This is a slightly more spicy follow up to my friend's blog about under-rated batsmen : https://www.reddit.com/r/Cricket/comments/gc2an3/top_10_underrated_batsmen_of_the_21st_century/
He wrote this shortly after the above one (in 2013). This is sure to flare some talk (and I do not personally agree with some of his choices but do let me know what you guys feel). And the guy who wrote this is an Indian fan and a test cricket lover. So keep that in mind : also he mentions that it is only for test cricket: so do not go into the LoI accomplishments of these players.
There are some objects in our planet that look all glossy and brilliant from the outside, however once you start digging inside, it shall turn out that , a flash in the pan is what it always was.
Top 10 Over-rated Batsmen of the 21st Century
The following is a list of batsmen who I have watched and feel that they are given way too much praise than they actually deserve. Especially when you consider how many other classy ones get ignored because people trip over themselves to praise these people. Inclusion in this list does not mean that the respective batsman is not talented , it just means that his talent is not as big as people hype it to be and that he doesn't have the records to back it up and his cricketing brain needs to vastly improve
And of course, by "cricket" I mean only test match cricket ...though I've added an IPL-style sponsorship for the "cringe worthy moment" for each player
10. MICHAEL VAUGHAN (England)
Ha, I feel so Indian at the moment.....he likes to believe that all Indians hate him (One look at his Twitter feed will tell you as much). Anyway, this is about Michael Vaughan the batsman (not the Captain). The English media, like the rest of us would like to remember him with affection because he lead England to victory over Ricky Ponting's "bad" Australia. He was the kid who stood up to the bullies (just when Australia thought they had total domination after beating India in India in 2004, it was Vaughan's England that beat them). However, he never justified his talent. English cricket never witnessed a "Michael Vaughan phase" ....as a batsman , he should have done more
As-Cringe worthy-as-Murali-Vijay-fangirls Moment - After making an astonishing 145 in the boxing day test match, Vaughan turned up next at Sydney to get a duck.
9. TILAKARATNE DILSHAN (Sri Lanka)
"Hey did you watch the Dil-scoop?" is the sentence that followed me around for weeks in 2009-ish. Yes, I get it that scooping the ball over the head is quite unconventional. But didn't Doug Marillier already do that? (just like Tendulkar already playing the "upar-cut" long before Sehwag did) . They just added a fancy name for the shot and marketed Dilshan extensively. (I admit to trying that shot but it was in 2004 trying to imitate Marrilier) . Anyway, Dilshan averages below 35 in Australia, New Zeland, South Africa and West Indies (half of the good sides) and his average is boosted by marvelous flat track bullying against Bangladesh (ave. 70 plus) and Zimbabwe
As-Cringe worthy-as-Murali-Vijay-fangirls Moment - In a phase in October 2011 to December 2011 , playing against South Africa and Pakistan , in a span of ten innings , Dilshan made eight single digit scores...Bad patches can happen but when they do, you shouldnt throw your wicket away like he was doing at the time
8. MOHAMMED ASHRAFUL (Bangladesh)
"Dont consider us inferior" was the motto of Bangladeshi cricket fans pre-2009. (Now they'd easily give India a run for their money if India dared to prepare the same slow turners as they did against Australia) . Mohammed Ashraful was their prodigy. The man supposed to lead them into a new era. The man who was expected to put up a fight everytime and at the time the one Bangladeshi cricketer that everyone knew. However , a look at the records - a batting average of 24 over 61 test matches , surely makes you wonder if it was all an effort by their media to feel belonged among the elite
As-Cringe worthy-as-Murali-Vijay-fangirls Moment - After making a 150 vs India in the last test of the 2004 series, much was expected of Ashraful in the Zimbabwe series. He didnt cross 30 even in one innings .
7. YUVRAJ SINGH (India)
"Yuvi" was popular for many reasons....the debut 84 in the Champions Trophy made him the new darling of the Indian media. Followed by success in the Natwest series. Then post Ganguly, he won many ODI matches for India. However what about Yuvraj Singh the test batsman? When it came to the real deal (test cricket), Yuvraj was a massive failure. Self chosen by Ganguly as his eventual replacement in the test team, Yuvraj never lived up to they hype . His average in Bangladesh is 18, in Australia is 4 (!) and his overall average is just 32. Outside the Indian sub-continent, Yuvraj Singh was as useful as Ravindra Jadeja would be now.
