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Who is the best batsman you have seen?

Hitman

Hitman

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Alright, it has got to be just one. We all know we have seen multiple great batsmen, but in this thread you have got to pick just one. It would be fun knowing every poster picking one name.

My choice - Sachin. Why? Because I truly consider him the best batsman I've ever seen, with Lara being a contender. But if you put a gun to my temple and ask me to pick one, I'd pick Sachin. Why? The simply answer is because I'm biased and I'd pick him ahead of the other 'genius' Lara.

Once again, before anyone bashes me, I've already declared that I consider Sachin and Lara the two greatest batsmen I've seen. And I'd pick Sachin as being the greatest. Why? Because I'm biased.

Now I'd like to know from my fellow posters. Whom would you consider the best batsman you have ever seen? And you have to name one player in particular. :)
 
Ricky Ponting.

My favorite batsman of all time.

I don't think I enjoyed watching someone bat as much as him. The 156 against England at Old Trafford (Ashes 2005) was a thing of beauty.
 
kingusama92 said:
Ricky Ponting.

My favorite batsman of all time.

I don't think I enjoyed watching someone bat as much as him. The 156 against England at Old Trafford (Ashes 2005) was a thing of beauty.
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I'd rate only Sachin and Lara ahead of him (among all batsmen I've seen), and that too not by much. I'd put Sachin and Lara ahead of him by just a hair (once again I'm biased :) ... )

Ponting, what a batsman he was, one of my all time favorites. I loved watching this guy bat. Genius!!
 
BTW, my father considers 'King' Viv to be the best batsman he has ever seen.
 
AB Devilliers. What a batsman. Easily the most talented batsman ever in this history of cricket. No one even comes close to him. Has an average of 50+ in both tests and odis. But he deserves at least 65+. He massively underachieved despite having those great numbers behind his name.

Every batsman/bowler/allrounder has some positives and negatives. But this guy has no weaknesses. Amazing player.
 
Hitman said:
Alright, it has got to be just one. We all know we have seen multiple great batsmen, but in this thread you have got to pick just one. It would be fun knowing every poster picking one name.

My choice - Sachin. Why? Because I truly consider him the best batsman I've ever seen, with Lara being a contender. But if you put a gun to my temple and ask me to pick one, I'd pick Sachin. Why? The simply answer is because I'm biased and I'd pick him ahead of the other 'genius' Lara.

Once again, before anyone bashes me, I've already declared that I consider Sachin and Lara the two greatest batsmen I've seen. And I'd pick Sachin as being the greatest. Why? Because I'm biased.

Now I'd like to know from my fellow posters. Whom would you consider the best batsman you have ever seen? And you have to name one player in particular. :)[/QU

Sachin Tendulkar is perhaps the greatest batsman ever to play the game..He is my Favourite too..

Kohli 2nd best for me..
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2. Virat Kohli. Might not be as talented as AB. But he makes it up with his pure hard work, determination and indomitable spirit. I have no doubts that by the time he retires, he will become the greatest batsman ever.
 
Midwinter13992 said:
Hitman said:
Alright, it has got to be just one. We all know we have seen multiple great batsmen, but in this thread you have got to pick just one. It would be fun knowing every poster picking one name.

My choice - Sachin. Why? Because I truly consider him the best batsman I've ever seen, with Lara being a contender. But if you put a gun to my temple and ask me to pick one, I'd pick Sachin. Why? The simply answer is because I'm biased and I'd pick him ahead of the other 'genius' Lara.

Once again, before anyone bashes me, I've already declared that I consider Sachin and Lara the two greatest batsmen I've seen. And I'd pick Sachin as being the greatest. Why? Because I'm biased.

Now I'd like to know from my fellow posters. Whom would you consider the best batsman you have ever seen? And you have to name one player in particular. :)[/QU

Sachin Tendulkar is perhaps the greatest batsman ever to play the game..He is my Favourite too..

Kohli 2nd best for me..
Click to expand...

