Ricky Ponting vs Rahul Dravid

[Marshland]

Both had one geographical weakness - the former has never scored heavily in India and the latter, in South Africa. Other than that, their careers have been eerily similar - batting at one down from the mid 90s through to the early part of this decade, their craft peaking at around the mid 2000s and so on. Even their averages hover at around the similar 52-53 mark.

Both are tier A greats of course, but which one of the two would be your pick?

 

[Stradic]

Ponting 2005 model....amazing.

 

[Public Enemy No1]

Ponting easily...

While both beat up on weaker opposition , Ponting performed against the better teams more consistently.

Never feared Dravid when he was playin Australia either, always thought we had his measure

 

[thecatattack]

Punter.

 

[Carbine Chaos]

I think (at their pomp) Ponting had more technical flaws in his batting than Dravid.

Make of that what you will.

 

[Torz]

I think (at their pomp) Ponting had more technical flaws in his batting than Dravid.

Make of that what you will.

Though at his best I reckon Ponting could hurt you more quickly.

 

[Carbine Chaos]

Though at his best I reckon Ponting could hurt you more quickly.

Yep.

In a way, you'd take an out of form Dravid over an out of form Ponting; but you'd take an in-form Ponting over an in-form Dravid.

 

[dan warna]

Yep.

In a way, you'd take an out of form Dravid over an out of form Ponting; but you'd take an in-form Ponting over an in-form Dravid.

nice summary

I think punter tries to smash his way out of trouble, a bit like hayden, while, dravid would try and scratch and scrap his way out of trouble.

 

[frankrizzo]

If it's the 2002-2008 ponting then it's not even close, not only did he dominate but he scored at a rate dravid could never match.

If it's the ponting from the last few years or the early impetuous ponting then i would go for dravid, ponting out of form can be hard to watch as unlike dravid he seems incapable of adapting or even accepting he might need to adapt any part of his game or approach.

 

[ROOTA#6]

At their best you'd take Ponting I reckon as his capability to attack and score at a good rate was far superior to Dravid. To be fair to Dravid they were different types of players so even thought thier stats match up it may not be an entirely fair comparison

 

[Belnakor]

Dravid only averaged 38 vs Australia in the end which really surprised me.

averaged a tick over 50 when you take out his plundering of Zim, but then SRT is a far worse offender for "filling his boots" against sub par opposition.

 

[Hue_Jars]

Geographical weaknesses - word?

Ponting in his hay day could make centuries anywhere.

Dravid 'The Wall': GROSSLY OVER RATED

Exemplified by him getting bowled a ridiculous amount in the his last test series, despite being branded the best defensive player in world cricket.

 

[Carbine Chaos]

Geographical weaknesses - word?

Ponting in his hay day could make centuries anywhere.

Dravid 'The Wall': GROSSLY OVER RATED

Exemplified by him getting bowled a ridiculous amount in the his last test series, despite being branded the best defensive player in world cricket.

Calling Dravid overrated may be the worst call anybody has made about any cricketer ever.

 

[glenferry23]

Geographical weaknesses - word?

Ponting in his hay day could make centuries anywhere.

Dravid 'The Wall': GROSSLY OVER RATED

Exemplified by him getting bowled a ridiculous amount in the his last test series, despite being branded the best defensive player in world cricket.

um, except india?

and ridiculous to suggest dravid is overrated.

i too would take ponting if there was a choice between the two. both great batsmen over a long period of time, has been a joy watching them both over the last 10-15 years. completely different batsmen though so its difficult to form an 'apples vs apples' comparison

 

[crownie]

Pontings best was better then Dravids best but its not as clear as some here are saying.

I also think Ponting was a bit more versatile, made attacking hundreds to put games away yet also made runs when the game was there to be saved.

 

[evdo1706]

I would take Dravid in swinging conditions like in England and on turning tracks. I have never seen a guy playing swing so comfortably as him and he has great footwork against spin. But on pitches with extra pace and bounce Ponting wins easily. So I would play Dravid in England/India and Ponting in SA/Aus.