Laxman probably the closest. Similarly bad in ODIs and not too far behind Younis as a Test bat.Probably not the very worst, but in comparison to his unquestionable status as one of the world's leading Test batsmen, Younis Khan was very mediocre in ODIs. I would be surprised if there were any other batsmen of Younis' ATG Test calibre who performed so poorly in ODIs.
Excellent strike rate for the era. Mediocre average but that is made up for by his captaincy. Shouldn't be in the discussion when there are guys like Afridi.Alan Border
Crazy talk to be mentioning Dravid in this thread. Very good ODI batsman. His SR was fine for most of his career. About the same as guys like Ganguly and Inzi who are accepted as greats. He began his career poorly but 1999-05, he was a great ODI player. Always showed up at the WC too. Averaged 61 at WCs with a SR of 75.Rahul Dravid generally scored too slowly for the format in the 21st century
Mahela was comfortably better than Younis.Crazy talk to be mentioning Dravid in this thread. Very good ODI batsman. His SR was fine for most of his career. About the same as guys like Ganguly and Inzi who are accepted as greats. He began his career poorly but 1999-05, he was a great ODI player. Always showed up at the WC too. Averaged 61 at WCs with a SR of 75.
Younis and Mahela are up there. Mahela atleast had some great innings in WCs, but for the most part both of them were pretty meh for most of their careers.
Yes Younis was a straight-up liability to Pak's ODI side in the latter half of his career. From an opposition point of view, I used to love seeing him come to the crease.After Younis' best year in ODIs in 2008, he still played the format for a further 8 years and his stats are absolutely putrid:
87 matches, avg 24.94, and a SR 71 which for the post 2008 era is unforgivably slow for a middle order batsman. Really hurt the Pak team by repeatedly politicking his way back into the ODI team. Should've stuck to tests.
Dravid and Afridi were very good ODI players who should be nowhere near this thread.
AR though, and also has that crazy strike rate. Hell he's probably even better than Jayawardene.Mediocre but not subpar. Are we seriously overlooking ****ing Afridi?
It's so odd to think Laxman, Slater and Vaughan were bad in ODIs. Such good strokeplayers should've found a way to succeed in the shorter format but never managed it.Laxman probably the closest. Similarly bad in ODIs and not too far behind Younis as a Test bat.
There were blokes like Slater, Vaughan and Samaraweera who were outright horrible -- didn't even do anything domestically in the format -- but they were all a class or two below Younis as Test bats.
Forget not being mediocre, I reckon Afridi is a legitimately great ODI player. Hugely underrated. He was often one of Pakistan's best bowler, and the best catcher in a team of spuds.AR though, and also has that crazy strike rate. Hell he's probably even better than Jayawardene.