Most underrated and overrated players in the world?

[tooextracool]

On your assessment, Dravid has now gone from underrated to the most overrated player in the history of test cricket!

All things being equal, who would you rather bowl to?

Tendulkar, Lara or ...... wait for it ..... Rahul Dravid?

tendulkar because id be more confident of getting him out than dravid any place in the world.
personally id rather have dravid bat for my life than any of the other 2. id be far more confident of dravid scoring consistently in any series anywhere in the world. id be far more confident of dravid scoring for a consistent period than any of the other 2 at any point of their careers.

 

[tooextracool]

it depends on a lot of factors... if i was told "you have 10 overs of bowling...you can bowl at tendulkar, lara or dravid... you can give away as many runs as you want, but you need a wicket"

i would pick tendulkar or lara over dravid to bowl to, as dravid is such a solid batsman.

On the other hand if i was told "you have one over, they need 20 to win" i would probably pick dravid, because even though when he wants, he can turn it on as much as any player in international cricket, he is usually alot more timid.

all 3 are different players, for me, lara is a big game player, dravid is a pressure player...both are excellent when their country needs them... but tendulkar tends to go missing in these situations... and the problem is he's going missing more than ever now


anyone can make centuries against bangladesh when there is no pressure, but when ur team is batting for a test match it's the true champions that shine through, dravid, lara,steve waugh are at their best in such situations

couldnt have put it better myself.

 

[tooextracool]

When everyone harks on about Tendulkar, Laxman and Sehwag, Dravid seems to take a bit of a backseat, when he is better than all three of the afforementioned... Probably due to him being less thrilling to watch.. Id take watching him for two hours any day though..

yes its rather unfortunate that a player of dravid's abilities hasnt gone on to inspire a generation of players like tendulkar has even though hes matched tendulkar in absolutely everything and done more too. IMO i wouldnt be surprised at all if dravid forever went down as tendulkar's inferior even if he were to average a whole lot higher than him.

 

[Lenin Gani]

Yes Shoaib is overated

 

[social]

Dravid is a very dependable batsman and a comparison, to some degree, with Steve Waugh is not out of the question.

Unlike the other 2, Dravid has not proven himself in all conditions against all bowlers. For example, he has had one great series against Australia and a number of moderate ones. And the great series that he did have must be tempered by the fact that neither of Australia's best bowlers played and the matches were played on conditions favouring India more than the home team.

The only notable sucess that Dravid has had vs Warne and Mcgrath came in an innings where he could/should have been out half a dozen times before 50 and literally held up an end for the majority of time when Laxman was ripping a tiring attack apart. A valuable innings - yes. A great or even memorable innings - no.

And as for saying that he is capable of playing all the shots - history simply does not back that up. He is a very good rather than outstanding ODI player and would not, IMO, threaten for a place in the ODI World X1 (there is nothing, for example, in his career to suggest that he is capable of playing the innings that Ponting did in the World Cup Final).

Lara and Tendulkar have, on the other hand, made more runs at a faster rate in all conditions. So they are not as consistent as they used to be? It happens with age, injuries, motivation, etc.

For the last 10 years, they have stood head and shoulders above the rest of the world in terms of skill and performances. They are criticised so heavily because so much is expected.

Dravid is a solid player with a fantastic record who'll grind out runs in most conditions.

Lara and Tendulkar are geniuses that can take the game away from any team in any conditions in a matter of a session or two.

 

[deeps]

i shld have been more specific...tendulkar is a very gd one day player, and is probably a better one day batsman than dravid....but we at CW are real cricket fans, and so we are looking at the real game, test cricket. where dravid reigns supreme alongside BCL

 

[Richard]

look beyond the figures just for a second...

for me he is a players player,not a statisticians player.I am pretty sure he was seen by his team mates as someone who could get a job done when backs were against the wall (and sometimes when they werent)...to me, that isnt a very very poor player

To me, what you're seen as isn't important - especially by your fellow players who can value your character more than your actual on-field input (not like the Aussies are alien to that - everyone liked Bredon Julian and he has to be one of the worst players to play for Australia in the last 20 years).
Because your team-mates like you doesn't mean you're a great player to me - how many matches you have influenced (positively influenced, obviously) is the significant thing, and how much you've influenced them.

