did something what was considered impossible few years back. His test bowling average is under 35 now.

A great run for him, he has been a big match winner for India and turned a corner finally. He's only 30 years old to and he has the chance to bring that average down even further. Ishant for many years fought alone but with some help from his partners he is more effective then ever and his experiences have made him a better bowler to.

 

[AuxiliA]

Kohli's behaviour is no different than Warner but gets away due to huge fan base,being one of the powerful individuals in world cricket

Also the fact that he doesn't sandpaper the ball certainly helps.

 

[ManFan]

Cricketers need to abusively sledge more often provided they can back up their prrformances.

 

[Canford Cliffs]

Afghanistan is a better cricket team than Bangladesh.

 

[ManFan]

Afghanistan is a better cricket team than Bangladesh.

Well played sir, well played.

 

[Hasan123]

Joe Root will be a very good captain for England
Kuldeep will surpass Ashwin and be a star in all 3 formats
Sri Lanka test batting line up is better than Pakistan
Tendulkar is a better cricketer than Imran Khan
India's win in Australia shouldn't be tainted by Smith and Warners absence
New Zealand are a good test team but being overhyped by our fans due to them beating us recentley
Imam Ul Haq will be a good test player
Umar Akmal will play for Pakistan again
Kamran Akmal is a better player than Sarfraz

 

[sshakir411]

Shan and Imam are good for the team

 

[gazza619]

Yasir Shah is probably not a world class spinner as his bowling average outside UAE is pretty ordinary.

 

[sshakir411]

I don’t see any finesse in Faheem’s batting. He is a gifted striker but his decision making and ability to construct an innings is non-existent. Considering our track-record of player development, I don’t see him making the jump from the Anwar Ali standard to the Pandya or Curran standard.

Faheem just like others in the team isn’t bright. Players with less skills but more brains (Shoaib Malik) have achieved things he can only dream of right now.

 

[HuzaifaE]

Kohli is an extremely underappreciated captain

 

[Bilal7]

kohli Home stat are one of the most misleading stat in Tests

He somehow managed to average 63.50 at home.

IMHO,5 major series in India this decade from batsmen perspective(considering performances when runs were needed badly,on difficult pitches and opposition bowling attacks)

1 Australia vs India(2017)-: Kohli scored 46 @ 9.20

2 England vs India(2012)-: Kohli scored 188 @ 31.33.

103 of those 188 came in 4th test,When the series win hope was already gone.

3 SA vs India(2015)-:scored 200 runs in that series.132 out of his 200 runs were scored on dead rubber test which was also flattest pitch of the series.
Vijay and pujara were comfortably better than kohli and Rahane in that series.

4 Australia vs India(2013)-: He was India's 5th best batsmen of the series after Pujara,Dhoni,Vijay and Dhawan.Although he was very good in that series.

5 NZ vs India(2016)-:Scored 309 @ 51.50.He failed in first two test when pitches were more difficult.First test pitch was spinner friendly and 2nd test pitch was seamer friendly where Bhuvi took 5fer.(his 45 was good in that match though).

Again Kohli scored 200+ along with Rahane 188 on a dead rubber Test which also was flattest pitch of the series.

If we compare,Pujara was arguably best in each of these series mentioned.Against Australia(2013),Pujara was consistent and scored runs in most difficult pitches but one can argue Dhoni of being best batsmen as his 200 in Chennai Test was easily the most impactful knock of the series.

Against SA(2015),It's a 50-50 call between Vijay and Pujara.

Nonetheless,Pujara was simply way ahead of Kohli in each of the mentioned series above.Just a reminder,I'm not talking about any 5 randomly picked series but most Important Home series for India.

Pujara thoroughly deserved to be called as India's best batsmen after that Australia series 2017 till SA(2018).Instead he was rated a league below other top batsmen in the world.

Excuses used were pretty weak like "He has to perform in away conditions then only he will rated amongst the top batsmen"

If Ashwin AKA "Bowling Bradman"was rated as best spinner by majority despite averaging 56.5 in countries like Aus,ENG,SA and NZ then why shouldn't Pujara be rated amongst the top batsmen.

Ashwin completely failed in two of the toughest series at Home.

Amongst the 4 spinners on display,Ashwin was worst spinner vs England(2012).

Similarly,Ashwin was again worst spinner vs Australia(2017).

However,Ashwin is still a bigger matchwinner at Home.

In addition to this, I would say that Kohli has never won his team anything of note. Whenever he does score a lot of runs, he either gets outbatted by an opposing batsman or chokes at crucial points and his team loses. India's biggest wins this decade have all come due to other players, with Kohli contributing next to nothing:

- WC 2011: Dhoni, Zaheer, Yuvraj and Sachin
- Australia test series win: Pujara, being lucky with the toss and pace bowlers.
- CT: Again, not Kohli.

I don't think it is an unpopular opinion anymore to suggest that Ashwin is disgustingly overrated and is arguably, not even among the top five spin bowlers of this decade. In any format.

 

[Bilal7]

I'm sorry I was late to this thread.

 

[Mamoon]

^ Well, we are not.

 

[Mueez]

Kohli is better than Tendulkar.

 

[Mamoon]

Shafiq is better than Azhar.

Imam is better than Fakhar and will have a longer career.

Abbas has been found out and will never recover from this - the Australian series will remain the highlight of his career.

Pakistan does not deserve to play more than 2 Tests in Australia and South Africa.

 

[Bilal7]

^ Well, we are not.

Good to see you too, dear.

 

[BreadPakoda]

Imam is better than Fakhar and will have a longer career..

Test or ODI?

 

[topspin]

It would have been for the greater good of Pakistan cricket if Misbah retired from international cricket in 2013 after drawing against a minnow Zimbabwe side and losing every game in the 2013 CT to end what was Pakistan's worst ever performance in an ICC tournament.

Younis Khan should have led the Pakistan side from 2013 until retirement. His cricketing intelligence was evident from his captaincy in the side's 2009 WT20 winning campaign.

Amir would make a good captain and brings his best when the stakes are high as shown by his bowling performances in the 2009 WT20 Final, 2009 CT vs India, 2016 Asia Cup vs India and 2017 CT Final.

Yasir Shah is the most overrated spinner in the 21st century thus far courtesy of Shane Warne.

India has the best ODI bowling attack.

Pakistan's number 1 ranking in T20Is is bogus as it gets and the reality check awaits those who think the contrary in next year's WT20.

PCB is neglected by BCCI but they brought it upon themselves.

If Asif had played 70 - 80 tests he would have been Pakistan's greatest test bowler ever.

 

[Ali_Pakistan]

Shadab and one fast bowling all rounder needs to be a regular in test cricket for Pakistan everywhere. Second all rounder could be anyone from (Faheem , Aamir Yameen or Amad Butt ). In UAE there should be Yasir Shah , Abbas , Shadab , Zafar Gohar and the fast bowling all rounder in the team.

 

[hasanali22]

Imam ul Haq is actually a good batsmen who will overcome his technical problems and be a decent batsmen for Pakistan.

Also Imam is selected with Mickey and co's blessing and not because Inzamam is corrupt.