Battle of flat track bullies - Hayden vs Sehwag

[subshakerz]

I'm not a Sehwag supporter far from it but the man was a trend setter. There is aggressive then there is Sehwag. The likes of Greenidge, Hayden etc are pedestrian relatively speaking. And when conditions are tough yeah he wilts but when conditions are in his favor which let's be honest, happens more often than not then watch out. Looking at his record he was poor in England, NZ and RSA and mostly good everywhere else. That's good enough for me because outside of the elites (the big 4) there isn't an opener who didn't have conditions in which they struggled.

Everyone has 1-2 bogey countries but that's a pretty big hole for me compared to other worldclass openers.

 

[subshakerz]

You know you are wasting your time discussing facts about an Indian cricketer with saltshakerz over here, right?

Ah yes, because I am anti-Indian, yes?

 

[Slifer]

Everyone has 1-2 bogey countries but that's a pretty big hole for me compared to other worldclass openers.

Let's pick a random world class opener: Alistair Cook. He too struggled in RSA and NZ but like Sehwag was solid everywhere else.

Gary Kirsten (slightly different eras but still): struggled in SL and WI. Good every where else.

The point being, every player has their struggles, probably Sehwag more than some in swinging conditions. But like I said, swinging conditions are few and far between. I could see a Sehwag getting owned by a Donald and Pollock in RSA, but when the series inevitably shifts to India he'd eat them alive. And any spinner no comments necessary.

 

[_00_deathscar]

Sehwag is an absolute cheat code at home. With the current bowling we have, if we had Sehwag up in the top order (although our openers have largely been useful), we're winning every game by an innings or 10 wickets.

 

[Slifer]

Sehwag is an absolute cheat code at home. With the current bowling we have, if we had Sehwag up in the top order (although our openers have largely been useful), we're winning every game by an innings or 10 wickets.

People seriously don't get how demoralizing this guy was . And not just this team. An all time Indian team with Sehwag, at home, would be pretty much unbeatable.

 

[subshakerz]

Let's pick a random world class opener: Alistair Cook. He too struggled in RSA and NZ but like Sehwag was solid everywhere else.

Gary Kirsten (slightly different eras but still): struggled in SL and WI. Good every where else.

The point being, every player has their struggles, probably Sehwag more than some in swinging conditions. But like I said, swinging conditions are few and far between. I could see a Sehwag getting owned by a Donald and Pollock in RSA, but when the series inevitably shifts to India he'd eat them alive. And any spinner no comments necessary.

Failing in the three countries known to support lateral movement is not the same as failing in 1-2 countries. If Sehwag managed to do well in 1 of 3 you can do the downplaying you are trying.

It just goes to how we assess players. I don't assess them better for playing more and succeeding in their favored conditions, you apparently do. It's not a reflection of their actual skill quality.

 

[subshakerz]

People seriously don't get how demoralizing this guy was . And not just this team. An all time Indian team with Sehwag, at home, would be pretty much unbeatable.

I did a thread a few months ago where I said that Sehwag was the greatest ever batter in SC conditions and nobody came close. Again, doesn't make him greater overall.

 

[_00_deathscar]

I did a thread a few months ago where I said that Sehwag was the greatest ever batter in SC conditions and nobody came close. Again, doesn't make him greater overall.

Yes, but the problem is you’re pitting him against somewhat similar/comparable players in the pantheon, who were often middling at best in certain conditions/countries or even bunnies in many places themselves. And not quite as destructive at home.
Most test players play somewhere between 45-55% of tests at home, some even higher. So it’s not surprising that most are deciding to just take the easy almost guaranteed win at home with a Sehwag 45-55% of the time. And he wasn’t totally useless everywhere.

 

[subshakerz]

Yes, but the problem is you’re pitting him against somewhat similar/comparable players in the pantheon, who were often middling at best in certain conditions/countries or even bunnies in many places themselves. And not quite as destructive at home.
Most test players play somewhere between 45-55% of tests at home, some even higher. So it’s not surprising that most are deciding to just take the easy almost guaranteed win at home with a Sehwag 45-55% of the time. And he wasn’t totally useless everywhere.

Fair enough. To me the liability of him away even compared to someone like Hayden overrides the advantage of him in SC.

But I don't think picking Sehwag is crazy as they are close to me.

 

[_00_deathscar]

Fair enough. To me the liability of him away even compared to someone like Hayden overrides the advantage of him in SC.

But I don't think picking Sehwag is crazy as they are close to me.

And yet here you are arguing like someone picked Chris Martin over McGrath.

Everyone who picked Sehwag will tell you it’s a close decision, they just marginally prefer Sehwag’s absolute destructiveness at home and in general over Hayden’s ever so slight consistency.

 

[Prince EWS]

And yet here you are arguing like someone picked Chris Martin over McGrath.

Or even worse - Wade over Head.

 

[subshakerz]

And yet here you are arguing like someone picked Chris Martin over McGrath.

Everyone who picked Sehwag will tell you it’s a close decision, they just marginally prefer Sehwag’s absolute destructiveness at home and in general over Hayden’s ever so slight consistency.

I said it was close earlier in the thread. I haven't changed my tune.

Comments like below sparked this hornets nest.

Jadeja and Sehwag are two of the greatest cricketers of this century.

 

[OverratedSanity]

They're definitely two of the 50 greatest

 

[honestbharani]

They are the greatest.

 

[Prince EWS]

Sibanda > Sehwag

 

[honestbharani]

Or even worse - Wade over Head.

Saltshakerz definitely would do that if Head were Indian.

 

[Prince EWS]

Saltshakerz definitely would do that if Head were Indian.

He's wrong a lot and sometimes biased but he's not wrong enough to ever think Wade > Head. That is too insane for even him.

 

[honestbharani]

Sibanda > Sehwag

Yeah but Vijay > all.

 

[honestbharani]

That is too insane for even him.

You underrate his passion

 

[Prince EWS]

They are the greatest.

@TheGreatest please confirm whether or not you are Sehwag and Jadeja.