Considering that the Indian cricket season is about to start, this would be a great topic…who has been more valuable to the Indian cricket team in his career?
On one hand, when Tendulkar started, he was young and he showed the signs of never-say-die from the get go. He has been the pillar of the Indian side for 15 years now. Of course, in the past few years, he’s had some other pillars to help him, but in the first 10 years of his career, he’s been the one who has scored the runs for India. In fact, he has also been instrumental in Indian wins with the ball (Hero cup against South Africa – the last over). There is of course no question about his winning matches for India with his bat.
And on the other hand, there is the rock solid Dravid. He came late to the team, at least in comparison to Sachin, but he is now almost indispensible. I would hate to woof him before the season starts, but that is what he is. The Wall. Dependable. Classic. Whatever you say. But, he has struggled a lot in one dayers. And he has started blossoming only in the past few years. He was good in general from the start. But he has started becoming all the solid stuff only in the past few years. I would not hesitate to agree with the tags he has got today, but only looking at the most recent form. Not for his career. And once again, the knock that Sachin gets for India not winning much, should apply to Dravid too. India just didn’t win much in the late 80’s/early 90’s. Right?
Of course, this is not to say that one is bad and the other is good. Both are GREAT. Both are needed for India to succeed. But to score 13,000 runs in one day matches and almost 10,000 in test matches is no mean feat.
My opinion is that today both are too valuable to the team. But over a career, Sachin has been more valuable to the Indian team than Dravid has been.
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Agree that both are great.Maybe Sachin slightly greater by his achievments(especialy statistically ) till date.But looking at the present and the next few years to come Dravid’s the rock of indian cricket.Undoubtedly.Of course we respect the past but lets live in today.(Unfortunately so much of money behind Sachin for the next few years nobody can afford to dislodge him as the posterboy indian cricket.Or else price of pepsi and LG tv’s in INdia will go up:-))
Yup, I would say that even though they are the same age, Sachin is at the end of his career just because he has already played 15 years. He will still continue for 5 more years, but I think his role in the team will continue to change. He is now the side hero, while the other younger players take the limelight and score the ‘attractive way’. Again, the point was Sachin has been more valuable to the Indian team through his career than Dravid has been through his career, until now.How it ends, only time can tell.
I have been thinking on these lines for some time now – a post on similarities between SRT and Amitabh Bachchan is due.
SRT and Amitabh? Wow. Looking forward to it.
GUYS, i beg to disagree, In Test Matches Rahul is way ahead of sachin … andthat too in overseas , i think rahul is teh only great player india has had …In ODI’s ya i agree with u …rahul is better than sachin in the last 2 years in ODI’s or so and sachin is better than rahul carrer wise in ODi’s …
I am sorry, no one is WAY ahead of Sachin in tests. Remember, I can just as simply use stats as Dravid fans would use to prove his worth. Sachin has 34 hundreds and 10K runs. He is way ahead of Dravid, if anything.In this post, I am talking about being more valuable. Meaning, in Sachin’s early life, he was like Gavaskar used to be in his prime. If Sachin gets out, India gets out. If Sachin scores big, India scores big. The team at the time sucked and we cannot blame Sachin for not winning it for India. Add to that the pressure of performing for a billion fans all the time, everytime, and you can see that Sachin has been more valuable than Dravid has been. Dravid has had the luxury of many other good batsmen (and a good team too) with him when he has been around. As a result he has not had too much pressure to perform all the time, everytime. Yes, he is expected to, but there is no added pressure like Sachin had. So he has had it easy. Plus, since there were so many other good batsmen, and especially since the opening was a bit stabilized, Dravid had a little more breathing room than what Sachin had. Sachin had to come in at 14-2 and such, whereas Dravid of late comes in at 80-1 or 123-1. Dravid is not way ahead of Sachin – neither in tests nor in one dayers.
Dravid has walked out of Tendulkars shadows.Why only talk of overall records and not current records?Tendulkar has played for so many years(ages I should say) and how many matches overseas has he won alone?Not many I think.My ony point is Sachin will makes runs everywhere against everyone on every type of pitch but can he win TEST matches?I don;t think so.Many of India’s “lates” victories have come without much assitances from Sachin’s bat.As far as one day is concerned it is a game for Opening bowlers* and Opening batsmen*.*There are some exceptions though.
@tarun: I am sorry, I have had too many arguments on exactly the same premise. You are saying that when Sachin scored by the ton, India did not win test matches. My argument is that when Dravid won the matches for India, India had more than one real good batsman. India also had pretty solid bowlers. India was well-coached and was working as a unit. Dravid did score some runs, but he was not single-handedly winning matches for India. In fact, it is quite unfortunate for him that most of the times that he has scored big, he has not won the man of the match award because someone else plays better in that match. Just goes to show that Dravid did not ‘win matches’ for India. He was instrumental, but he did not win it. As opposed to that, Sachin was the only good batsman India had 10 years back. The only reliable, the only entertaining, the only solid batsman. Also, there was no good bowler. There was tremendous infighting in the team and there was an obvious zonal bias in selection of teams. Despite all the troubles around him, Sachin was able to focus on the game and contribute with bat, ball and on the field at 110%, all the time. I think over their careers, between Sachin and Dravid, I would say Sachin has been more valuable to India than Dravid has been. Over their careers.
Dravid is the foundation on which team rests its big scores.He is a sandpaper which polishes off the shine of the ball enabling stroke makers to play stroke rather than defend.He might have not scored as prolificly as Sachin but his “current” test average is marginally better.Tendulkar has gone through an injury period in between.But last 3 years it has been all Dravid.He has made some big meaty hundreds.Especially in memory are 270 vs Pakistan at Rawalpindi (last tour).233 vs Aus at Adelaide. 148 in England.
@tarun: what you are saying may be absolutely true, but it still does not tell us who is more valuable, from your point of view.I think Sachin over the years has been more valuable than Dravid. And I have repeated that many times already.
Maybe I am a bit biased but I will go for Sachin (Though Dravid is equally good)I started liking cricket after I saw Sachin smashing all the bowlers in the 1996 world cup. Dravid has excellent technique, great temperament and all that but If I were to watch either Sachin in full form or Rahul, I will choose to wathc Sachin!And I find the argument about his lack of match winning innings very amusing. Just have a look at Rahul’s match winning innings. There wouldve been atleast one other batsman giving him support. Lara is called a match winner because of his 153 against Australia. Ambrose scored some 16 odd and Healy dropped one of the easiest catches ever to give Lara a life. Sachin’s innings in Chennai against Pakistan was brilliant considering he had a bad back pain. And still India lost because there was no support. His 241 in Sydney wasnt a match winning innings thanks to Parthiv and co.
@Caleb: Yes, I agree. I made the point about Dravid always having someone else share (or steal) the limelight from him when he scores big and India wins. He has far fewer man of the match awards than Sachin has. He is good, but Sachin has been more valuable, for sure. Thanks for stopping by.