Swann or Harbhajan singh???

[Ramcambrien]

Loadz of blokes are rating Swanneh higher than bhaj,but why???Swanneh has to prove himself by perform against good teams and in a variety of conditions & pitches.Bhaggi has 400 test wickets and proven performer......on current form u can say swanneh has an edge but he did worse in aus as compared to harbs in rsa....views plz

 

[TumTum]

Yeah reckon Swann was just in a purple patch last few years. Harbhajan still gets the better flight/drift and bounce. He's also more accurate. Thing with Singh is that most batsman have found a safe way to play him now with that going across the stumps on the back-foot and working to leg with that spin and bounce. Thing with Swann is that he still bowls too fast to be successful in all types of pitches, I know that action helps him to put more revolutions on the ball but it comes at a price.

 

[flibbertyjibber]

We'll find out soon when they meet in a test series.

 

[L Trumper]

Loadz of blokes are rating Swanneh higher than bhaj,but why???Swanneh has to prove himself by perform against good teams and in a variety of conditions & pitches.Bhaggi has 400 test wickets and proven performer......on current form u can say swanneh has an edge but he did worse in aus as compared to harbs in rsa....views plz

that is what people are saying. no one said swann is better than bhajji comparing their whole careers.

 

[Burgey]

Harby did worse in Australia when he was here last than Swann did this time, tbf.

 

[Shri]

Interesting username tstl.

 

[vcs]

This Bhaggi must be a decent bowler.

 

[robinjr]

Harby did worse in Australia when he was here last than Swann did this time, tbf.

wasn't the same batting lineup from Aus.

 

[Burgey]

True. I'm trying to recall the lineup and I cbf doing a cricinfo search.

I presume something like Hayden, Jaques, Ponting, Hussey, Clarke, Symonds, Gilchrist.

 

[Zinzan]

Swann for me, despite having played less. Bhaji's not the bowler he was 10 years ago IMHO. Even Vettori had a better series return than him in the recent NZ/Indian test series, despite the fact Vettori had to bowl to the Indian batsmen while Bhaji had NZ's in his own backyard.

The upcoming India/England series should be a good indicator, especially if they play at Old Trafford.

 

[Migara]

Swann has not played in India or in Pakistan on flattest of the wickets. He ahs not played in SL either (where the pitches will take turn). So the record is incomplete. Better to wait till he has a complete record tha jumping in to conclusions.

 

[Jono]

Swann has played in India. Why do people forget this?

 

[robinjr]

Swann has played in India. Why do people forget this?

got Gotham city and Rahul Dravid in the 1st over didn't he?

My take on this is Swann is the better bowler atm but Harby will be the better bowler overall simply becourse he will end up with 600+ wickets where Swann would have to do well to get to 400

 

[marc71178]

Swann has played in India. Why do people forget this?

Doesn't suit their arguments I guess?

Don't forget though there's also the Pakistan argument, which I suspect will be used to beat him over the head for time immemorial as I can't see England touring there before he retires.

Incidentally looking at Harbhajan's record in Pakistan, Swann only needs to take one wicket to better it.

 

[Cevno]

Swann didn't do too well in India ,IIRC.

So it actually suits their argument.

 

[Xuhaib]

Swann is the better bowler but not by much.

 

[Blaze 18]

Swann for me, despite having played less. Bhaji's not the bowler he was 10 years ago IMHO. Even Vettori had a better series return than him in the recent NZ/Indian test series, despite the fact Vettori had to bowl to the Indian batsmen while Bhaji had NZ's in his own backyard.

The upcoming India/England series should be a good indicator, especially if they play at Old Trafford.

The part in bold doesn't mean much. Harbhajan Singh the batsman had a better series return than every New Zealand batsman bar Brendon McCullum. What do I make of it ? Do I take it he'd make the New Zealand side as a batsman alone ? The point is, you can't just pick one series and come to conclusions based on it. On a side note, Daniel Vettori's figures become worse than Harbhajan Singh's if you remove the two incorrect decisions he got in his favour ( yeah, I know I am being pedantic).

Anyways, this has been discussed ad nauseam in other threads, and my stance has not changed. I do think Graeme Swann is a better bowler at this point in time.

 

[GIMH]

Swann didn't do too well in India ,IIRC.

So it actually suits their argument.

If you just take an average at face value, then sure. But if you take into account that it was his debut series and he was playing the nation most adept at playing spin, then hey, he didn't do too bad.

So, IMO you recall incorrectly. Just for a change.

 

[Cevno]

If you just take an average at face value, then sure. But if you take into account that it was his debut series and he was playing the nation most adept at playing spin, then hey, he didn't do too bad.

So, IMO you recall incorrectly. Just for a change.

Then even if you remove that series , the argument still remains that he has not really played in India ,Pakistan and even Srilanka. .

Which was the original argument being disapproved with that series anyway.

 

[GIMH]

Eh? WHo said anything about removing it.

He played there, didn't disgrace himself and has improved since.

He hasn't played SL in Tests but he gunned it there in ODIs btw.

Any player who has made their debut in the past 4 years or so cannot be judged for not playing in Pakistan, so that is a facile argument. And given how he performed against Pakistan at home, I'd be confident of him ripping it up over there.

But whatever, playing on the subcontinent is obviously the be-all end-all. Proving yourself anywhere else doesn't matter.