 

[Richard]

I rate bichel simply because of port elizabeth in the last WC. If i'm wrong so be it.

Whether that's slightly TIC I don't know, but rating a player on a single game is one of the biggest follies in cricketdom, and I admit in Mark Alleyne's case I may be guilty of it.

 

[Richard]

Richard may well have been using hyperbole,but he is the first one to latch onto things that others say on here....lets just see if he retracts the comment

No, I think (by international standards) Bichel is very poor, and hopelessly overrated, especially in Tests.
If he'd played for West Indies I reckon he'd be considered along with McLean, Rose and the like.

 

[Richard]

im sure most people know what my overrated list looks like- ... inzamam
underrated - ... brad hogg.

I'm amazed at those two, though I wouldn't disagree with the rest.

 

[Richard]

Over rated - entire english team except Vaughan, flintoff and tresco, Zaheer and Pathan, Steven fleming (his batting not his captaincy), Shoaib, Sami, Ganguly, laxman

Underrated - McGrath, Marto, Kaspa, Kumble, Dravid, Mike Hussey, Katich, Boucher

Ridiculous, really.
How on Earth is McGrath underrated, he can only bowl well on seaming or uneven tracks and everyone thinks he's an all-time great.
And how on Earth is Trescothick better than most of the rest of the England side (given that you've said Vaughan isn't overrated you can't possibly be talking about ODIs, you must mean Tests exclusively)?
Equally, how the hell is someone who went 30 Test-matches averaging 63.26 overrated? (Laxman) Even if he has had a dismal next 11 games.
As for Shoaib overrated, if a bowler who's produced the number of destructive spells that have turned matches on their heads as him is overrated, the whole World's overrated.

 

[Richard]

Over Rated

Mohammad Ashraful

A good pick, very good indeed, I've thought that ever since his Test-debut.

 

[Richard]

Overrated (one from each side):

Aus: McGrath - just a bowline machine

That's not why he's overrated.

Pak: Shoaib Akhtar - no ticker

Shame he's such a fantastic bowler then.

WI: Bravo - everyone seems to rave about him. I must have missed something

Namely watching him bowl.

SL: Murali - anyone who throws the ball to get his wickets deserves to be labeled overrated

Everyone who ever bowled a ball is hence overrated.

NZ: McCullum - will become an alltime great

Haha, that's a good one! McCullum could become a good player, and no more than that, and that's certainly not guranteed.

 

[Richard]

Danish or Rana are probably the most underated Pakistan players

Rana has to be one of the most overrated players of the last couple of years.
One of the worst bowlers I've seen, and people talk about him as if he's a Pakistani legend...

 

[Richard]

Overrated.


Rana Naveed
Youhanna
Tendulkar
Lee.


Underrated.

Nehra
Harmison
Kaif

Have a point on the overrated, none on the underrated IMO.

 

[Richard]

My point on Flintoff is his talent. There is no doubt in my mind he has the talent to EVENTUALLY be considered up there with the best,and I thought that back in 1998.

Hmm, because he was such a fantastic bowler in 1998, wasn't he? You were lucky if you got 8 overs a day out of him, and you were even luckier if he moved a delivery, or bowled at 85mph.
He's always been able to hit the ball but in 1998 his technique, as well as his shot-selection, was appalling.

 

[Richard]

Hehehe, shhhh... Just think it, don't say it... Working well for me at the moment!

I still fail to be amazed people think they know better than the scientists.

 

[Richard]

He's been in my world XIs at times due to his glovework as IMO it's superior to every other Test keeper's.

It's no better than Read's, and while he's a slightly better batsman it's not enormous and as we all know anyone who'd select a wicketkeeper for their wicketkeeping alone is insane.

 

[Richard]

Fair point, but I think he's overrated as an all-rounder at the moment. He's a very handy bowler and brilliant fielder, but not much more than a useful tail-end batsman at this stage.

His bowling is overrated in ODIs, and he always seems to start with a stack of wides, but in Tests he's closer to the finished article than anything to come out of West Indies for the last 10 years - purely as a bowler, never mind his batting. If he weren't having to bat too high in the order it might help.

 

[Richard]

Apart from the bit about Sarwan, there's no about it, amz has a perfectly valid point, if Murali is a chucker so is everyone, including the wonderful Richard Hadlee.