The euphoria over India’s series win in the West Indies after 35 years masks the fact that it was made entirely possible by Rahul Dravid‘s masterful batting in the series in general (496 runs from four Tests) and in the final Test (81 and 68) in Kingston in particular. Dravid now has a 66.64 average in away-matches, much higher than Sunil Gavaskar‘s 52.11 and Sachin Tendulkar‘s 55.52.
Statistics aren’t everything and Test cricket is not always about winning, but a simple search on cricinfo throws up something interesting. Dravid has an average of 94.93 in India’s 13 away-wins since his 1996 debut and an average of 69.46 in 20 home-wins. The corresponding numbers for Sachin are 108.7 in 10 away-wins and 54.02 in 31 home-wins. In contrast, Gavaskar has an average of 50.40 in 9 away-wins and 39.78 in 14 home-wins; and G.R. Viswanath has an average of 53.3 in 6 away-wins and 48 in 14 home-wins.
Question: As a twosome, have Dravid and Sachin served India better than Gavaskar and Viswanath, especially in bringing glory and honour? Or are their higher numbers merely a reflection of the kind of opposition they have faced and the better technology at their disposal? Or will you just cop out and say comparisons are odious, that it isn’t fair to compare players of different eras; that we ignore the role played by our bowlers in making victory possible?
Dravid is a better than the other 3 in terms of sheer consistency and delivering when it matters most. By his talent tempered with hard work and attitude, it is fairly clear he would have performed equally well in the earlier era.
Tendulkar , again by his quick eye hand coordination , the ability to see the ball early and a will to bat like Viv Richards ranks above the three in terms of scoring rate, hit the bowler out of line ( Shoaib Vs Tendulkar in World cup match) and raise the game to sheer poetry in motion for the viewers. He has set up matches for India to win , whereas Dravid has toiled to win it by himself.
Vishy was all artistry and you could only gasp at his square cut off a rampaging Andy Roberts! Vishy is better that the other 3 in playing a gem when the whole team cannot on a bouncy, difficult track. He is the original who made batting look easy.
Gavaskar was technically more sound than the other in tackiling new ball in practically any surface. He was basically an accumulator of runs with an eye on the score board!
All four would have excelled in their specialty in any era.
Dravid and Tendulkar’s contribution in terms of bringing victory to India is much more than Gavaskar and Vishwanath. Their averages prove it, their runs prove it.Gavaskar would have played exactly the same way and vishy would have brought raptures even now. But Winning? That’s where Dravid and Sachin would score!
I dont see a need of comparing Awesome twosome with oldie group of ‘Bhava – Bamaida’. they have scripted their epics in different timezones and they were the best in their own timezones.
Dravid is the greatest Indian batsman ever. Until Dravid came on the scene, it was Gundappa Vishwanath from Shimoga. I am super-parochial when it comes to cricket, but Dravid would be up there parochialism or not.
All these batsmen are great in their own ways. It is hard to do a straight comparison without considering some other factors. These would include the number of matches played, the quality of bowling available, the quality of bowling faced, the support available from other batsmen and so on.
When we compare we need to see more than just the batting average during wins. If a player had done well during a lost cause or helps to draw a match, does it mean he did not serve the country well. I think one of the true measures of a good player is how he performs when the going is tough.
As erram pointed out, all the four would have done well in any era. So we need to celebrate all their achievements instead of getting into comparisons.