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Who among the Indian Fab Five did you enjoy watching the most?

Bhaag Viru Bhaag

Bhaag Viru Bhaag

Senior Test Player
Joined
Aug 20, 2013
Runs
28,290
This was on CI today so i thought of making it here also. Sehwag is leading by a long way there. :srt

Who among the Indian Fab Five did you enjoy watching the most?

Virender Sehwag
Rahul Dravid
Sachin Tendulkar
VVS Laxman
Sourav Ganguly

Mods please add a poll with these 5 players. [MENTION=138379]#GreenRoars[/MENTION] [MENTION=133532]Ottoman[/MENTION]
 
In full flow no better entertainment than watching Sachin bat. Technically so very correct and along with his aggression was really a treat. Closely perhaps followed by Sehwag and Ganguly. I probably would have liked watching Ganguly more if Pakistan did not have Saeed Anwar.
 
It's tough to say. I enjoyed watching everyone equally. Sehwag was entertaining as hell, Dada played some great innings and VVS has played more clutch innings than others. But for purely aesthetic reasons, I enjoyed watching Sachin and Dravid the most. I loved the way they showcased the art of batsmanship so beautifully in Test cricket. They both played textbook cricket shots with such grace and poise, and the two are probably the ones you should be watching if you are learning to play cricket. So my vote is a tie between Sachin and Dravid.
 
One and only Dravid most will find him boring to watch but he was my fav indian player and will always remain.

A very humble and down to earth person and a class act on and off the field.
 
There was no better sight than watching SRT at his peak negotiate the greatest bowlers on the planet.

Everyone in the list was great and all 5 of them have scored some of the most vital runs in Indian cricket history. Ganguly is under-rated as a test batsman, has scored some tough runs against excellent Aus/Eng/SA/SL sides that often goes un-noticed.

This was our greatest batting generation ever. Will Vijay/Rahane/Kohli/Pujara/Rohit be able to match up to their exploits?
 
From the current generation, have to say Rohit and Rahane for aesthetic purposes. Kohli is good but the other two are more pleasing on the eye.
 
Wasn't old enough to watch Tendulkar in his pomp but when he wasn't playing against Pakistan, I tend to enjoy watching Sehwag simply because he the unique style of looking for boundaries at every opportunity.
 
Depends on the situation.

If there is only one choice then Sachin.

In Asia: Obviously Sehwag
On tough swingy pitches and minefields: Dravid
Against top bowlers: Sachin
When India is in trouble: Laxman

Ganguly doesn't truly belong here if we are talking test matches.
 
For some reason Ganguly always ends up getting bracketed with Saxhin, Sehwag,VVS and Dravid even though he is light years behind them and just not in the same level
 
Sandeep said:
Don't mix ODIs and Tests. Ganguly was a good ODI player and that's about it. Laxman ranks among the top 5 test cricketers from India ever.
Click to expand...

I agree Laxman was better but they both were in the same league. And I don't think Laxman was among the top 5 cricketers from India.

Even if you are talking about batsmen Sachin, Dravid, Gavaskar, Sehwag, Azhar, Vishy, Pataudi were easily better than him.
 
Dravid...and no, it's not because I'm an insecure Pakistani who doesn't want to admit Sachin was better :afridi .
But that 2011 series in England was Dravid at his best. I enjoyed every single one of his innings in that series and dare I say enjoyed his 100 at Lord's more than any hundred Sehwag ever made (excluding his 200s and 300s ofcourse).
Dravid was at the back end of his career and one of the oldest members in that squad but his attitude was more like "Move aside kids....Let me show you how it's done." :srt and ended up playing better than everyone else. Such a boss!!
 
JaDed said:
Sachin in 90's.
Click to expand...

I missed Sachinin the 90s but looking at youtube clips and old recordings I can easily say he was the most entertaining batsman in that period (more so than Lara in the late 90s). I picked Dravid because I saw him bat brilliantly live. I missed Sachin's prime years
 
Slog said:
For some reason Ganguly always ends up getting bracketed with Saxhin, Sehwag,VVS and Dravid even though he is light years behind them and just not in the same level
Click to expand...

Yeah. I have to agree. Ganguly just wasn't in the same league. Those 3 on the other hand would make a lot of ATG test XIs
 
TheNightWatchman said:
I missed Sachinin the 90s but looking at youtube clips and old recordings I can easily say he was the most entertaining batsman in that period (more so than Lara in the late 90s). I picked Dravid because I saw him bat brilliantly live. I missed Sachin's prime years
Click to expand...

