Big Hitters

[Colourful Chaddi]

Originally Posted by uham

That is the exect thing I say about Dhoni. I think he is way to overrated. He's not gonna be the next Gilcrhist. You know who I think is better than Dhoni, KAMRAN AKMAL .

Kamran Akmal is a good batsmen down the order and he is a very good glovesman but he will never be able to do something like hit an unbeaten 183* chasing a huge target with a alot of pressure on him. Mehendra Singh Dhoni is not over-rated at all, in a way i think he is under-rated, his glovework is much better than most people make out.

Yes i do agree he will not be another Gilchrist but to be honest no one else will ever be another Gilchirst. He is a one off player, a true legend and a legend can never be replaced.

[rineet]

Based on the question asked, I went for Dhoni. This is because he has the tendency of finishing off innings or matches with a six. So far, he has done that about 5 times. This shows that he can hit sixes at will. Hence the reason for my choice.

Notice someone has voted for Dhoni.......I don't blame Indian fans for getting excited about him, but, to be honest I think he has flash in the pan written all over him and doubt he will ever reach 'next Gilchrist' status, especially outside the sub continent.

Well, how can you say that he wont perform outside the subcontinent without even giving the guy a chance to perform?? So far, he has played only 1 tournament for India outside the subcontinent in Zimbabwe. And he scored a 67 off 63 balls against Zimbabwe. Yes, its Zimbabwe...not the strongest opposition in the world but he got to play agiainst them only. One cant be dismissive about a player without giving him a chance. Let us see how he performs against Australia, England and other non-sub continental teams before passing judgements. But going by the way he has played in the sub-continent, I see no reason why he cant perform outside the sub-continent. Sloggers have thrived all over the world, maybe to a lesser extent in places like England. Moreover, Gilchrist never performed for Australia from Match 1. He was given time to prove his mettle and only then he started performing. However successful Gilchrist might be in ODIs, he has never got past 172 in ODIs, which Dhoni has done with his 183* against Sri Lanka. I'm not saying that Dhoni has eclipsed Gilchrist....but there's no reason why he cant be the next Gilchrist. I know its too early to say but its also too early to say that he wont be the next Gilchrist. And about flash in the pan written all over him, as pointed out by Rob, I think its completely not a right judgement on Dhoni. If u think his 183 was a flash in the pan, then u can refresh your memory that Dhoni hit 148 runs off 123 balls against Pakistan in April this year. Surely, u cant say 2 big hundreds as a flash in the pan performances. That too, they were not scored back-to-back or within a close duration. Moreover he has scored some 50s also which is very good for a wicket-keeper.

I guess it is human nature: be skeptical of what ever promising talent any other team other then your favoured one has. Quite natural I suppose.

I agree 100% with the above quoted statement by Zainub.

That is the exect thing I say about Dhoni. I think he is way to overrated. He's not gonna be the next Gilcrhist. You know who I think is better than Dhoni, KAMRAN AKMAL

Well, with 3 50s and 2 100s in 27 innings, I dont think u can say he's overrated. He has got the highest score by a wicket-keeper in ODIs. Did Akmal score anything close to this highest score??... Akmal's stats.

Kamran Akmal
Batting and fielding averages
class mat inns no runs hs ave bf sr 100 50 4s 6s
ODIs 30 24 5 496 124 26.10 532 93.23 1 0 51 6

Well, with 1 century in 24 innings...I'd call only that as a flash in the pan performance.. Telling that Akmal is better batsman than Dhoni might well arise from the fact that he is from your country...but stats are here to tell the real story. I am impressed with Akmal's performance with the bat in tests, but i think he has a long way to go in ODIs to even match Dhoni.

P.S: Its not that I'm in favor of Dhoni because he is Indian. I'll appreciate any good cricketer irrespective of which country he is from. As of today, Gilchrist is the best wicketkeeper in Tests and ODIs. But there are some young cricketers like Dhoni who might give him a challenge in the next few years...The list also misses an important name Shaun Pollock. He almost won a game for SA v NZ...I think he hit 4 sixes in the last over of the game when they needed 30 runs off the last over from Mills.

[Quagmire]

if i was choosing out of batsman today i would choose either lara or tendulkar just because they have the power and also the skill which batsman like afridi and pietersen only have to the power and not as much skill.


but if i was to choose a batsman from all time there is no doubt who i would choose would be the only person to ever do it in first class cricket. Gary Sobers.

[Colourful Chaddi]

Excellet post Rineet, the Dhoni critics really needed that. Im sure if G.Jones scored a 183* chasing a huge target in the sub contienet most of the English fans will be jumping around hailing him the next Gilchrist, so why can't we say that?

[Ninjaman]

Originally Posted by Rowan

if i was choosing out of batsman today i would choose either lara or tendulkar just because they have the power and also the skill which batsman like afridi and pietersen only have to the power and not as much skill.


but if i was to choose a batsman from all time there is no doubt who i would choose would be the only person to ever do it in first class cricket. Gary Sobers.

Sobers was the first. Ravi Shastri has also done it

[Lemming]

Originally Posted by Rachael

...Mark Ramprakash...

Hehe, ! Ramps's ODI career only contributed 5 sixes, off approxiomately 90 overs faced. In test cricket you can expect Mark to hit every 928th delivery over the rope. If I wanted someone to block out an over to save a match, then maybe he'd have a case.

It's Flintoff for me! I am a little biassed as I have seen alot of him, but he is capable of such an over. I've only really seen Afridi bat once and that was in a Leicestershire shirt. He played a brilliant innings - scoring 98 off about 60 balls - including some crazy, but extremely skillful, shots. He can really hit a ball, but until I see more of him I can't put him above Freddie. Pietersen is a decent call too!

Balls per Six in International Cricket

Flintoff - 47
Pietersen - 39
Afridi - 24 (Ridiculous)
Ponting - 156
Lara - 161
Hayden - 134
Gilchrist - 72
Cairns - 49
Ramprakash - 587
Ashley Giles* - 387

* The official undisputed King of Spain

[Ninjaman]

My choice is undoubtedly Shahid Afridi.

Seen enough of him to know he is a six hitting machine.

[Rachael]

I'd not worry about 6-hitting records in selecting players to hit successive sixes: as a rule a top player isn't actually looking to loft the ball over the rope because they know that as a strategy for a top order bat it's seriously flawed (because they can score more reliably and consistently with less risk if they play properly). Doesn't mean they can't hit sixes.

The big question for me would be this: do you go for players of immense skill when it comes to playing orthodox shots
all around the wicket (say Ramps or Dravid) or do you go for someone who can improvise ridiculous shots (say Lara). I'd take either over a big hitter who needs room to swing his arms though!

When in doubt... back class.

[Quagmire]

i agree, class before power.

[Rob.]

Originally Posted by Waseem

Excellet post Rineet, the Dhoni critics really needed that. Im sure if G.Jones scored a 183* chasing a huge target in the sub contienet most of the English fans will be jumping around hailing him the next Gilchrist, so why can't we say that?

My Dhoni opinion is based on gut instinct, and I am quite often right (for some reason) when it comes to my gut instinct on players. Be worried India fans