Who is the greatest Asian cricketer of all-time?

[Mean&Green]

How is ms dhoni not considered in this thread in the poll is beyond me lol by far he is the greatest Asian player ever 2 world cups took India from nothing to to the sky. The man is a diamond 50+ average when you come to bat at number 5 and lower no greater cricketer has ever touched the soil of Asia other than Mahendra Singh Dhoni

 

[Corridor of Uncertainty]

Imran...and not even close.

No one can match what he brought to the cricket:

1. Self Improvement: In his last 50 tests, his average was 50+ with the bat and 19 with the ball! These are Kohli-esque numbers with bat and Marshal-esque numbers with the ball - over a 10 year period! Who can match this? Taught himself to bowl tearaway fast from medium pace, taught himself to bat doggedly in unhelpful conditions, taught himself outswing, taught himself fearless leadership.
2. Back to wall performances - He won test matches with is bowling from impossible situations and saved test matches with the tail on the 5th day. I will not put anyone in top 3 ever who can't do back to wall stuff. And Imran did it with both bat and ball.
3. Captaincy - won series away in England, India and drew with West Indies away. Won World Cup from nowhere. Took team to no 1. Set example of hard but fair cricket today's cricketers can not even dream of. Universally acknowledged as captain of many all time World 11's.
4. Pakistan cricket - Took reverse swing to next level which stayed with the team for 2 decades. Created mentorship rather than cronyism in Pakistan cricket. Took on internal and external politics and transcended local bureaucracy to create a winning team. Brought legspin into attacking focus - which endured for decades. Made cricket mainstream in Pakistan starting from his 2 sixes in 1978 against India.
5. Influence on World Cricket - Championed and implemented neutral umpiring. I'd also credit him and Kapil Dev with putting the first breaks into the England-Australia hegemony on all things cricket and making other teams matter.

On his cricketing abilities alone, he is incomparable, certainly in his last 10 years. Add to this his broader influence and his captaincy, and you have a cricketer who is the greatest in incomparable ways.

Kohli and Murali are second and third to me. I love that they have a never-say-die spirit and unbelievable cricketing skills. And both have a thirst of learning that marks them out as elite amongst elites. No disrespect to them in being second to Imran.

 

[Bhaijaan]

All rounders are overrated in Pakistan cricket. Found same hooplah over Kallis during much of last decade.

There is only 1 AR spot to grab in an ATG XI and there is really not a single player who makes an ATG XI as a specialist.

There is a strong case for Sobers as a batsman, i will might personally pick him but a lot of people wont which is okay. That's about it, no other AR has a similar case.

 

[Bhaijaan]

Murali definitely has a very strong case. His numbers are unreal and he is without question a giant of the game. He misses out probably because he has a very ordinary world cup record and of course bowlers are seocond class citizens in cricket world. Batsmen were, are and will always remain games bigger superstars.

 

[Bhaijaan]

Murali is a bigger player than Kohli as of now considering both have had an ordinary world cup record despite having a phenomenal bilateral record.

Tendulkar has dominated 3 world cups. The same cannot be said for any player in history. That is after his mount everest of test matches/runs. His resume is hard to match unless Kohli owns WC 2023, WC 2027 respectively and ends up with 16,000+ test runs

 

[therealAB]

How is ms dhoni not considered in this thread in the poll is beyond me lol by far he is the greatest Asian player ever 2 world cups took India from nothing to to the sky. The man is a diamond 50+ average when you come to bat at number 5 and lower no greater cricketer has ever touched the soil of Asia other than Mahendra Singh Dhoni

Firstly, only won a single world cup.

Not to mention him not being a better ODI batsman that Kohli, test cricket is still the premier format and the most highly weighted factor when deciding the greatest Asian player. Dhoni has the grand total of 0 test centuries outside Asia, averaging 33, and as captain he won 3/23 test matches in SENA, not the qualities of the best captain in Asia

 

[andy0204]

Murali is a bigger player than Kohli as of now considering both have had an ordinary world cup record despite having a phenomenal bilateral record.

Tendulkar has dominated 3 world cups. The same cannot be said for any player in history. That is after his mount everest of test matches/runs. His resume is hard to match unless Kohli owns WC 2023, WC 2027 respectively and ends up with 16,000+ test runs

Murali having an ordinary wc record? Second highest wicket taker in wc of all time.
He dominated 2007 Wc unlike Kohli.http://http://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/records/bowling/most_wickets_career.html?id=12;type=trophy

 

[Bhaijaan]

Murali having an ordinary wc record? Second highest wicket taker in wc of all time.
He dominated 2007 Wc unlike Kohli.http://http://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/records/bowling/most_wickets_career.html?id=12;type=trophy

Thanks for eventually proving my point exactly. Imran Tahir and Brad Hogg were better than Murali in world cups.

