Battle #654685 - Kumar Sangakkara vs Kevin Pietersen

[Nate]

As a batsman, who would you rather have in your Test team?

 

[GIMH]

KP gunning it with 100%, excellent

 

[vic_orthdox]

Sangakkara, especially if he is only playing as a batsman.

 

[Shaggy Alfresco]

Sangakkara easily, he's arguably the best batsman in the world right now.

 

[Jono]

Sanga every day of the week, and that's not really taking anything away from KP. Sanga is more versatile too, or at least more comfortable playing varying roles than KP.

 

[DaRick]

Kumar Sangakkara, definitely. For one thing, he has been infinitely more prolific than Pietersen, lately. He also has to bat at #3; a difficult proposition at the best of times (explaining why blokes like Ponting, Dravid and Kallis bat there). KP, on the other hand, doesn't. Pretty random battle, IMO.

 

[Jono]

I reckon its a good comparison, they're both pretty damn awesome batsman (clearly the best for their respective teams), and have never really been compared in the past on this board.

Btw, the 3 ahead of 4 argument is false and old-minded thinking IMO.

I reckon Lara and Sachin could have been just as good at 3 as 4.

 

[Richard]

Pretty random battle indeed, but so many are.

Sangakkara fairly comfortably for my money, and a damn sight better to watch an' al'.

 

[DaRick]

I reckon its a good comparison, they're both pretty damn awesome batsman (clearly the best for their respective teams), and have never really been compared in the past on this board.

Btw, the 3 ahead of 4 argument is false and old-minded thinking IMO.

I reckon Lara and Sachin could have been just as good at 3 as 4.

I suppose the #3/#4 argument is a touch traditionalist. In Australia, though, that line of thinking is still very much prevalent. Theoretically, though, the #3 generally has to be a more versatile player than the #4, particularly in one-day cricket, where they could be batting second ball (FTR, a #4 isn't too likely to be batting third ball) or much later on in the innings. In other words, they may have to act as a virtual opener. On the other hand, while the #4 batsman may bat relatively early, they're unlikely to have to play the role of faux-opener as often as the #3 would have to. The #3 in Test cricket also has a greater chance of facing the better bowlers with a shiny new ball than a #4, logically.

 

[Richard]

One thing that generally needs to be borne in mind is that if "did they bat three or four?" is something under consideration, there's a very good chance that the player was an extremely high-calibre one. High-calibre enough that they could bat anywhere in the team that they wanted. Ergo, if they batted three it was probably personal choice. Therefore, if it ended-up meaning they did less well than they might have done at four, it's probably their own fault.

 

[DaRick]

One thing that generally needs to be borne in mind is that if "did they bat three or four?" is something under consideration, there's a very good chance that the player was an extremely high-calibre one. High-calibre enough that they could bat anywhere in the team that they wanted. Ergo, if they batted three it was probably personal choice. Therefore, if it ended-up meaning they did less well than they might have done at four, it's probably their own fault.

TBH, I was going to write that about Lara and Tendulkar...that they could bat anywhere..but I felt that it wasn't relevant to my argument, for some reason.

 

[Jamee999]

Sangakkara on present form, but Pietersen if not, as I love the bloke.

 

[silentstriker]

Clearly Sangakkarra, I'm astonished anyone has said otherwise.

 

[andyc]

Sanga ftw

 

[Jungle Jumbo]

Yeah, Sangakkara here as well. Turned himself into one of the most complete players in the world atm.

 

[BoyBrumby]

Has to be Sanga currently, expecting big things from KP against his former nation this year tho. First time he's met them in tests & he usually raises his game for the big occasions.

 

[haroon510]

too hard to pick.. both are my favorite batsman..i want both of them in my team.. soo i voted for the third option..

 

[Richard]

Has to be Sanga currently, expecting big things from KP against his former nation this year tho. First time he's met them in tests & he usually raises his game for the big occasions.

Yeah like... the World Cup...

Sorry, but even though I obviously like Pietersen and want him to do well, c Smith b Nel was just so funny it had to be laughed at really, as if you could pick one combination you'd imagine KPP would not have wanted to be getting out to, that'd be it.

 

[BoyBrumby]

Yeah like... the World Cup...

444 runs @ 55.50 shocking, obv.

 

[Richard]

Referring purely to the game against South Africa TBH. As, y'know, kinda shown by the 2nd paragraph of that post.