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Who is the best batsman you have seen?

I think Kohli is probably the best batsman I have ever seen. I believe he has now reached a level where he can be considered better than Tendulkar, Lara and Ponting - three of the best batsman I have seen, in order.

In terms of the greatest Asian batsmen of all time, I would put him right at the top. We are witnessing truly a once in a generation cricketer who would most probably retire as the most accomplished and complete batsman the game has ever seen.

He is well on his way to becoming the undisputed king of Limited Overs cricket, and he has a very good chance of becoming one of the all-time greats in Test cricket as well. The claim of him dethroning Bradman as the greatest of all time does not sound outlandish when you put his accomplishments at the age of 29 into perspective.

It is scary to think that he has at least 4-5 peak years and 7-8 total years left in him. He has already surpassed 90% of the batsmen who have ever played the game.
 
Mamoon said:
I think Kohli is probably the best batsman I have ever seen. I believe he has now reached a level where he can be considered better than Tendulkar, Lara and Ponting - three of the best batsman I have seen, in order.

In terms of the greatest Asian batsmen of all time, I would put him right at the top. We are witnessing truly a once in a generation cricketer who would most probably retire as the most accomplished and complete batsman the game has ever seen.

He is well on his way to becoming the undisputed king of Limited Overs cricket, and he has a very good chance of becoming one of the all-time greats in Test cricket as well. The claim of him dethroning Bradman as the greatest of all time does not sound outlandish when you put his accomplishments at the age of 29 into perspective.

It is scary to think that he has at least 4-5 peak years and 7-8 total years left in him. He has already surpassed 90% of the batsmen who have ever played the game.
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I’d say he’s already the LOI GOAT.
 
babajee said:
I’d say he’s already the LOI GOAT.
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Just one iconic World Cup innings away. An innings that he will define his ODI career. A Viv Richards 1979 or a Ponting 2003 moment is the only thing that he lacks as of now, and I have no doubt in my mind that he will produce such an innings either in 2019 or 2023.

The 2023 World Cup in India could be his World Cup. He will be in the end years of his peak and could end up lifting the trophy at home after dominating the tournament in his home.
 
I want to see if Smith can become the greatest 2nd bat ever. Probably he would fall flat like majority others after the peak but I am comfortable with either scenario.

Can't wait for SA series to start!
 
Tendulkar in peak fitness back in the late 90s > Any batsman ever.Would be averaging 60+ in both formats today. Virat is 1 up on Sachin for the way he manages chases, which is an evolutionary improvement after having studied Sachin as a childhood hero having it all except the intelligence to script finishes. Sachin’s sheer cricketing talent still dwarfs Kohli’s skill set. It’s a shame tennis elbow injury and back problems hampered his natural game down the line.
 
Tendulkar Easily. The guy consistently performed across both formats at a time when pitches used to be lively , there was no two ball rule and every team had at least two decent world class bowler.
No one can replace Tendulkar.
 
Tendulkar was the perfect batsman technically. Freakish balance on crease.

He just lacked the mental strength to dominate and finish like Kohli does. Mentally, Kohli is on another level.
 
AB no doubt. A true genius with the bat who makes batting look ridiculously easy. His best knock is arguably the one he played againt Pak in the 2015 world cup when he was the lone ranger and would've won them the game if it wasn't for Sohail Khan. Thinking about his glory days makes it even harder to watch him and the SA team in the present day.
 
Hitman said:
What? He is the best Test batsman you have ever seen?
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Among all the Test Batsmen i have seen he is best for me and not necessarily for everyone.
It's my opinion and no one can make me change it
 
freelance_cricketer said:
Tendulkar in peak fitness back in the late 90s > Any batsman ever.Would be averaging 60+ in both formats today. Virat is 1 up on Sachin for the way he manages chases, which is an evolutionary improvement after having studied Sachin as a childhood hero having it all except the intelligence to script finishes. Sachin’s sheer cricketing talent still dwarfs Kohli’s skill set. It’s a shame tennis elbow injury and back problems hampered his natural game down the line.
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AB trumps everyone in that aspect including Sachin.
 
Kohli selection can’t be serious.. The gap btw Smith and next best test batsman is immeasurable.
 
LOIs: Virat Kohli
Tests: Ponting/( didn't saw the Tendulkar of 90s). Smith is not too far either.
 
Virat Kohli for me. Forget his stats, when he is at the crease you know that he is going to dominate and the fear he strikes in the opposition, fully knowing that if they don't get him quick the game will be done and dusted.
 
AamchiMumbaikar said:
AB trumps everyone in that aspect including Sachin.
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Sachin truly is the father of modern day batsmanship. He is the architect. The prototype modern day batsman. He applied Viv Richards’ power game to Sunil Gavaskar’s perfection personified technique to create a batting style that is followed by most successful batsmen today. That’s one of the things you notice in people who really impact their generation. How much of their style is being passed on to the next generation and how much is not.

Talk about the Blackfoot punch, talk about straight drive and lofted shot, talk about the upper cut, the sweep, the leg glance, even the paddle sweep - Tendulkar redefined and revolutionised these strokes in modern day cricket as weapons of controlled aggression.

Hope it helps.

Your Bhaijaan.
 