As-cringe worthy-as-Murali-Vijay-fangirls Moment - Watching Yuvraj as an opener in effort to shoe-horn him into the test team was just cringewrothy, to say the least. Virender Sehwag had been succesful in that transformation but he actually had talent to face the moving ball. Yuvraj on the other hand...
6. DAVID WARNER (Australia)
A poor man's Matty Hayden. That's all Warner ever was or ever will be. Some argue that even that is good enough but sorry to say that it is not. Warner makes a living out of the once-in-ten-innings performance against some team at home in a good bouncy wickets where his risk taking pays off. That's what he is - a glorified risk taker without talent. Don't let his average fool you- he lacks responsibility that comes with opening in a test match .
As-cringe worthy-as-Murali-Vijay-fangirls Moment - Just re watch his eight dismissals in the recent India tour and take your pick
5. BRENDON Mc'CULLUM (New Zealand)
What prompted the stardom for McCullum was his willingness to hit the ball. Ever since Chris Cairns stopped timing them sweetly out of the park, New Zealand had become a sedate side (caution over aggression) but the new kid in the block , who could hit them out of the park started to grab all the headlines. However, what we fail to realise is that, that's where his role ends. You refuse to agree? He averages below 40 in every test country except his home and the batting paradise of India....which means people should surely know him lesser than they do?
As-cringe worthy-as-Murali-Vijay-fangirls Moment - In the recent test match vs England, they had 200-odd to chase and secure (a rare) test victory. Captain Brendon McCullum walked in at 21-4 and never even tried to apply himself
4. ANDREW FLINTOFF (England)
This is purely about Andrew Flintoff , the batsman. He was surely hyped up more than he should have been as an all rounder because , records suggest that he was merely a bowler who could bat. His test average is barely above Daniel Vettori's who is not as glorified as Flintoff as a batsman. Maybe he could just play the odd brilliant innings but was never a number four batsman? His average is below 40 in all test playing nations except New Zealand (even at home)....surely the hype:substance ratio is very high
As-cringe worthy-as Murali-Vijay- fangirls Moment - Captaining the side in Australia 2006-07, "Freddie" scored just 277 runs in ten innings. Yeah, the whole team was demotivated and dis-interested but that's no excuse to bat the way he did in the series.
3. SURESH RAINA (India)
Some people are at the right place at the right time , under the right coach and later under the right captain. How Suresh Raina managed (continues to) manage to keep the likes of Manoj Tiwary out of the test team I'll never know. He started with a debut century , cue the immediate comparisons to Saurav Ganguly. But what followed was the unravelling of a batsman who could barely touch the ball unless it was bowled by a sub continent, non Pakistani fast bowler , in an Indian wicket with 60 metre boundaries and on a flat track.
As-cringe worthy-as Murali-Vijay-fangirls Moment - He was picked for the England tour and I watched with amusement as he managed 105 runs in 8 innings including a king pair (facing 64 balls in the process), in a batting oval wicket. Absolutely. Over. Rated.
2. SHAHID AFRIDI (Pakistan)
I just have a hearty laugh when his name is mentioned among the Pakistani greats like Miandad, Ijaz, Anwar and Inzamam....just laugh. His average against Australia is 17, he hasnt scored a run against New Zealand, he averages under 20 in England and even in Sri Lanka , he averages 14. Perhaps the only saving grace is his 47 average against India (which is enough for many 10 year old kids in Pakistan, I guess). The crass "brand boom-boom" promotion , the irresponsible slogging...I just look past all that and laugh at people who even rate this guy
As-cringe worthy-as-Murali-Vijay-fangirls Moment - Repeated presence in the team sheet , till , thank God, Pakistani selectors saw some sense, in 2010 and finally dropped him for good
1. CHRIS GAYLE (West Indies)
I get it. He can whack the ball out of the ground. He can whack it with millions watching and can amaze all little impressionable kids, not me. He is everything that is wrong with modern cricket - a mercenary who goes from town to town, playing in franchisies who he couldnt give a damn about while filling his pockets and refusing to play test cricket. Yet thanks to the stupid kids, he is more famous than some dedicated soul like Shivnaraine Chanderpaul who has been shedding blood for the West Indies cause for more than one and half decades.
As-cringe worthy-as-Murali-Vijay-fangirls Moment - 24, 19, 25, 20 ...those were the scores that Gayle managed against Bangladesh after being recalled for the test squad in 2012 prompting many to wonder what the fuss was all about.
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