Hadlee, Khan, Dev, Botham - Who was the best allrounder?

[luckyeddie]

Hadlee, Khan, Dev, Botham - Who was the best allrounder?

None of them.

They were all vying for second place.

 

[Shane Warne]

None of them.

They were all vying for second place.

Who was the best out of the four options.

Do you mean because Sobers was the best? If so then yes, he was.

 

[luckyeddie]

Who was the best out of the four options.

Do you mean because Sobers was the best? If so then yes, he was.

Yes, Sobers, possibly the greatest cricketer who ever lived.

Out of your 4, I'd go for Imran Khan (but Botham if it was just against Australia)

 

[FaaipDeOiad]

To elaborate as other have:

Batting: Botham, Imran, Kapil, Hadlee
Bowling: Hadlee, Imran, Botham, Kapil
All-round: Imran, Botham, Kapil, Hadlee

Hadlee comes last as an all-rounder for me simply because his batting barely warranted the title. He was a handy batsman, but never warranted a legitimate position as a batsman the way the others did.

For me, Imran and Botham sit along with Miller as the next best all rounders in history after Sobers. If I had to rank them I'd probably go Sobers, Miller, Imran, Botham, but any of the last three are interchangable imo.

 

[Zinzan]

god..how many times have we done this one.

CC and I will never agree on this I dont think

For me, Hadlee was the best bowler
For me Botham was the best batsman, however Imrans performances certainly did outstrip Bothams later on..but at Bothams peak as a batsman,(IN MY OPINION), Beefy was a better batsman than Imrans at his peak

Each player had his merits..Botham was from 1977-1982 the best swing bowler in the world, and arguably the most destructive bowler full stop in the world..he could of course be capable of bowling rubbish sometimes..and from 77 to 82, Botham the batsman was possibly the most destructive batsman in the world outside the West Indies....but susesptible to rash shots and getting out early. It is a testement to Botham that he was THE target for opposition bowlers from all countries, because all bowlers in the world knew that he really could alter the course of a game in a flash

Imran was an average batsman who got much much better as he went on...but it must be said that at his absolute heightof power as a fast bowler, his bowling was of the standard of a decent and useful lower order batsman, not that much more.His batting did improve as his bowling started to fall off(although he didnt fall from grace as a bowler in any way like maybe Botham did, even only a couple of years before the end, he was still pretty nippy and damned good)

Hadlee was simply the best pace bowler I have ever seen..but his batting wasnt so consistant, but he was able to put some great innings in there

Dev's bowling for me overtakes Bothams only when Bothams fitness levels slipped. When taking all of the bowlers peaks as a measure of the players abilities, then Dev comes last for me I am afraid...but still easily the best seamer (along with Srinath) India have produced in my lifetime. As a batsman, he could be as fast scoring as anyone in the world, but didnt show the application to staying around as Imran did, and did have the ability of Botham with the bat...Botham could destroy attacks for longer periods.

So for me...Botham rules...but I am sure others will disagree..each player played in vastly differing conditions, in teams with different abilities, and each player played differing roles, so really all it comes down to is personal choice

Superb Assessment Swervy.....Agree with just about all of it.

Statistically speaking Imran is the standout "allrounder" of the 4. However you make a good point in that from 77-82 Botham's contributions with both bat and ball were incomparable !!

 

[Shoaib]

Hadlee, Khan, Dev, Botham - Who was the best allrounder?

Mate,start a new forum with Sir Gary Sobers also available as one of the choices and it should be with poll.

 

[Shane Warne]

Mate,start a new forum with Sir Gary Sobers also available as one of the choices and it should be with poll.

Sobers would easily win so no point, may as well do it for second.

A pool would have been a good idea.

 

[vcs]

Resurrected this thread because this question just popped into my head. What do people think, generally?

As an aside, what an era the 80s was for all-rounders, ironically however, the dominant side of that period did not possess one.

 

[grecian]

Clive Rice was better then all of them.

Anyway with Benchmark being unbanned, isn't it time to bring back Shane Warne (the poster not the fat drug cheat), would make the Ashes much more fun

 

[Furball]

Botham, because he was more likely to make a match winning contribution with bat and ball in the same match.

On 5 occasions, Botham took a 5for and scored a century in the same Test - a feat only accomplished 26 times in Test history, and other than Botham, only Garry Sobers, Mushtaq Mohammad and Jacques Kallis (all twice) have managed it more than once.

Imran is the only other one of the great allrounders of the 80s to have accomplished that feat, but unlike Botham (3 times), Kapil Dev (twice) or Richard Hadlee (once), Imran never managed to take 20 wickets and score 250 runs in the same series.

 

[kingkallis]

As an allrounder, Botham, Kapil, Imran, Hadlee.

As a bowler Hadlee, Imran, Kapil, Botham

As a Batsman Botham, Imran, Kapil, Hadlee.

If Imran is 2nd as bowler and batsman then howcome Kapil paaji is 2nd best all rounder?

 

[Cevno]

If Imran is 2nd as bowler and batsman then howcome Kapil paaji is 2nd best all rounder?

 

[Cevno]

Imran was the best for mine in this order-

Imran
Botham
Kapil
Hadlee

With Kapil and Botham being the closest in that lot.

 

[vcs]

Imran was the best for mine in this order-

Imran
Botham
Kapil
Hadlee

With Kapil and Botham being the closest in that lot.

Hadlee's bowling numbers are terrific, almost Marshall-esque. So tough to separate these guys.

 

[Cevno]

Hadlee's bowling numbers are terrific, almost Marshall-esque. So tough to separate these guys.

Agreed.

But his batting was the worst of the four for me and Imran was the better bowler.

And maybe it's my own perspective he did not have the it factor with the bat that Kapil and Botham did for their teams playing almost single handed decisive knocks.

 

[Sir Alex]

Imran, Hadlee, Botham & kapil

Hadlee was perhaps the single most reason why New Zealand was such a formidable force in the 80s.

Imran, nothing to be said.

Botham was godly in the first half of his career and pedestrian towards the end.

Kapil was perhaps the hardest worker of the lot and the most mercurial. He indeed revolutionised Indian fast bowling and became the first pan Indian sporting icon but had a tinge of Botham impact wherein he couldn't keep up in his later years.

 

[Smudge]

Imran

 

[Sanz]

Botham

 

[Sanz]

If Imran is 2nd as bowler and batsman then howcome Kapil paaji is 2nd best all rounder?

Ever heard of something called Fielding ? Kapil was the best fielder of them all Imran the worst.

 

[Athlai]

You'd have to say Hadlee stands out as the best in an individual field but is the least 'rounded' of the four. So depends what you're looking/asking for, as a bowling all-rounder he is second to none.