I would say Kohli but to be honest he hasn't played against the greatest of the bowlers and to be fair it's not his fault. In the current era he has been pitted against bowlers like Starc, Steyn, Anderson etc who are not as good as the bowlers in the previous era were. I enjoyed Miandad batting as well
 
PHP:
The third test i think it was, when Kohli made the big hundred in the recent Saffer test series - the way he eased into cover drives, while all sorts were happening outside off - was pretty special...

Kohli perhaps the best, and I'll always have a soft spot for Yousuf - a Rolls Royce in his time.
 
Chrish said:
Kohli selection can’t be serious.. The gap btw Smith and next best test batsman is immeasurable.
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The gulf in class is immeasurable, the fact so many Pakistani's are picking him over Smith, AB etc. is testament to this.

One is a genius, the other a machine. I'm picking the genius over the machine everytime.
 
Aman said:
The gulf in class is immeasurable, the fact so many Pakistani's are picking him over Smith, AB etc. is testament to this.

One is a genius, the other a machine. I'm picking the genius over the machine everytime.
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Batsman's job is to score runs and bowler's job is to take wickets. Everything else is irrelevant.

The fact lot of people are picking Kohli only mean they place more or equal value on shorter formats which isn't at all surprising.
 
Sachin Tendulkar without doubt is the best batsman I have see. Cannot name anyone pre 90's as I did not watch them play other than some videos on youtube.
 
Never watched the Tendu of 90s so has to be Kohli, he's a monster, his 183 in the Asia cup was monumental!
 
In more than 30 years Just 2

1) Tendulkar
2) Kohli

Every shot they play is beautiful to wach. No ugliness. And they are stroke players not tuk tuk stylists. So you know they will unfurl a gorgeous drive or flick or cut or pull from time to time. Worth watching their whole innings.

Honorable mention

Sehwag in full flight.
 
Mamoon said:
Just one iconic World Cup innings away. An innings that he will define his ODI career. A Viv Richards 1979 or a Ponting 2003 moment is the only thing that he lacks as of now, and I have no doubt in my mind that he will produce such an innings either in 2019 or 2023.

The 2023 World Cup in India could be his World Cup. He will be in the end years of his peak and could end up lifting the trophy at home after dominating the tournament in his home.
Click to expand...

I don't think it's that easy for Kohli to surpass Viv, who is the ODI GOAT. Viv checks out every metric of being the greatest ever.

Greatest ODI innings of all time ? Check.

Highest average in WC knockouts? Check.

Highest average in Finals ? Check.

Solid away average? Check.

Solid performances against the best ODI bowlers he faced ? Check.

Head and shoulders ahead of any other player of his era? Check.

Just one quality innings in WC knockouts won't do, although it may be enough for him to surpass Sachin. But he may need consistent performances over the next 2 WC's to surpass the greatest ever. Viv was just too good. Kohli, at this moment, is better than Viv at chasing. At everything else, Viv was better.
 
Chrish said:
Batsman's job is to score runs and bowler's job is to take wickets. Everything else is irrelevant.

The fact lot of people are picking Kohli only mean they place more or equal value on shorter formats which isn't at all surprising.
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Please, Smith looks like a number 11 when he bats.
 
Dead Ball said:
I don't think it's that easy for Kohli to surpass Viv, who is the ODI GOAT. Viv checks out every metric of being the greatest ever.

Greatest ODI innings of all time ? Check.

Highest average in WC knockouts? Check.

Highest average in Finals ? Check.

Solid away average? Check.

Solid performances against the best ODI bowlers he faced ? Check.

Head and shoulders ahead of any other player of his era? Check.

Just one quality innings in WC knockouts won't do, although it may be enough for him to surpass Sachin. But he may need consistent performances over the next 2 WC's to surpass the greatest ever. Viv was just too good. Kohli, at this moment, is better than Viv at chasing. At everything else, Viv was better.
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Kohli is setting the record books on fire. I have no doubt in my mind that he will surpass Viv by the time he retires. I believe that you cannot really compare players in terms of individual metrics when they played in different eras against vastly different opposition.

Nonetheless, you can find holes in every career if you micro-analyze. The two best attacks of Viv’s time were the West Indies and Pakistan. He did not face the former, and he was nothing special against the latter.

However, what makes Viv so special is not his average against so and so countries, but the fact that he is a revolutionary. He changed ODI batting. Similarly, Kohli is a revolutionary as well - he has redefined the art of chasing totals, and is the first top-order batsman in history who is also a brilliant finisher.

Greatest ever ODI innings is very subjective though. I would go for Gibbs’ 175 against Australia in 2006 for a multitude of reasons.
 
Aman said:
Please, Smith looks like a number 11 when he bats.
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I didn't know aesthetics was the main criteria for judging the player..

Anyways you are probably trolling anyways.
 
Chrish said:
I didn't know aesthetics was the main criteria for judging the player..

Anyways you are probably trolling anyways.
Click to expand...
Of course they are.

Smith scores a lot of runs, but a lot of it is down to bowlers not knowing how to bowl to him because of his unorthodox technique.
 
There are great players and there are players who strike fear into the opposition and have the aura of a champion. Our fans who are still feeding off the Champions Trophy Final can mock Kohli all they want, but the fact is that the whole country knew at that time that he is the only one who can win the match for his team from that position.

When he is at the crease, you always have a chance. Irrespective of what the equation is. This is where Smith, Root, Williamson, Warner etc. do not hold a candle to him.

I suppose this is what watching Viv Richards would have been like.
 
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