People can bash me all they want but I've already mentioned that I'd pick Sachin ahead of Lara simply because I'm biased.
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People can bash me all they want but I've already mentioned that I'd pick Sachin ahead of Lara simply because I'm biased.[/QUOTE]

Lol...i'm not biased..still sachin is best batsman for me
 
Seen live?

Saw Dravid's 103* at Lords in 2011 when his whole team failed.

Saw Kevin Pietersen's almost make an amazingly aggressive double century at the same ground that same year.

Saw ABDV make a 40 odd at Lords, but he wasn't an ATG in those days.

Saw Lara smash Flintoff and Jimmy Anderson for 90 something too. Big six landed right next to me.
 
Ponting.

When he played those pull shots, you stopped doing everything and watched.
 
Ricky ponting.

He was brutal. Dominated attacks.

Bouncer is an angry fast bowler's weapon and ponting smashed it to the boundary making him feel absolutely powerless.
 
Ponting 2003-2006

Tendulkar 2003

MoYo 2006

Sangakkara 2013-2015
 
Hard to narrow it down to one name. I'd have a top three of Richards, Tendulkar and Lara in any order you want.

On every cricket fan's bucket list of innings to watch should be Richards' 189 vs England in the 1984 Texaco Trophy. Single-handedly won West Indies that ODI when everybody else failed. The next highest score was 26 !

Have much respect for Tendulkar, especially after his 2003 WC knock when he tore into our attack.

Lara was selfish at times but he was the best player of spin I've seen. Also, Lara's 153 in Bridgetown vs Australia in 1999 goes down as the best individual Test knock for me given the occasion, the attack and the pressure Lara himself was under.

People mention Ponting - that 156 at Old Trafford in the 2005 Ashes was a champion innings, one of the bravest I've seen given the pressure he was under and after the Edgbaston defeat. Great player of the short ball too. Don't have him in the top three because of his poor record in India though, still a ton of respect for him.
 
Sachin and Lara from the past. Amla and Sanga from current/recently retired ones.
 
From 1980's - Tendulkar followed by Lara and Viv Richards.
 
Sachin with Ponting comes close second and Sanga and ABD to follows

My fav list would have be diff though
 
Shahid afridi, entertainment and anticipation wise no one come close, and for me cricket is pure entertainment, not some serious stuff, there are a lot more important things in life to be serious about.
 
Zeshan547 said:
Shahid afridi, entertainment and anticipation wise no one come close, and for me cricket is pure entertainment, not some serious stuff, there are a lot more important things in life to be serious about.
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Bhai we are talking about best batsman not best entertainer :afridi
 
I will pick the batsman I have enjoyed watching the most and that is Ricky Ponting. Loved his batting stance and shots.

Tendulkar was a better batsman than Ponting and Kallis had a better technique but both of them were very mechanical for my liking and I never enjoyed seeing their batting. Also, unlike others, Lara's batting looks very ugly to me, not a big fan of jumping and punching the ball.
 
Nothing beats Sehwag's prime for me. Averaging 53 with a SR of 85 as a Test opener was unreal. Yes he had a steep decline after that, but 90% of his career was stuff of legends.
 
Stats and success wise Lara and Sachin

But talent wise it was someone else. I don't want to write the name here, that will just increase my already tonworthy major disappointment about the lad.
 
Junaids said:
Viv.
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That's a stark contrast to all your posts here so far. Just a 3-worder. :srini

As for me, I don't think anyone can beat Ricky Ponting.

He was not only effective and consistent but also a class and beauty to watch. You'd get hooked to his batting, pulls, range of shots. And he did at the big stage too.

Apart from that, it's definitely Saeed Anwar for me.

In elegance nobody comes close and he was the best ODI bat/opener of his era.
 
