Agree on Cook being a tier below the other three.Smith Hayden Sehwag. 2 home track bullies and an away track bully. Hard to split. Cook well below em.
Sorry but I just mean who is the best opener between them, not specifically who did the best in the 2000s, I used the 21st century to club them together as Hayden played nearly all of his Tests in the 2000s anyway.So people are going to point out that Hayden did poorly in the dozen matches he played in the 90s. However, this is best of them out of 21st century. In that period, Hayden is averaging about 54, with Smith and Sehwag coming in at about 48 and 49 respectively.
5-6 runs is an absolute gulf if you're trying to justify the lower scoring one is somehow better. I don't think there's a real adequate argument here, even given away record as there's no reason that Smith should have averaged 41.5 at home, if he's that ****ing class to play in all conditions, as opposed to there being a bit of noise in the home-away splits.
Okay, I still go Hayden then, but it is a bit closer with the others in that case.Sorry but I just mean who is the best opener between them, not specifically who did the best in the 2000s, I used the 21st century to club them together as Hayden played nearly all of his Tests in the 2000s anyway.
Tbf, not sure I would give the other three much hope in the 90s anyway.Okay, I still go Hayden then, but it is a bit closer with the others in that case.
Yeah but scoring 5 runs out of six balls and then nicking to slips when it swings doesn't help the team.Sehwag for the SR
Hayden averaged 35, 34 and 28 in Eng, SA and NZ, which seems worse to me than Smith not doing well as opener in SA. In fact, I am pretty sure Hayden played that long in SA his record would be worse than Smith's.Answer is probably Hayden for me.
Cook is some way off the other three. His record against quality pace is yikes.
Sehwag averages below 30 in three countries. That is hard to look past in a batting era.
Smith averages 34 at home against top six opponents. The other three being minnow bowling teams. That is too low imo.
Not Hayden’s biggest fan but his average in SA is quite unlucky. In two of his tours there he contributed significantly in the first two tests, both in series-clinching causes, then failed in the third Test, both times after the result was secured. Think he was probably better than Smith in SA tbh. Smith better in England.Hayden averaged 35, 34 and 28 in Eng, SA and NZ, which seems worse to me than Smith not doing well as opener in SA. In fact, I am pretty sure Hayden played that long in SA his record would be worse than Smith's.
Yeah Smith vs Hayden is close. Both definitely ahead of the other two. Smith did very well in England/NZ but struggled at times against swing at home.My general sense is that Smith faced a lot more pressure as both captain and opening bat to do well than Sehwag and Hayden who were given more of a free hand by their teams to play loosely as they liked.
Hence they could tolerate them sucking when the ball swung as they were the first line of attack, while Smith felt like the first line of defense opposition needed to go through to beat SA.
Imagine if you had a weak middle order? Hayden and Sehwag would be much more of liabilities then.
Gambhir was amazing for around 3 years and absolutely woeful either side of that peak. Does not belong in this conversation.Can we throw Gautham Gambhir in? Averages 42, but has only two countries (Aus and Eng) where he performed badly. In all other conditions he averages 39+
Hard to believe such a quality opener was dropped at his 33rd birthday.