Now is the time: Who is Pakistan's best batsman? Miandad vs. Inzamam vs. Younis Khan

[Fuller Pilch]

Should we call them AB positive and AB negative?

 

[fredfertang]

Javed was an obnoxious irritating little **** (Dennis Lillee to confirm), but what a batsman - one of the best I've seen

 

[OverratedSanity]

Thought this comment by someone under the article was good.

I have seen all of these players live! And even though, each one has his own place in history. But when Miandad came to the crease, whatever the odds were at that given time, there was always hope! Pakistan had always a chance to turn the tables on the opposition when Miandad was batting. And he let the opposition know that he was there to beat them. He was never afraid to take the fight to the competition! And in that era, more often than not, he prevailed! So my choice as Pakistan's greatest is none other than the inimitable Javed Miandad.

Tbf, you could replace Miandad with Younis in that quote and it'd still be true.

 

[S.Kennedy]

He was very unorthodox and entertaining to watch.

Pretty good captain also, filling in for Imran periodically.

 

[Agent Nationaux]

Younis has a poor record in South Africa (32) and in West Indies (23). His average in all the other countries is above 40.

He has a chance to improve his record in the Windies as that is where Pak is playing next.

 

[srbhkshk]

Tbf, you could replace Miandad with Younis in that quote and it'd still be true.

Yep, In fact you can put any great Batsmen here and it will be true, you don't come in the conversation for greats if you are the sort who backs down from a fight.

 

[smash84]

interesting question, maybe my nostalgia comes in a little bit but I still rate Javed Miandad as the finest batsman that Pakistan ever produced.

There was always a dependability about Javed that has been kind of missing in Younis (although younis has been pretty consistent but we are speaking relatively). It was one of the reasons that he was known as "man of the crises". Miandad was also arguably the finest player of spin bowling to play the game from Pakistan (and among the top tier of best ever). His footwork was immense to the spinners. He could also be fairly unorthodox and pull it off successfully (much more so than Younis). And one of the things that has always dogged pakistan batting (except for very few) has also been somewhat of an issue for younis, (less so for Miandad). Miandad was mentally tougher. He could make others bat around him and could farm the strke for long periods of time. Miandad also benefitted from having Imran around, (but misbah has been pretty good as well) which younis couldn't but even without Imran, Miandad was a fighter and you could expect him to rile the opposition, if not by batting then by his antics. So while strictly speaking, on batting terms there is not too much between them (both weren't exceptional players of pace but Miandad was probably more gutsy) but Miandad's intangibles keeps him ever so slightly above Younis.

 

[honestbharani]

Miandad
Younis
Inzy

Anwar and Zaheer deserve shout outs as well IMO.

 

[viriya]

I think Yousuf deserves to be in the conversation too. They are the clear top 4.

1. Miandad
2. Younis
<gap>
3. Inzamam
4. Yousuf
<gap>

 

[Howe_zat]

Younis' figures are the best by miles. 34 tons v Miandad's 23 despite playing fewer tests. Unexpected

 

[viriya]

Younis' figures are the best by miles. 34 tons v Miandad's 23 despite playing fewer tests. Unexpected

Miandad faced better bowling attacks and played in an era where it was tougher to play as many tests so those numbers need to be taken with a grain of salt imo (not that I'm saying Miandad is clearly better than Younis - I think it's a toss-up).

 

[S.Kennedy]

Yes, an analyse of their dismissals tells you the bowling they faced,

Miandad: Dev, Lillee, Hadlee, Croft
Younis: Herath, Steyn, Broad, McGrath

 

[Zinzan]

Definitely seems to be a case in which most folks who have seen a decent amount of both Miandad & Younus seem to rate the former, but those slightly younger folks who didn't see much of Miandad and are instead mostly looking at their records think Younus.

I'm sure something like a Jayawardene vs, Crowe debate would see a similar pattern.