Sir Vivian Richards - the swagger, the power, and the ruthlessness. In Jamshedpur he hit a six so long that they lost the ball.
Sachin - Desert storm, Dismantling Shane Warne in India
Brian Charles Lara - For that match. I remember watching it live. Steve Waugh had just been appointed captain. And I was a huge fan, but that knock from Lara and the second innings bowling from AMbrose and Walsh. 1 wicket every 10 runs ;-)
 
Zak_Fan said:
Nothing beats Sehwag's prime for me. Averaging 53 with a SR of 85 as a Test opener was unreal. Yes he had a steep decline after that, but 90% of his career was stuff of legends.
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What were his numbers overseas during this legendary peak?
 
i guess it is difficult to look beyond Tendulkar or Lara as the best I have seen.

But for the sense of expectation and his ability to totally dominate a situation, of all the players I have seen in over 40 years watching cricket, it wouuld be Viv.

Now, the more intersting question is who are the favourite players -- as I have always favoured elegance and style (probably over substance) then it would be Gower or Zaheer -- both beatifully elegant batsmen.
 
The best batsman I have seen ever play has to be Micheal Hussey.

Your best batsman is the one who sticks his hand up and comes to the party when all else are failing and he bats you out of an impossible situation.
 
From the time I watched live, there are 4 batsmen with 5 years pick period -

Early part of 90s was Lara - outstanding timing, unparalleled placement & elegance. Even in ODI, he played some stunners. He had a second peak between 1999 to 2004, but Lara of 1990-95 was something special. I don't think, I have seen a better player on difficult wicket, because of his extreme eye & reflex - technique might not be perfect, but he managed to middle the thing & place it in between.

Eater part of 90s ST had his peak. There could be question on his commitment to teams cause, but on pure batting merit, it's difficult to find a perfect player than ST - style, technique, balance. It's almost perfect cricket by MCC manual. Even in his 40s, when he was struggling to match his standard, watching him, none could have find any gap in his class. An ultimate batting machine, who should be idle for any young batsman for the commitment & perfection - he simply loved batting more than anything else.

Early part of 2000s, was one of the best ever peak in history by Ponting. I think, he scored almost half of his career runs (& hundreds) in that span starting from the 1999 PAK Series. But, even in that dominant period, he has his nightmares in IND & some poor pouting in SRL. Ponting at prime, on his favorable condition was simply unstoppable.

From 2005 to 2007, for 2-3 years, MoYo was comparable to any of these 3 - style, grace, timing, series of big scores. He was such an i***t that he wasted 3 of his best years, starting from going to IC following his "Brother", who had just retired.

In this period, Jaques had a very consistent time, but not sure his peak was as good as those 4. I will put Lara, ST & Panta in that order, among whom I have seen live - Panta drops out for that IND tour, otherwise would have come to 2nd spot.

However, if I am to go by archives/recordings - it has to be Viv. Between the period of 1976 to 1980, he probably batted at 70 average & 80 SR against the best sides. At one point, I think he had a career average of 65 @ 75 SR for his first 3.5K runs & these were dominating innings - that's after missing almost 20-25 Tests between age of 27 to 29 for WSC. I often mention that one particular series - the tour of AUS in 1979-80 (Test & WSC ODI) - I honestly don't believe anyone can bat better than that against top quality fast bowling - might not be technically proficient, but it had everything - arrogance, swagger, power, domination - he beat bowlers even on his way to wicket. That was the time, I think Viv was someone with unreal eye sight, reflex, hand-eye coordination & power - not only in Test, but his 138*, 151* (MCG) was frightening good innings. In fact, he played a 117 in one Sunday League final for Somerset - probably one of the best ever List A innings.
 
Sachin136 said:
43 at a SR of 81 http://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/en...3;spanval1=span;template=results;type=batting
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Thank you.

Syed1 said:
Don't ask negative questions :afridi
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Lol. I wish someone made a meme of that. [MENTION=865]Big Mac[/MENTION], if you have the time, would you please?

Zak_Fan said:
Good enough to confirm his ATG status.
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Average of 20 in South Africa and 28 in New Zealand; no matches in England; and just barely makes that 40 mark if we remove his 50 average in Zimbabwe.

Agar ye ATG hai, to humaray Inzamam, Yousuf, Anwar or Misbah ney kya galat kiya hai?
 
Bilal7 said:
Thank you.