The best Indian batsmen for sure but only a shadow of himself after that.Sad for you then as you missed Waqar and Wasim's greatest years as well not to forget Pakistan's too.
 
Sachin, when in that mood. He was not only technically correct, but his drives were jaw dropping.

Sehwag was brilliant with his drives too but his lack of footwork meant that it was touch and go in the beginning of the innings. He would play too many shots without any feet movement, which meant that even tough his drives were elegant, they weren't as good as Sachin.

Dravid was again technically brilliant, but did not have the attacking game which Sachin did. So, you wouldn't see those counter-attacking drives that often.

Ganguly, was the only one who came close to Sachin in terms of artistry with the bat. Yeah, he too was not that great with footwork, but his drives were special. Also Ganguly's treatment of spinners when he would jump out of his crease. Being a left hander, gave him that grace and he was a different beast in ODIs. Had the beauty like David Gower

Laxman, very artistic as well, but again lack of feet movement hindered his play. He had his moments when in form, and could play beautifully all round the wicket. His counter-attacking innings were as good as Tendlya, but did not happen that often.
 
JaDed said:
The best Indian batsmen for sure but only a shadow of himself after that.Sad for you then as you missed Waqar and Wasim's greatest years as well not to forget Pakistan's too.
Click to expand...


Sachin would regain his touch with the bat and sometimes wind the clock back to 90s.

His innings at centurion in 03 WC, then against Lee in 08 in Aus, and the SA innings in 11 WC are testimonial to that. There are more but I can't recall them all here. He could not dominate consistently like he used to in the 90s, but still had those innings where it all came back again.
 
TheNightWatchman said:
Dravid...and no, it's not because I'm an insecure Pakistani who doesn't want to admit Sachin was better :afridi .
But that 2011 series in England was Dravid at his best. I enjoyed every single one of his innings in that series and dare I say enjoyed his 100 at Lord's more than any hundred Sehwag ever made (excluding his 200s and 300s ofcourse).
Dravid was at the back end of his career and one of the oldest members in that squad but his attitude was more like "Move aside kids....Let me show you how it's done." :srt and ended up playing better than everyone else. Such a boss!!
Click to expand...

I still remember that series when Dravid was the last man standing in the Oval test in first innings, only to run back to the dressing room to come and open the innings again as one of our openers had an injury. There were banners in the crowd from the English fans showing "The Wall vs England" and he was unfortunately given out wrongly even in the 2nd innings. Dravid stood tall that series and my respect for him increased many times after that series. There is nobody to rival Dravid in terms of his dedication for the game!
 
Sehwag the way he hit the ball like a tracer bullet. :shastri. I only seen Sachin from 2003 onwards and there are only few innings ive seen that i really enjoyed or appreciated. His knock in WC 2003 Vs Pak didnt enjoy it at the time but looking back an amazing knock. 175 vs Aus in 2009 that was epic. 146 vs SA in 2011 but a lot of the time i used to see Sachin nudging n nurdling wasnt as breathtaking as Sehwag. Sehwag just murdered bowling in the SC.

Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk
 
My order is as follows:

Sehwag
Sachin
Dravid
Laxman
Ganguly
 
Sachin followed by Sehwag..Dravid in later years of his career and even in t20s..
 
As a kid, I was a hige fan of Ganguly. I just loved the way he batted. He is my favourite Indian batsman.
 
To me it was Laxman....
The ball would be delivered outside the off stump and he would just stand there and stroke it to midwicket just using his wrists.
There was minimal of feet movement, it was just the hands doing all the work.
All so casual yet so brilliant !
 
In order of most visually appealing/correct, SRT...Dravid...Sehwag

In order of most entertaining, Sehwag...SRT...Whoever
 
I liked watching Lax. My favourite player, for guts and class against top bowlers, specially Australians.
 
For me, it was SRT because he consistently tried to take on the best oppositions and best bowlers in all kinds of conditions. Sometime he succeeded and sometime he failed but he was fun to watch before he changed his batting style.
 
Sehwag, easily. Not everyone can play test cricket in such a style with that much effectiveness. Players who can do that come once every 50 years.
 
Sehwag. Scoring at an ODI SR and averaging almost 50 as a Test opener was something special.
 
