Best Test opener of the 21st Century?

[BazBall21]

Hayden is definitely not a tier above Sehwag. Sehwag is better at his strengths by an equal margin to how much worse he is at his weaknesses. Not being able to handle the moving ball puts me off both Hayden and Sehwag.

Sehwag was more pronounced, but while both are top-drawer in Asia, Hayden is better outside.

 

[BazBall21]

Not actually a big Hayden fan and never have been so feels strange to be defending him so much

 

[trundler]

Sehwag was more pronounced, but while both are top-drawer in Asia, Hayden is better outside.

Sehwag is Bradman in Asia. Hayden was great.

 

[Gob]

Anyway it's Hayden > Sehwag > Smith for me

 

[BazBall21]

Sehwag is Bradman in Asia. Hayden was great.

When they’re both great in Asia and less so outside, I would probably prefer to select overall on who is better outside than who is better inside personally.

 

[BazBall21]

Anyway it's Hayden > Sehwag > Smith for me

Not an outrageous view, but why Sehwag over Smith out of interest?

 

[Gob]

Not an outrageous view, but why Sehwag over Smith out of interest?

What Sehwag was capable of doing on his day. Bloke makes 300 a day. There have been very few who could do that

 

[Gob]

By very few I mean one

 

[subshakerz]

What Sehwag was capable of doing on his day. Bloke makes 300 a day. There have been very few who could do that

A ton away in Eng/SA/NZ would be worth twice as much to India as that occasional triple ton on a flat track at home.

 

[BazBall21]

I agree that standards for Hayden feel stricter than the others but the implications of Hayden’s 2005 Ashes are not helped by his 2001 Ashes. He was out of form going into the tour but that was after getting sorted out by Shoaib. I can only defend him so much in England. In South Africa he is clearly better than his average there, less sure on England.

 

[Socerer 01]

A ton away in Eng/SA/NZ would be worth twice as much to India as that occasional triple ton on a flat track at home.

Sehwag has one less century in those countries compared to Hayden having played 5 less matches. Neither were at their best in those places and Sehwag definitely underperformed compared to Haydos but it wasn’t like he was absolutely useless there

 

[BazBall21]

What would Hayden average if he batted no4 for Australia?

 

[subshakerz]

Sehwag is Bradman in Asia. Hayden was great.

Some posters are going overboard with Sehwag in the SC.

He averaged 54 at home, impressive but hardly phenomenal.

In Pakistan he averaged 90 and SL 69. But most of these runs came on some of the most batting friendly, pace-dead and spin-neutral pitches you can imagine, even by SC standards. These were run buffet series except for SL 2008.

Yes, he scored some very important runs including the priceless 201* but him averaging 40 plus in SC and Eng/SA/NZ would have been a far greater achievement IMO especially as an opener of a SC team.

Pounding a record 200 or 300 in a forgettable drawn test is not the same as even as a stodgy 70 or 80 that helps India build a platform for a winning target in tougher conditions. All batsmen have these padded easy runs to their record but in Sehwag's case they are treated like gold somehow. Being a bigger threat in conditions that are 90 percent in the batsmen's favor is nowhere as good as being even moderately good 40ish averaging in more bowling-friendly conditions.

 

[BazBall21]

Smaller body of work but Anwar has a more a balanced record than Sehwag

 

[h_hurricane]

lmao come on

The pitches for the 350v350 CB Series and the pitches for Tests in NZ during his career could not have been more different.

On the other hand, Sehwag's 2 ODI hundreds in 2002-03 were scored on proper green mambas where no one else in the team could lay bat to ball.

 

[subshakerz]

Smaller body of work but Anwar has a more a balanced record than Sehwag

Anwar was simply a better quality batsman than Sehwag but needed a longer career to justify a higher rating.

 

[BazBall21]

Anwar was simply a better quality batsman than Sehwag but needed a longer career to justify a higher rating.

Yes. Anwar better bat. Sehwag bigger legacy.

 

[trundler]

Anwar was simply a better quality batsman than Sehwag but needed a longer career to justify a higher rating.

Better than Hayden too by the same token.

 

[Coronis]

Sehwag is Bradman in Asia.

He wishes.

 

[h_hurricane]

He wishes.

In fact too generous to Bradman who didn't score a run in Asia.