Cricket Legends Sobers, Hadlee and Gower give their verdict
http://www.sportasylum.com/page/VFS/0,,10301~1069583,00.html?gclid=COyyy-PHkI4CFQkMEAodTHRGPw
Sobers rates Botham more highly as a batsman than Imran. The stats though tell a different story. Imran averaged more than Botham in both tests and ODIs. Imran averaged 50 with the bat in 48 tests as captain
Imran
http://content-uk.cricinfo.com/ci/content/player/40560.html
Botham
http://content-uk.cricinfo.com/ci/content/player/9163.html
Re: Imran Khan v Ian Botham....Who was better?
I haven't watched Botham bat LIVE but from what i have seen in the old videos, he was more like a slogger.
Imran Khan over Botham anyday.
Re: Imran Khan v Ian Botham....Who was better?
Someone posted this on the page:
Khan was never a great motivator,rather a bully who terrorised his subjects to prove or get ready for the guillotine--surely not the ideal mantra for a leader.What stood him was his luck-- he could have perished too into the dustbin of 'would have been' heroes but for the enormous talent of his team of 'That' Pakistan. Botham, on the other hand inspired by his very character--both on and off the field and both as a Captain and a team-mate. Surely respect and camaraderie is way above jingoism and bigotednessand a mean outlook. One performed and conquered and the other terrorised and conquered . Now You be The Judge. Col Vanky.
Lol !!!! Don't know if Vanky is jealous Indian or whinging pom :)
Re: Imran Khan v Ian Botham....Who was better?
I think Imran got better in both batting and bowling as he got older and Botham declined. After I started watching cricket in 1984, I saw more great performances from Imran than Botham. Furthermore, I believe Imran would have had more runs ad wickets than Botham had he not gotten injured and had missed 83-85 season when he played as a batsman.
Botham earlier in his career was amazing with both bat and ball. He was an amazing slogger and was very successful at that.
Re: Imran Khan v Ian Botham....Who was better?
What sets Imran apart from Botham is his leadership skills. Imran was great leader and motivator where as Botham lacked these qualities. Also Imran khan's career can be divided in 2 phases. Early phase(Pre Injury), where he was great bowler and a mediocre batsman. And then the later phase(Post Injury) of his career where he reinvented himself as a very reliable bastman but then his bowling became very ordinary. There were only 2-3 seasons where he did both the job very well. At the peak of their career Botham was much better batsman where as Imran was a better bowler.
But overall , I would prefer Imran over Botham anyday.
Re: Imran Khan v Ian Botham....Who was better?
Here is what I remember:
1982: Pakistan visits England. Both Botham and Imran are at their peak. At a press conference Botham asked the press to name the ball of the over on which they wanted him to hit Imran for a 6. The match was at Edgbaston.
Eventually when the match started and Botham came in to bat Imran wasn't bowling but after a while he came on to bowl. There was a buzz in the crowd and everyone expected some fireworks from both sides as Botham had challenged Imran. it was either the third or fourth ball of the over, it was fast, it was furious and Botham's wickets went flying in the air, the stadium erupted with joys of Pakistani supporters. A sight which I watched on the ground and will always remember.
Re: Imran Khan v Ian Botham....Who was better?
^ That was the first international game I attended as a youngster and Imran bowling at his peak was just an awesome sight. He was just brilliant that day and as far as I remember tooks 7 wickets.
Re: Imran Khan v Ian Botham…Who was better?
Imran Khan :k:
Re: Imran Khan v Ian Botham....Who was better?
What sets Imran apart from Botham is his leadership skills. Imran was great leader and motivator where as Botham lacked these qualities. Also Imran khan's career can be divided in 2 phases. Early phase(Pre Injury), where he was great bowler and a mediocre batsman. And then the later phase(Post Injury) of his career where he reinvented himself as a very reliable bastman but then his bowling became very ordinary. There were only 2-3 seasons where he did both the job very well. At the peak of their career Botham was much better batsman where as Imran was a better bowler. But overall , I would prefer Imran over Botham anyday.