That's a very good question - Sehwag had more flare around his batting which was entertaining to watch.

but when it came to appreciating technique and skill - there's a reason Dravid is called the wall of India......there is also a reason Tendulkar is called the little master :smd

It's a hard one to pick but I think I'd go for the following order:

1) Sehwag
2) Dravid
3) Tendulkar
4) Ganguly
5) Laxman
 
Best to watch right? Not best run scorer or most famous?

Then for me

1) Laxman

Daylight

2) Dravid
3) Sehwag
4) Ganguly/Sachin

It's just a personal thing, but I prefer tall batsmen generally speaking, although Lara was definately the exception to this, likely because of his high exaggerated bat-lift.

The most elegant batsmen I've ever seen to watch are;

Martin Crowe (not sure if many here saw him)
Damien Martyn
Mark Waugh
David Gower
Greg Chappell
VVS Laxman
 
Laxman , was magical when on song.

The ease with which he played in Australia was breathtaking .
 
Speaking of Indian batsmen, is it only me who thinks Kohli is much better to watch than Tendulkar was?

I love Kohli's batting. I'd have him only behind Laxman of Indian batsmen in recent years if we are talking about style and how good they look.
 
Sehwaq by a distance. Others were good batsmen, but not very attractive to watch.
 
Wrong to include Ganguly here as he was a inferior batsman to this lot though in terms of aaesthetics in batting he wasnt too shabby

Also dunno why Sehwag is so many people's choices. He wasnt great to watch and quality and aesthetics of his batsmanship were very poor actually. Unless boundary frequency = enjoyment for you regardless of the quality of shots which get those boundaries

Id pick between Tendulkar and Laxman
 
Slog said:
Wrong to include Ganguly here as he was a inferior batsman to this lot though in terms of aaesthetics in batting he wasnt too shabby

Also dunno why Sehwag is so many people's choices. He wasnt great to watch and quality and aesthetics of his batsmanship were very poor actually. Unless boundary frequency = enjoyment for you regardless of the quality of shots which get those boundaries

Id pick between Tendulkar and Laxman
Click to expand...

As format is not mentioned, Ganguly was remarkable to watch for a long time in ODIs,his pull and drives were better than most exception Sachin.

Didn't do much in tests except a few tests in Aus.
 
Slog said:
Wrong to include Ganguly here as he was a inferior batsman to this lot though in terms of aaesthetics in batting he wasnt too shabby

Also dunno why Sehwag is so many people's choices. He wasnt great to watch and quality and aesthetics of his batsmanship were very poor actually. Unless boundary frequency = enjoyment for you regardless of the quality of shots which get those boundaries

Id pick between Tendulkar and Laxman
Click to expand...

LMAO!

Didnt read through the previous posts in the thread and had forgotten id said the same thing earlier
 
Slog said:
For some reason Ganguly always ends up getting bracketed with Saxhin, Sehwag,VVS and Dravid even though he is light years behind them and just not in the same level
Click to expand...

Slog said:
Wrong to include Ganguly here as he was a inferior batsman to this lot though in terms of aaesthetics in batting he wasnt too shabby

Also dunno why Sehwag is so many people's choices. He wasnt great to watch and quality and aesthetics of his batsmanship were very poor actually. Unless boundary frequency = enjoyment for you regardless of the quality of shots which get those boundaries

Id pick between Tendulkar and Laxman
Click to expand...

.
 
Sachin had the perfect technique..Eye pleasing player to watch his straight drives..
Laxman had best wrist work i witness..

My list
Sachin
Laxma
Viru
Rahul
Dada
 
Slog said:
Wrong to include Ganguly here as he was a inferior batsman to this lot though in terms of aaesthetics in batting he wasnt too shabby

Also dunno why Sehwag is so many people's choices. He wasnt great to watch and quality and aesthetics of his batsmanship were very poor actually. Unless boundary frequency = enjoyment for you regardless of the quality of shots which get those boundaries

Id pick between Tendulkar and Laxman
Click to expand...

Fab 5 isnt a grouping of best five in the world. So not sure why you have problem with inclusion of Ganguly.

Ganguly was an Indian great and a good test player who in comparison with ATGs like Dravid and Tendulkar looks pale in comparison I agree.

However they were termed fab 5 because from Sehwag till Ganguly, no. 2 to no.6 spot was sealed for a little less than a decade in the Indian test team. It was almost impossible for anyone to breakthrough.
 
For me it was watching them in partnerships.

Sachin-Ganguly in ODIs and
Sachin-Dravid in Tests

Next was Laxman-Dravid and Sachin-Sehway. Individually they were all a pleasure to watch in their own way but certain pairings brought out the best in them.
 
