That's not a bad suggestion actually Waseem. Looking at his stats:

He is better on the international stage in one-dayers, and for a lower-order (7 down) batsman an average of 21 isn't bad, considering you wouldn't expect him to be at the crease for too long (hopefully the top order have stuck around for 45 overs or so!).

He also has a pretty good strike rate of 71.13, which shows he doesn't go at Boycott pace but is steady nonetheless.

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Thats quite good considering he never really got to grips with his international carear with te keepers swapping so frequantly.

Another contender I think might be Robert Key. He has a great first class and test record.

http://content-usa.cricinfo.com/ci/c...yer/15876.html

His average is over 40 in the county game and over 30 in tests. What lese could be asked for?

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I think Key is somewhat unproven at the top level. His average should be nearer 40 if you ask me.

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On that list alone, I would say Ramnaresh Sarwan.

Take a quick look at his stats, they really do all the talking. His potential gets let down by ill discipline at times, but if he can address that, along with a winning team, there will be more notice taken of him.

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- VVVRulz..

completely agree with you mudney on robert key to be called as Underrated batsmen(bit too much)
the yard stick (imaginary) should be over 40 average with more than 25 tests
on that account mahela,sarwan,mohammed yousuf even for certain extent laxman

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I find it is usually some of the really good batsmen that are under rated, especially if they play in a team with another good player.

For instance, Dravid has to be strictly speaking one of the most under-rated batsman in the world ever simply because he is never talked about as being anywhere near the class of Tendulkar, although he has been more prolific and more reliable and consistent for the last five years now. All time top XIs always put Lara and Tendulkar in the mix, but NEVER discuss him. Hopefully history will judge him well and that we will mention his name in 30 years. Somehow I very much doubt it.

The same applies for Jayawardene. Never mentioned in the same breadth as the far more unreliable and frankly worse Jayasuriya. When we are discussing the great players in Sri Lanka's history in 30 years, I'm sure De Silva (quite rightly) and Jayasuriya will be alleviated up to the top, with Mahela never given the same credit. Clearly under rated.

Look at the Australian side. Hayden and Ponting take all the plaudits. In fact, Mark Waugh used to be considered class because he scored his runs so effortlessly. But, Langer has surely been as valuable to the team as Hayden - but hardly ever gets a mention. Of that team, Hussey clearly is the most under rated player. Denied the chance of playing till very recently. Sent home at the beginning of the Ashes after looking their best player in the one days. With Ponting their best player in both forms of the game over the last 12 months. For me, the most under rated player in the world at this moment.

Yeah i agree with you, Dravid is under-rated to the world, his achievements are acknowledged but he is never seen as a great batsmen even though he has scored on all types of wickets, in all conditons and against every team.

Looking at his batting achievements he should be condisered one the greatest batsmen of the modern era.

I will never consider Jayawardene to be a world class batsman, simply because he doesn't perform away from home. A world class batsmen should be able to perform at home as well as away.

Just look at his batting stats of his home and away record. Link

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Dead right about Justin Langer though, he churns in the big scores with minimal of fuss.
He was one of the few who performed throughout the last ashes series.

In that regard, could you compare Yousuf to Inzamam in terms of receiving hype?

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- VVVRulz..

I never said that Jayawardene should be classed as world class, I merely tried to indicate that he was unrated when compared to other Sri Lankan players. To be honest, most Sri Lankan cricketers have a huge difference between their home and away performances. I agree with you point that players should be judged on both how they play at home and away. This is why I will never rate the likes of Kumble and Gooch.

The most underated batsman is ofcourse Dilshan because we see him contributing to the team effort but is contribution goes unnoticed because of the better batsmen in the team.