Murali is pretty much a nobody in world cup history.

 

[Titan24]

Cricketer is a much broader term than being a good batsman or a bowler.

Tendulkar and Murali dont fit the term of greatest cricketer. Yes arguments can be put for them to be debated as the best batsmen or a spinner from Asia but they were poor in the field, didnt have any leadership qualities and their secondary skills like bowling in the case of Tendu and batting in the case of Murali were nothing more than entertainment on most occassions.

Imran Khan is the only cricketer in Asia who was not only an exceptional bowler, a pretty good batsman, impressive fielder but also an extraordinary leader. Cant think of a better overall cricketer than him in Asia.

Kohli (though he isnt a bowler but exceptional batsmen, fileder and a good leader) is still growing while Wasim was also a complete cricketer with bowling being legendary level and skills with bat, in the field and as a leader.

 

[tyron_woodley]

Cricketer is a much broader term than being a good batsman or a bowler.

Tendulkar and Murali dont fit the term of greatest cricketer. Yes arguments can be put for them to be debated as the best batsmen or a spinner from Asia but they were poor in the field, didnt have any leadership qualities and their secondary skills like bowling in the case of Tendu and batting in the case of Murali were nothing more than entertainment on most occassions.

Imran Khan is the only cricketer in Asia who was not only an exceptional bowler, a pretty good batsman, impressive fielder but also an extraordinary leader. Cant think of a better overall cricketer than him in Asia.

Kohli (though he isnt a bowler but exceptional batsmen, fileder and a good leader) is still growing while Wasim was also a complete cricketer with bowling being legendary level and skills with bat, in the field and as a leader.

I kind of agree. I suppose if you put it that way then its only between imran, kapil and wasim.

However, you need to remember that kapil played with a weaker team. There was no support for him in pace bowling. first change bowlers were awful so he had to carry the entire team on his shoulders. Different scenario if you talk about imran who had good support in both spin and pace. I dont think he performed well vs pakistan compared to how he did vs west indies etc. So Imran is ahead.

In saying that, if kohli dominates australia again in the next clash and helps them draw or win in australia then I feel there is a good chance he could be considered the greatest Asian player of all time. Its either between wasim, imran or him.

 

[Robert]

He was easily the best all rounder of his generation, ahead of his contemporaries such as Botham, Kapil, and Hadlee. Impact wise, the only all rounder you can put above him will be Sobers, the latter being a better batsman, but an inferior bowler to Imran.

Tendulkar's impact as a batsman certainly remains unmatched to this date, and it may never be matched in the next decades to come. However, as a pure batsman, Kohli trumps him in LOIs statistically, and his records across formats put him above Sachin.

Kohli's and Imran's captaincy credentials add more weight to their claims as the greatest Asian cricketers ever, hence putting them above Tendulkar.

From a statistical point of view, you will never be able to name a player averaging close to 38 with the bat, 22 with the ball in the purest format of the game. If you add the fact that he led Pakistan to series draws against the mighty WI sides of the 1980s, when other teams were struggling to even face them puts him on an even higher level as a complete cricketer. The WC victory just adds to his legacy, and if you keep in mind his legacy as a pure fast bowler, someone who inspired a whole generation of players to take up fast bowling, and a mentor to players like Wasim and Waqar, then his level as the GOAT Asian cricketer ever remains unmatched.

As I said, Kohli remains the only competitor to Imran as the greatest Asian cricketer ever, and he has a very good chance to go past him, as his stature as a pure batsman is already known by everyone, and his leadership qualities put him even closer to Imran as the best Asian cricketer ever. A WC trophy would certainly put him at the top.

The so called "Pro-Imran propaganda" is related to his political career, and doesn't have anything to do with Imran the cricketer, whose status can't be questioned.

Actually I can name Keith Miller.

But yeah, I still agree that Imran is best Subcontinental cricketer. Best fast bowler from there, never mind his test class batting and excellent man-management skills.

 

[Robert]

Thats what I meant.