1 Tenduker
2 Sehwag
3 Laxman
4 Ganguly


I didn't like to watch dravid bat. Tendulker was wonderful to watch.
 
Ganguly sehwag opening in odi was the most exciting though did not play much together as openers.
 
I don't think many neutrals enjoyed watching Tendulkar bat.

He was robotic and monotonous.

Sehwag was the most intimidating, we feared him the most. Rahul Dravid was known as someone you can't get out no matter what, and a treat to watch in Tests.

VVS was the most elegant of the lot!

Ganguly the worst to watch, 2nd place is taken up by SRT.
 
Sachin.

Mesmerizing in full flow.

Also have a soft spot for Sehwag. Monstrous batsman on flat wickets.
 
Bhaag Viru Bhaag said:
This was on CI today so i thought of making it here also. Sehwag is leading by a long way there. :srt

Who among the Indian Fab Five did you enjoy watching the most?

Virender Sehwag
Rahul Dravid
Sachin Tendulkar
VVS Laxman
Sourav Ganguly
Click to expand...

These are merely the fab five of the ninties and the noughties.

Of these, for me there's nothing better than an in-form Virender Sehwag.

The player I simply adored watching was Azharuddin though. Those wristy strokes were the work of a God.
 
Tendulkar. You sometimes couldn't believe the perfection and minimum but precise use of feet, wrists and forearms.

Sehwag too was fun to watch but only Tendulkar could evoke awe.
 
For someone like me, who really started watching games involving teams other than Pakistan post 1999, I don't think I ever saw Tendulkar at his peak.

I remember when India came to England in 2002 (year after Pak toured), I was kind of wondering and waiting to see what all the fuss was about. He scored a hundred in a test at Headingley, but the real work in that game was done by Dravid, and the flourish came more from Ganguly. He didn't contribute otherwise in that series.

Only wow moment from Tendulkar that I remember when I was young was the WC '03 - the innings against Pak. But even then, he didn't finish things - Dravid and Yuvraj took India across the line. In the final, (where yes, India lost because of the bowling, I know), he couldn't stand up and do something superhuman. When India toured Pak, scored a hundred at Peshawar I think, but India still lost that ODI. Scored a hundred in one of the tests, but was upset about not being given the chance to score 200.

So never really got the hype from a young age, and wondered what all the fuss was about.

Sehwag was the better player to watch. More fun, more flair, more unpredictable. Otherwise, Dravid when things were tough.
 
It's Laxman by a whisker. First time I took notice was when he compiled a fluent 95 against the Australians in Kolkata in 1998; an impossibly languid grace about him. Never could begrudge him scoring any runs as it was always an immense privilege to see him bat. I can close my eyes and readily imagine him cover driving the likes of Lee and McGrath through the covers at the SCG in 2000, or whipping Warne against the turn through midwicket at Kolkata in 2001. A true gentleman off the field too.

Dravid would be second and I loved what he typified for the game: dignity, grace, sportsmanship, desire, drive, perseverance, obduracy etc. When India were not playing Pakistan, you'd be willing him on to stand tall to the fast bowlers, show no fear, blunt the attack, and simply bat for hours on end with runs an almost afterthought.

Third would be Viru. Sehwag was everything that Dravid was not; eschewing the traditionalist approach to batting. In my opinion the most influential batsman in the game during the last 25 years. Truly revolutionized batting - the whole theory of what it means to be a batsman in the modern game was thrown on its head - with minimal footwork.

I'll be controversial but honest when stating that I absolutely hated Tendulkar and Ganguly regardless of who they were playing. I always wanted them to get out first ball. It's the small remnants of squalid nationalism that persist in me, but I could never be objective about those two.
 
Our Fab 5 is like 5 fingers of the hand

Thumb - Virender Sehwag. The opener after whom we started winning Test matches consistently even at places where it was difficult!

Forefinger - Rahul Dravid. Always there as the backbone gave us the direction in Test Matches whenever we missed the track!

Middle Finger (don't be offended :)) ) - Sachin Tendulkar. Stood tall always and became our mainstay through various eras (even when we were down with an useless team... till we became a formidable unit!)

Ring Finger - VVS Laxman. The golden/diamond man in our team who gave us some special moments!

Little Finger - Ganguly. Though did not achieve as much as other 4 individually, looked faded compared to others, but he gave that flexibility to the team. Little finger is associated with bonding (Hindu marriages)

Hence I personally like all 5....! Who game us memorable moments, and moreover a solid team!
 
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