Lol. I wish someone made a meme of that. [MENTION=865]Big Mac[/MENTION], if you have the time, would you please?



Average of 20 in South Africa and 28 in New Zealand; no matches in England; and just barely makes that 40 mark if we remove his 50 average in Zimbabwe.

Agar ye ATG hai, to humaray Inzamam, Yousuf, Anwar or Misbah ney kya galat kiya hai?
Click to expand...

Why not mention the average of 60 in Australia? If anything, the only side that really mattered in that period was Australia, and Sehwag was a hit there. As for the likes of Inzi, Anwar or Younis, they would be rated equally high if they scored at a SR of 85 in Tests.
 
Last edited:
Zak_Fan said:
Why not mention the average of 60 in Australia? If anything, the only side that really mattered in that period was Australia, and Sehwag was a hit there. As for the likes of Inzi, Anwar or Younis, they would be rated equally high if they scored at a SR of 85 in Tests.
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So in his legendary peak, the only overseas country he could score runs in was Australia? Unless you want me to keep asking inconvenient questions like what was his average in Australia, when McGrath and Warne were playing, stop being so ridiculous.

A SR of 80 is counter-productive in tests for an opener. This means that the opener did not effectively see off the new ball unless he averages 80 as well, which Sehwag didn't.

Sorry for bursting your bubble though.
 
He he, the answer will be the same for most Indian fans.:srini

Unfortunately I didn't watch a lot of Lara's great innings and the ones he played against India were not as overwhelming as the ones he played against Australia or other teams. So in a way I didn't get to watch Lara at his peak. My 2nd personal favourite has to be Ricky Ponting. Simply didn't see a batsman bossing an attack like he did. Only Kohli and AB come close among the present generation. I know he had his failures in India but he scored a lot of runs against us in ODIs, none better than the blistering world cup final knock.

The best has to be Tendulkar. Personal bias aside, it's mind boggling what he achieved - to remain at the top of his game for around a quarter of a century across all formats is simply incredible. You see a lot of modern batsmen struggling to remain at the top for just ten years. You see great batsmen like Amla declining at just 33 years of age and other great batsmen like Smith, Clarke, etc., retiring around the same age. But to think that he was still at his best at 38 years of age across all formats (his battle against Steyn in South Africa was one of the best ones to watch in the 2010 test tour while he was the 2nd highest run scorer in the 2011 world cup iirc) is pretty incredible.

People downplay longevity very easily. But a cricketer either finds it difficult to get going in his international career for some time or encounters rapid decline in his game near his mid thirties due to loss of his reflexes. But the guy debuted as a 16 year old hitting tons all over the world just as a teenager, which in itself is incredible and one we hardly see nowadays. But to think that he carried on for another 24 years at the top of his game across all formats, all this with the pressure of a billion cricket crazy supporters is a feat I don't think will be repeated by anyone else. He should have retired after the 2011 WC, he stayed on two years too long despite losing his reflexes. But still did decent (averaged in the mid thirties) entirely due to his impeccable technique.

So it has to be Tendulkar and Ponting from the older era in that order.

In the current one, AB and Kohli are touching greatness (AB if he doesn't lose his hunger in test cricket and Kohli if he maintains his trajectory in test cricket).
 
Hey guys, I told this previously .... you have to name just one. Just imagine that you have a gun to your temple and you are asked to pick just one.
 
Lara, Kevin Pieterson, Marcos Trescothick, Saeed Anwar and Rahul Dravid are the greatest I've ever seen beyond the late 90's.
 
Hitman said:
Hey guys, I told this previously .... you have to name just one. Just imagine that you have a gun to your temple and you are asked to pick just one.
Click to expand...

Then it would have to be Brian Lara for me
 
From players I've actually seen, TV or live...

There's something about Williamson, he's already so accomplished and bats beyond his years, almost surgical in his approach.

As a personal favourite to watch then Yousuf, obviously brought Pak a lot of joy, masterful player, accumulated runs with such ease.


