• Welcome to the Cricket Web forums, one of the biggest forums in the world dedicated to cricket.

    You are currently viewing our boards as a guest which gives you limited access to view most discussions and access our other features. By joining our free community you will have access to post topics, respond to polls, upload content and access many other special features. Registration is fast, simple and absolutely free so please, join the Cricket Web community today!

    If you have any problems with the registration process or your account login, please contact us.

Tendulkar, the most underachieving batsmen ever

Dasa

International Vice-Captain
Crap imo. Selective stat-picking and (rather ironic, given the statement made by the author here) emotional arguments. I don't get why people feel the need to try to run down Tendulkar all the time.
 

Richard

Cricket Web Staff Member
Yeah, Tendulkar should've averaged 80 in Test cricket and shown himself conclusively better than Vivian Richards. Same way Richards should have averaged 70 and shown himself the 2nd best after Bradman.

Actually I'd bet even then Richards' fans would claim he was better. Heck, some people can claim Ponting is better than Tendulkar these days (though never Richards, interestingly).

I've been disappointed in Tendulkar 2003 to 2006, but I still wouldn't be surprised if I never saw a batsman I considered better all my life.
 

SJS

Hall of Fame Member
If you praise cricketers you are a mere fan. If you criticise them, you are elevated to the level of a critic. If you criticise a great player, you are a great critic. Stands to reason ......

The greatest critics , including some worthies who have touched CW's humble shores, have been those who have said Bradman is highly over rated. We are humbled by the presence of such enlightened spirits amongst us.

As for Sachin Tendulkar .... he is a small fry ....
 
Last edited:

Prince EWS

Global Moderator
Yeah, Tendulkar should've averaged 80 in Test cricket and shown himself conclusively better than Vivian Richards..
Even if that was the case - and I strongly disagree with that FWIW - does it still qualify him as the most underachieving batsman ever? I'd say that Mark Ramprakash for example underachieved far more than someone who was best Test batsman of his era, even if he should have done much better than he did.

Even beyond players we know, I'm sure there are many who never even made it to First Class level who should have been good Test batsmen.
 
Last edited:

Richard

Cricket Web Staff Member
Even if that was the case - and I strongly disagree with that FWIW - does it still qualify him as the most underachieving batsman ever? I'd say that Mark Ramprakash for example underachieved far more than someone who was best Test batsman of his era, even if he should have done much better than he did.

Even beyond players we know, I'm sure there are many who never even made it to First Class level who should have been good Test batsman.
Post was facetious, TBH. Though I don't doubt Tendulkar could have averaged 70 or 80 in Tests, so undoubtedly could a number of others - for instance, Jack Hobbs, Vijay Merchant, George Headley, Sid Barnes, Garry Sobers, Barry Richards (over a lengthy period), Vivian Richards and Greg Chappell.

Fact is, no-one's done it, or come close. Bradman is in a class of his own, and is clear of the field. He is the only one who has managed the consistency to do it.

I'll be very surprised if anyone else ever averages much more than 60 over any length of time as long as Tests are played.

Heck, even Don Bradman underachieved. Everyone who didn't play the perfect shot to every ball and land every ball on the perfect line and length with outswing underachieved. It's all relative, and I think Tendulkar underachieved less than pretty much everyone.
 

honestbharani

Whatever it takes!!!
lol... a few stats seem right but the guy just seems plain bitter about Sachin for some reason. Didn't know JustTool writes at Holdingwilley....


The only interesting thing while reading his piece was me trying to work out whether he was more of a Lara fan or a Dravid fan... :laugh:
 

Burgey

Request Your Custom Title Now!
Please tell me you truly don't. One of the funniest articles I've read for a long time, some people go to hilarious lengths to discredit Sachin.
Or indeed any player they have a set against.

Poor article imo. I mean, Tendulkar's last test series was up there with the best output of his career, surely?

People act like it's easy to go out and average 50+ in tests, well it just isn't. Maybe he could have averaged more had he been able to maintain a level like his absolute best in the 90s, but it's a sporting fact that no one can do that - it's just not possible in any sport to be at your absolute best for nigh on 20 years.

Maybe people just look at how easy it looks to him and think he should average more. Even Bradman said "I saw lots of batsmen who were better than me, but they just kept getting out!", which kind of illustrates the point of how hard it is to keep going at such a high standard.
 

honestbharani

Whatever it takes!!!
Very true, but Sachin seems to cop it a lot more than most. Apart from Murali I can't think of anyone else who comes close tbh.
Being from India is the reason. We have a huge population, huge media with a huge appetite for cricket and hence more number of guys who are critical of Sachin.
 

Agent TBY

International Captain
Being from India is the reason. We have a huge population, huge media with a huge appetite for cricket and hence more number of guys who are critical of Sachin.
Focusing the nation's entire sporting attention on Cricket isn't helping either. We don't have anyone else to bash.
 

Top