Ricky Ponting vs. Brian Lara

[honestbharani]

Same, but Lara was more so post-2001/02, IMO.



Perhaps. Wihout examining both sides of the ledger though, I would (in all honesty) have no choice but to come to the conclusion that Lara was the second best batsmen ever (because let's face it, at his best, he's quite a bit better than anybody else).



I'll give you the 241* (I edited my lazy Tendulkar>Ponting post because of this, so thanks), but not the 194*. Why? Well, the 194* came after hiis 241*, so we cannot assume that he was struggling anymore.

well, if you watched the game, you would realize what I am saying...


He was really not looking at as much ease there as so many other batsmen were....

 

[Nutter]

Pretty even IMO... Ponting for consistency, Lara for sheer natural ability.

 

[Top_Cat]

well, if you watched the game, you would realize what I am saying...


He was really not looking at as much ease there as so many other batsmen were....

Sorry HB, not buying it. No-one scores damn near two Test double tons when out of form. I watched most of the 241* and whilst he was a bit ginger in his movements early on, was definitely hitting the ball well. In all his innings previous to that, he was also hitting the ball quite well but just getting out to some good bowling.

This, in no way, diminishes the effort in putting together those innings', though.

As for the topic at hand, I'd put Lara ahead of Punter at the moment (very, very close, though) but I fully expect Punter to be rated the better at career end.

 

[honestbharani]

Sorry HB, not buying it. No-one scores damn near two Test double tons when out of form. I watched most of the 241* and whilst he was a bit ginger in his movements early on, was definitely hitting the ball well. In all his innings previous to that, he was also hitting the ball quite well but just getting out to some good bowling.

This, in no way, diminishes the effort in putting together those innings', though.

As for the topic at hand, I'd put Lara ahead of Punter at the moment (very, very close, though) but I fully expect Punter to be rated the better at career end.

I guess we just have to agree to disagree then......


Because certainly for the life of me, I can't see why you would put away your drives (your best shots) if you are in good form...... And it was obvious he was more intent on surviving than scoring in both of those knocks, another thing you wouldn't expect a genius like Sachin to do when in good form...

 

[vic_orthdox]

From memory, wasn't it more his drives through the off side that were getting him in trouble, especially through cover areas. So he didn't really cut out all "drives", he just didn't go chasing them.

 

[Jono]

You cannot say that Tendulkar was 'in form' during that Sydney knock. You just can't. I think its arguable whether he was out of form, since he was scoring 30s and 40s throughout the test series, but if Tendulkar has no confidence in his cover drive, you can't say he's in form. Half of those runs were played whipping Gillespie and Lee off his pads after they lost patience bowling outside off stump.

 

[aussie]

word easily the most boring double century i've seen.

 

[silentstriker]

Sorry HB, not buying it. No-one scores damn near two Test double tons when out of form. I watched most of the 241* and whilst he was a bit ginger in his movements early on, was definitely hitting the ball well. In all his innings previous to that, he was also hitting the ball quite well but just getting out to some good bowling.

This, in no way, diminishes the effort in putting together those innings', though.

As for the topic at hand, I'd put Lara ahead of Punter at the moment (very, very close, though) but I fully expect Punter to be rated the better at career end.

Sachin cut out every single cover drive during that innings because he was afraid of getting out to them (one of the reasons Warne put Tendulkar at #1 was his ability to do that). You can't be in in-form Tendulkar and cut out every single cover drive.

Was he completely out of form? No, but I wouldn't say he was in form either. And many runs from were bad bowling.

 

[Top_Cat]

Sachin cut out every single cover drive during that innings because he was afraid of getting out to them (one of the reasons Warne put Tendulkar at #1 was his ability to do that). You can't be in in-form Tendulkar and cut out every single cover drive.

Was he completely out of form? No, but I wouldn't say he was in form either. And many runs from were bad bowling.

Still not buying it because even hitting poor bowling in Tests requires you be hitting the ball relatively well. I seriously doubt anyone who scores a big double ton in a Test is out-of-form. It really does defy belief that a bloke can be out-of-form with one shot while the rest remain blissfully unaffected. Like Jack said, he just stopped chasing balls outside off-stump because he'd been dismissed there a couple of times. Many players shelve shots if they're set for a big knock, especially if they'd been getting out to them of late. Steve Waugh shelved his pull and hook despite being perfectly capable of playing them. Do we then conclude he was not in top-class form for the rest of his career? Allan Border scored a Test 200 in England despite shelving his drives for that knock.

So he may not have been 100% on his cover drive and decided to eliminate the risk of playing them. And, as I said, early on he was a bit shaky but once he passed 50, he was fine. That he was hitting everything else well, his defense was good and that he scored an unbeaten double surely shows that any form arguments are moot.

 

[JBH001]

Agree with TC. I watched most of that knock (was living in OZ at the time) and I reckon Tendulkar was not out of form. In fact, he had looked in reasonable nick in that whole series, but had simply failed to convert some starts into big figures (a couple of times due to nicks when going for his cover drive). I dont reckon he was in superlative form during that series or especially in that test, but he certainly was 'in' form.

Edit/ Oh, and iirc, his mid inning and late inning wagon wheel revealed shots through the covers. But none were boundary shots (until later in his innings perhaps?).

 

[biased indian]

Lara .....until ponting score 50 test centuries