Both the above also play late and with soft hands, great when either just guides a good delivery down to the third man boundary - Yousuf was expert at this, on occasions bowlers thought they had claimed a thick outside edge.
 
Sir Viv Richards.

Then Lara.

Then Miandad, Greg Chappell and Tendulkar.
 
Since i started watching cricket :

ODIs

1. Sachin 2. Gilchrist 3. Jayasuriya 4. Saeed Anwar

Tests

1. Rahul Dravid
2. Sachin
3. Lara
4. Ponting
 
Although I love other bats too. Dravid is my second favourite ,sometimes number one in my list.

Lara, Sachin, Ponting & kallis are also there. It is a pretty long list
 
TQ89 said:
Although I love other bats too. Dravid is my second favourite ,sometimes number one in my list.

Lara, Sachin, Ponting & kallis are also there. It is a pretty long list
Click to expand...

Yea, but like I said, you have to name just one. So I think it's Inzamam for you :)
 
Alan ,Martin, Kevin and Virat

Definition of best batsman according to me (and I think I-Khan the great too is with this POW as he mentioned in an interview in quite a distant past. I can't reproduce it for the same reason)

Best batsman is the one who is difficult to dismiss, still scoring aggressively to demoralize the entire opposition. In the past, I noticed Alan Lamb of England. But he lost that foam entirely in the final stages of his short carrier. So let's forget him. Then who else in the past....?

Martin Crowe. Wasim Akram admitted he was the most formidable one who didn't give two hoots to the "reverse swing "which was the most competent weapon at that time. Crowe didn't even consider it anything noteworthy. What a great willow that was. He was never out of form in his career. So a great batsman of the recent past. After that...?

Well, Kevin Peterson of England. It was just day before. Then.. ?

Today, it is difficult to decide. When Virat Kohli is in full cry, he is formidable with his very much controlled agression. But we have ABDev too in the same league or aggression-wise on top of the earlier. Joe Root of England too emerging..

Afterall, how many in the forum will agree with me that a Great Batsman should necessarily be A difficult to dismiss despite his fling on the bowling attack?

If that aggression part could have taken out Rahul Dravid was the best of past, because it was not difficult but impossible to dismiss the guy on most circumstances. (Shoib Aktr's inswinging yorker ?? Dismissed since they were once in a blue moon to uproot the wall's middle stump) But Dravid lacked the flambuoancy of a positive player hence left alone in a different league.

Your thoughts? pls
 
SachinT?

Please spare me. He was a great batsman, but let me ask 'was he A difficult to dismiss?"

Not at all. It's a fact that he was the most entertaining when he was in good nicks. But apart from a DESERT STORM how many times he dominated the opposition team entirely?

Virat does it habitually, Am I right? But I would scarce project SRT for one or two instances when I see V-Kohli habitually storms opposition.
 
Lara. He smashed the best attack of his time (warne + mcgrath) like no other. Another is Kohli, really has slaughtered us in recent times and the passion he plays with really makes it hard to hate on him.
 
SRT - The Only teenage batsman (I think) to score atleast one 100 On First series in Eng, Aus, SAF ... And just for chuckles sake followed that up in the next series and the one after that to those countries. Nothing like watching Tendulkar bat. Glorious batsman. Just too Regal.
 
Growing up Lara was my favorite batsman. An absolute pleasure to watch him as a kid.

Later AB Devillers became my favorite. On the basis of pure skill and ability I have never seen a batsman anywhere close to AB. Sangakkara became my joint favorite during this period. Sanga has to be one of the classiest batsmen I have ever seen. The two were so different yet almost equally effective.

Recently though Kohli has crept up the list and I feel he currently the best batsman in the world. And since he is currently playing the impression is still fresh. Gun to my head I'll probably say Kohli because as I have said the impression of his performances is still fresh. It will be interesting to ponder upon this once he retires.
 
Brian Lara. The guy oozed class. That high bat lift, the flaying bat. Beautiful to watch.
 
In terms of physical ability, De Villiers. He's just too good no matter the conditions.

In terms of batsmanship, skill and mental genius, Kohli.
 
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