Vishwnath & Gavaskar were great great player. We donot compare them. They are not comparable player.In river water you put your hand after cleaning your hand ask which hand is clean it is difficult to tell. Both are india`s No 1& 2 player in the history of cricket. No body take two place in indian Cricket. No doubt Sachin & Dravid are very Good players I put them behind sunny & vishy based on cricketing condition.& Bowling attack
Vishy is the most neglected personality of Indian cricket, who despite saving India from disgrace many times and also entertaining the crowds with his wristy strokeplay has never been given his due by the Indian cricket. He handled crisis in an innings innumerable times and even after his retirement BCCI has used him to handle situations which they did not have guts to handle. For example the ouster of Kapli Dev from the Indian team. Vishy did it in such a style the Kapil Dev retired and also had a dignified exit from the Indian which he thoroughly deserved. Kapil paji also did not have anything against Vishy while retiring as Vishy did not for him to retire. I believe Vishy explained the situation to Kapil paji so well that Kapil paji retired without any complaint. This Vishy was able to do because he never got the opportunity of an honourable exit from the Indian cricket team. It is true, he was out of form when he was dropped. But later he scored quite a few runs in domestic cricket including a fighting century in a Ranji final against Delhi. However the "bunch of jokers" did not call him back for an honourable exit from competitive cricket, despite his replacement Ashok Malhotra being unsuccessful in international cricket.
It is a disgrace to Indian cricket that a player of the calibre of G.R. Vishwanath had to retire from competitive cricket by playing a Ranji Trophy match
Vishy was certainly more valueable to the team than Sunny. While Sunny accumulated a lot of runs, whenever Vishy scored India would win. Sunny was more concened on his personal achievement than the team.There is no doubt about that. Vishy was a match winner and was a person with a better sporting spirit.
Vishwanath certainly had greater elegance,natural ability and style.Vishy was a magician who created strokes from his own book like a composer composing music.However Sunil was far more consistent, had far better concentration and a sounder temperament.Opening the batting against the finest pace bowling the world has ever seen and scoring over 10000 runs averaging over 50 with 34 test hundreds speaks for itself.True Vishy at his best like his 97 at Madras in 1974 against the West Indies ,his 124 at Madras against the same team in 1978 and his 83 and 79 in New Zealand in 1976 on a wet pitch, was a class act on his day,comparable to the all time greats. Overall because of his consistency and temperament Sunil has to be rated ahead.True Vishy had as sound technique or footwork.However his lack of Consistency in my opinion prevent him from being placed in the class of the Viv Richards ,Sachin Tendulkars or Brian Laras ,a place which Sunil always will secure.
Indian Team in the 70's were known as a pack of brittle glass pieces.. " Just hurl bouncers at them & scare them & they will work for you " was the mantra used against Indian batsmen..
With the Entry of Gavaskar things became different.. he showed the europeans what " opening the batting " meant. he not only succeeded in facing the fast & furious bowling effectively but also playing it better than the rest of the world.. New face of Indian batting was born then !!!
Everybody started respecting Indian batting & thought it was no walkover.. This confidence rubbed off on guys like Mohinder , Vengsarkar etc.. which eventually helped India. Every other kid wanted to be Sunil Gavaskar !!!! Gavaskar can walk into any test team of any generation.
If Vishy could amass such accolades he would certainly be a great player but if he is great , Gavaskar is the greatest !!!
Re: Sunny is the Best
by Deepak Patnaik on Apr 13, 2012 06:24 AM
Vishwanath used to play raw cricket with style, technique, dedication, dignity & sportsman spirit. He always tried his best to score for his team whether it is Karnataka or State Bank of India or South Zone or the Indian Test Team. He never played cricket to create any record or milestone. No cricketer on the earth can be as spotive as Vishy (it can be proved from his decision in Golden Jubilee Test at Mumbai in February, 1980). However, Sunil Gavaskar was more consistent & defensive.
Both were of course great batsmen, but if I had to pick 1, I would pick Vishy if we were playing on spiteful wickets and Sunny if we were playing on true wickets.
Viswanath was a classic batsman. More than that he had the best sportman spirit, He would walk out without waiting for umpire's decision. He was wristy artist who could tear any bowling. Remember that champagne knock of the century(97n.o) against fearsome windies. Sunny innings were all like mundane , business,run accumulating for records sake.
