Was Adam Gilchrist a Better Opener Than Virender Sehwag In ODIs?
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Cricket players nowadays believe in maintaining a strike rate above 90 in ODI cricket. This wasn't the case a decade ago when the average strike rate in ODIs would be around 80 for most cricketers. Still, we had some batsmen who did not believe in scoring runs slowly. Two of the batsmen were Virender Sehwag and Adam Gilchrist. They both used to open for their national teams (generally). Let's compare their stats to see who was better between these two great players.
<h2><b><center>Adam Gilchrist</h2></b></center>
Adam Gilchrist was an Australian wicket-keeper batsman. He used to open for Australia in ODIs while in test cricket he used to play down the order. He was the most attacking batsman in the Australian team in the 2000s in ODI cricket.
Adam Gilchrist played 279 ODI innings and scored 9616 runs at an average of 35.89. But as an opener, Adam Gilchrist played 259 innings and scored 9200 runs at an <i>average of 36.51</i>. Adam Gilchrist also scored 16 centuries and 53 half-centuries as an opener and played with a <i>strike rate of 98.03</i>.
<h2><b><center>Virender Sehwag</h2></b></center>
Virender Sehwag was the most fearless batsman in the Indian squad in his era. He wouldn't care a lot about the swing and pace of the bowler but would smash them for boundaries. Virender Sehwag used to open for the Indian team in both Test cricket and the ODIs.
He played 245 ODI innings and scored 8273 runs at an average of 35.05. Though his stats as an opener are better than his overall statistics. As an opener, Sehwag played 212 innings and scored 7518 runs at an <i>average of 36.50</i>. He has scored 14 centuries and 35 calf centuries at this position too. Virender Sehwag has a <i>strike rate of 104.71</i> as an opener.
<h2><b><center>Comparison</h2></b></center>
They both have got very similar stats as an opener:
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Both their average and strike rates as openers are very similar to each other. It can't be used to tell who is better of the two. Here are some other comparisons as well:
<ul><li>Adam Gilchrist has scored 16 centuries while Sehwag has scored 14. Adam Gilchrist has more centuries than Virender Sehwag but the latter has scored a double century that Adam Gilchrist has not scored.</li>
<li>Adam Gilchrist has scored 69 50+ scores in 259 innings. This means he scores a 50+ score after <b>every 3.75 matches</b> while Virender Sehwag has 49 50+ scores in 212 innings which means he scores a 50+ score after <b>every 4.32 matches</b>.</li>
<li>Adam Gilchrist has 17 ducks as an opener in 259 innings which means he gets out on a duck <b>once every 15.2 innings</b> while Virender Sehwag has 13 ducks in 212 innings and mathematically he gets out on zero in <b>every 16.3 innings</b>.</li>
<li>Adam Gilchrist had a great team with him who was called the "invincible" at their peak. This reduced a lot of pressure for every player in their team while Sehwag played with a team with a mediocre bowling attack which created a lot of pressure on batsmen but in Gilchrist's favor, Virender Sehwag played more on batting-friendly Asian pitches while Adam Gilchrist did not.</li></ul>
<h2><b><center>Conclusion</h2></b></center>
I think both these players are equally good. If one has done better in one criterion, the other has done well in the others. It would be tough to decide who is a better batsman in between these two. Though talking about world cups, Virender Sehwag has done a bit better than Adam Gilchrist. Virender Sehwag has an average of around 38 in the world cups while Gilchrist has an average of 36. Though this difference isn't a lot as well.