 

[Zinzan]

Yes, an analyse of their dismissals tells you the bowling they faced,

Miandad: Dev, Lillee, Hadlee, Croft
Younis: Herath, Steyn, Broad, McGrath

And the rest for Miandad...... Marshall, Ambrose, Garner, Holding, Thomson, Willis, to name a few.

 

[mr_mister]

Mo-Yo easily belongs in the damn conversation. Look at his 100s/match ratio compared to Miandad. Look at it.

 

[Blocky]

Definitely seems to be a case in which most folks who have seen a decent amount of both Miandad & Younus seem to rate the former, but those slightly younger folks who didn't see much of Miandad and are instead mostly looking at their records think Younus.

I'm sure something like a Jayawardene vs, Crowe debate would see a similar pattern.

Nah, I think Crowe still ranks ahead of most, possibly even Williamson to be honest when it's all said and done. He faced the hardest bowlers of the era as a youth batsman which destroyed his overall average and the end of his career was blighted by knee and back problems, but if you take the meat of his career between 1985 and 1994, his stats were unbelievable considering the era.

51 tests, 4333 runs @ 54.84, 16 tons, 13 half tons.

The only people who would rank Jayawardene ahead of him are those that never saw Crowe play and don't understand what a murderers row of bowling cricket in the 1980s and 1990s were.

Crowe not only had to face the likes of Garner, Holding, Marshall, Thomson, Lillee, Imran Khan, Botham, Willis, Qadir in their pomp at the start of his career, he also had to deal with the rising of Waqar, Wasim, Curtly Ambrose, Courtney Walsh, Ian Bishop, Warne, Donald

 

[Blocky]

And the rest for Miandad...... Marshall, Ambrose, Garner, Holding, Thomson, Willis, to name a few.

Yeah, look at the list that Crowe faced, remove the Pakistanis, add Hadlee into the mix instead and you've got the murderers row that Miandad faced.

 

[Zinzan]

Nah, I think Crowe still ranks ahead of most, possibly even Williamson to be honest when it's all said and done. He faced the hardest bowlers of the era as a youth batsman which destroyed his overall average and the end of his career was blighted by knee and back problems, but if you take the meat of his career between 1985 and 1994, his stats were unbelievable considering the era.

51 tests, 4333 runs @ 54.84, 16 tons, 13 half tons.

The only people who would rank Jayawardene ahead of him are those that never saw Crowe play and don't understand what a murderers row of bowling cricket in the 1980s and 1990s were.

Crowe not only had to face the likes of Garner, Holding, Marshall, Thomson, Lillee, Imran Khan, Botham, Willis, Qadir in their pomp at the start of his career, he also had to deal with the rising of Waqar, Wasim, Curtly Ambrose, Courtney Walsh, Ian Bishop, Warne, Donald

That was kind of the point I was making. People don't seem to have an appreciation that hardly any batsmen averaged in the 50s in the 70s, 80s & early 90s. To compare Mo Yo's record with Miandad thinking it's a fair thing to compare shows a lack of understanding about the different eras, & the bowlers they faced.

 

[S.Kennedy]

And the rest for Miandad...... Marshall, Ambrose, Garner, Holding, Thomson, Willis, to name a few.

Yes, I was just reeling off the guys who got his wicket the most times. (I suspect he had a lot of success against those others which puts Miandad's calibre in perspective!!). They are both strong bowling eras really. McGrath could be on the first list. The 'Lillee era' (for lack of a better term) edges it though.

 

[Blocky]

McGrath + Warne + Gillespie is an ATG level bowling attack, potentially the best to ever have played when Gillespie was in form; but at the same period, England had a reasonably weak bowling outfit, Pakistan had the best opening bowling attack in the world but not much to back it, West Indies were at the tail end of Ambrose, Walsh and Bishop and about to embark on the weakness of the new era, NZ was fluffing around with all sorts of oddsorts.

So while I'll never claim that Aussie attack wasn't one of the best ever, the actual standards of the rest of the sides in say 1997 - 2007 wasn't quite there in comparison to 1982-1992