Not true. Imran's bowling only declined after 1989. He amazingly maintained the same level of performance pre- and post injury
Bowling Stats:
Pre-injury (1971-1983) Tests (51) wkts (232) Ave: (22.91) SR (54.09) 10wM (4) 5wI (16)
Post-injury (1985-1992) Tests (37) wkts (130) Ave: (22.63) SR (53.13) 10wM (2) 5wI (7)
Re: Imran Khan v Ian Botham…Who was better?
In my opinion both were great, Imran has a little edge just becuase of his leadership.
I remeber reading an article by Munir Hussain, where he was comparing both Imran (87 runs, 9/136) and Botham (2 runs, 6/156) and after Tahir Naqqash’s performance (51 runs, 6/86) in first test where Imran was Man of the Match Munir’s response was even Tahir’s performance is better than Botham in this particular test.
Re: Imran Khan v Ian Botham....Who was better?
Not true. Imran's bowling only declined after 1989. He amazingly maintained the same level of performance pre- and post injury
Bowling Stats: Pre-injury (1971-1983) Tests (51) wkts (232) Ave: (22.91) SR (54.09) 10wM (4) 5wI (16)
Post-injury (1985-1992) Tests (37) wkts (130) Ave: (22.63) SR (53.13) 10wM (2) 5wI (7)
Clearly you didnot see his record of last 4-5 season. During these days he was in team purely as a batsman.
Re: Imran Khan v Ian Botham....Who was better?
I dont think there is any comparison. Honestly with the minor exception of slip fielding Imran was superior to Botham in every form. While stats never reveal the whole story but Imran numbers are much more impressive than Botham. While Imran's career batting average of a little over 37 is very respectable, Botham's average of a little over 33 also shows he was a capable batsman. But in bowling Imran average of 22 is world class and Botham averahe of 28 can be considered average of maybe good but certainly not out of this world. Plus Imran was an effective captain which was icing on the cake while Botham did not enjoy the same success as skipper.
Even Richard Hadlee himself admitted that all 4 allrounders of that era (Hadlee himself, Botham, Kapil and Imran) were good but when he was really pushing himself Imran was a little better than the rest.
Re: Imran Khan v Ian Botham…Who was better?
Yes I saw that. And I did say that Imran’s bowling lacked bite from 1989-92 (but bowling average of 35.10 in 1989 and 27.63 in 1990 was still better than Botham’s overall bowling average of 28.40!) But the great thing is that despite the decline in his bowling in those 3 years or so his overall post-injury bowling stats still matched his pre-injury stats. Infact in 1987 he took 10/77 in the Headingley test (which we won) and in 1988 Imran took 23 wickets (incl. 11/121 in the first test at Bourda which we won) at 18.09 in 3 tests in the Caribbean.
Bowling Stats:
Pre-injury (1971-1983): Tests (51) wkts (232) Ave: (22.91) SR (54.09) 10wM (4) 5wI (16)
Post-injury (1985-1992): Tests (37) wkts (130) Ave: (22.63) SR (53.13) 10wM (2) 5wI (7)
Batting Stats:
Pre-injury (1971-1983): Tests (51) runs (2023) Ave (31.12) HS (123) 100s (2) 50s (7)
Post-injury (1985-1992): Tests (37) runs (1784) Ave (49.55) HS (135*) 100s (4) 50s (11)
p.s. on both occasions the two all-rounders came face to face with each other in England in 1982 (3 tests) and 1987 (5 tests), Imran Khan ran away with the man-of-the-series award
Re: Imran Khan v Ian Botham....Who was better?
The question remains, if your life depended on it, who would you choose. Imran or Botham?
Many a pundit, rightly, would pick Imran in their side rather than Botham.
Botham benefited much from exodus of great players to the 'Packer Circus'. However, many say he did not use a bottle top?
Re: Imran Khan v Ian Botham....Who was better?
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