Thread: 200* vs 194
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Old February 27, 2010, 08:24 AM
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nahaz nahaz is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Neel Here
and yet he only ever played in australia or england, other teams he played against, then WI India or SA were little more than minnows or that the bowlers had very little variety in those days. not to mention the pressure and analysis a modern batsman is subjected to.
or that he didn't face bowling of the likes of WI pace battery/pakistani bowling line-up of the 80's and 90's/aussie bowling of 70's, 90's and early 2000's/SA bowling of mid 90's and current. or that he didn't face murali at his home. the differences go on.

that's why I say that the greats from different era are incomparable....
You just committed blasphemy in the world of cricket/sports, my friend. Let me tell you who this man, Bradman, was.

He was born in a small country-town called Bowral, south of Sydney. In his era, there was no training facilities, there was no match fees, there was no other way of living than doing it the hard way. Staying alive itself was a challenge.( Some potential great from his era died of Pneumonia or sth of that sort.) Playing cricket in those days involved travelling for a month or three on a ship. There was no thigh pads, there was no HELMET, no chest guard. Heck, was there even a guard? His training sessions involved hitting a golf ball with a stick in his garage relentlessly. Noone showed him how to play the back-foot drive, or the cut shot.

He used to play at a time of utter unprofessionalism. Yet, he scored at an average of a century every innings. He played against fast bowlers in the Bodyline Series and saw his teammates head to hospital one after another instead of the pavillion. Yet, despite facing one of the most unusual, brutal, unsportmanlike tactics ever, he scores at an average of 57. (what's tendulkar's test average again?) today, players run when there's uneven bounce. They consider it unsafe (india vs Lanka). He had a 6-? year break in his career because of the WWII. He comes back at the age of 40 to lead his side to a clean sweep in England. The only Ashes Australia ever lost while he played was the Bodyline series. How many World Cups, and how many overseas series has Sachin won for his country? Oh by the way, Bradman never got to play in those "tough" pitches at Nagpur. If he did, he'd be scoring 300 every game.

To be called the greatest ever, you really have to do more than 200 at one match. And yes, Saeed Anwar is not really comparable to Sachin. I don't even know how to rate him against Ponting. He has done so much better personally in terms of centuries, but Ponting has led the country (captaining or otherwise) to three successive WC wins. His dogged spirit is not something I see in Sachin in the days it matters. I was partially counting on Sachin to counter Ponting's knock in WC 2003. But not to be!!

I think it is...1. Bradman 2. Bradman's shadow 3. Viv Richards 4. Ponting 5. Sachin 6. Lara ...tho Sachin may well deserve to be ahead of Viv.
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