Everyone from Gooch, Ponting, Warne ,Kallis, McCullum, Trescothick and Strauss to Root, Morkel , Broad , Holder etc etc have named Sachin in their all time XIs but no mention of Imran. Infact , I feel Wasim Akram is rated higher than Imran outside of Pak , but I can understand the perception of Pak fans as he won them the world cup. Even in India, some rate Dhoni above Sachin just because he was the captain of the WC winning team , which is quite bizarre.

None of those guys played Imran in tests.

 

[Mamoon]

Cricketer is a much broader term than being a good batsman or a bowler.

Tendulkar and Murali dont fit the term of greatest cricketer. Yes arguments can be put for them to be debated as the best batsmen or a spinner from Asia but they were poor in the field, didnt have any leadership qualities and their secondary skills like bowling in the case of Tendu and batting in the case of Murali were nothing more than entertainment on most occassions.

Imran Khan is the only cricketer in Asia who was not only an exceptional bowler, a pretty good batsman, impressive fielder but also an extraordinary leader. Cant think of a better overall cricketer than him in Asia.

Kohli (though he isnt a bowler but exceptional batsmen, fileder and a good leader) is still growing while Wasim was also a complete cricketer with bowling being legendary level and skills with bat, in the field and as a leader.

It is not appropriate to compare two cricketers based on their all-round skills. You have to consider their speciality and then compare them.

For example, if you are comparing Imran and Tendulkar, you have to compare Imran’s bowling to Tendulkar’s batting.

If we compare players on all-round skills, then every specialist batsman or bowler will be at a great disadvantage and you can make an average/decent all-rounder look better than a great specialist.

For example, if we take the term ‘cricketer’ in a literal sense, we can make Afridi look a better cricketer than Miandad and Watson a better cricketer than Warne, since Afridi and Watson were more ‘complete’ cricketers than Miandad and Warne.

Leadership qualities are a legitimate factor when comparing two players though, but their all-rounder skills should be ignored unless you are comparing two all-rounders.

If use the term ‘cricketer’ in its literal sense than hardly any specialist batsman/bowler in history would win a direct comparison against any good all-rounder.

 

[Mesozoic]

None of those guys played Imran in tests.

None of those guys played Viv Richards, Gary Sobers, Richard Hadley, Dennis Lillee etc and guys like Broad, Root, Holder and Morkel never played the likes of Lara, McGrath, Warne, Wasim etc but still named them in their all time XIs.

Not playing against him shouldn't matter. They'll still watch or hear about their legacy , which Imran doesn't really have.

 

[Mobashir]

It is not appropriate to compare two cricketers based on their all-round skills. You have to consider their speciality and then compare them.

For example, if you are comparing Imran and Tendulkar, you have to compare Imran’s bowling to Tendulkar’s batting.

If we compare players on all-round skills, then every specialist batsman or bowler will be at a great disadvantage and you can make an average/decent all-rounder look better than a great specialist.

For example, if we take the term ‘cricketer’ in a literal sense, we can make Afridi look a better cricketer than Miandad and Watson a better cricketer than Warne, since Afridi and Watson were more ‘complete’ cricketers than Miandad and Warne.

Leadership qualities are a legitimate factor when comparing two players though, but their all-rounder skills should be ignored unless you are comparing two all-rounders.

If use the term ‘cricketer’ in its literal sense than hardly any specialist batsman/bowler in history would win a direct comparison against any good all-rounder.

Afridi's all round ability still doesn't make him better than Miandad nore Watson better than Warne.

If you have so few all rounders making it to the top it's because it's very hard to be a test level all rounder.

These guys are exceptional, they make their team stronger because of their all round skills. So surely when comparing two players, you will compare everything that make them great, everything they bring to the table. You can hardly compare a bowler to a batsman, it's the same with all rounders. What really count is the impact on the match. Even fielding does matter.

 

[Robert]

None of those guys played Viv Richards, Gary Sobers, Richard Hadley, Dennis Lillee etc and guys like Broad, Root, Holder and Morkel never played the likes of Lara, McGrath, Warne, Wasim etc but still named them in their all time XIs.

Not playing against him shouldn't matter. They'll still watch or hear about their legacy , which Imran doesn't really have.

Gooch played against Richards, Lillee and Hadlee. But not against Imran.

Those fellows should read about Imran.

 

[Bilal7]

GOAT: Imran Khan - ATG bowler, good batsman, ATG captain.

Joint second place:

Wasim Akram - ATG fast-bowler.
Sachin Tendulker - ATG batsman.
Murali - ATG spin-bowler.