In the sitting room of 221B Baker Street, Sherlock Holmes\u2019 piercing gaze settled on Dr Watson, who sulked while nursing an espresso.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy so serious, Watson?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMy favourite, Kohli, is out of the running,\u201d Watson sighed. \u201cFourth place for the King hurts. Who is next, Holmes? Gavaskar, Tendulkar, or Dravid?\u201d (See Part 1 of Holmes’s investigation<\/a>)<\/p>\n Design Credit: Arun Uniyal | India Today Digital\n<\/p>\n Holmes, pipe in hand, tapped the desk. \u201cPatience, Watson. Deduction demands precision. We now dissect the triumvirate: the saviour (Gavaskar), the destroyer (Tendulkar), and the protector (Dravid).\u201d<\/p>\n Watson leaned forward. \u201cLet\u2019s start with Dravid, the Wall. Steady, isn\u2019t he?\u201d<\/p>\n Design Credit: Vani Gupta | India Today Digital\n<\/p>\n Holmes nodded, switching slides. \u201cObserve Rahul Dravid\u2019s record: 13,288 runs, 164 Tests, average 52.31. His SENA average – in South Africa, England, New Zealand, and Australia – is 49.48.\u201d<\/p>\n Design Credit: Arun Uniyal | India Today Digital\n<\/p>\n A chart flared up, detailing Dravid\u2019s resilience: 36 centuries, 63 fifties, 21000+ balls faced. Watson whistled. \u201cThat\u2019s tenacity. But he\u2019s not flashy. Fans love Tendulkar\u2019s flair or Kohli\u2019s fire.\u201d<\/p>\n Design Credit: Vani Gupta | India Today Digital\n<\/p>\n Holmes\u2019 eyes narrowed. \u201cTriumph of substance over style. Dravid\u2019s 40.84 average in fourth-innings shows steel and fire. He carried India\u2019s middle order through crises.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNow Tendulkar,\u201d Watson urged. \u201cThe Master Blaster. Surely he\u2019s the one?\u201d<\/p>\n Holmes\u2019 slide revealed Tendulkar\u2019s journey: 24 years, 15921 runs, 200 Tests, average 53.78, 51 centuries, 68 fifties. SENA average: 51.30, with 17 centuries, the highest for a visiting batsman.<\/p>\n Design Credit: Arun Uniyal | India Today Digital\n<\/p>\n \u201cRecords are just half the story, Watson. For 24 years, Tendulkar carried the weight of a nation\u2019s expectations, like a mountain on his index finger. When he batted, it felt as if all of India stood with him at the crease.\u201d<\/p>\n Watson nodded. \u201cEveryone loves Sachin. Stadiums chanted his name. Sachin-Sachin, the chorus still echoes.\u201d<\/p>\n Holmes warned. \u201cTendulkar\u2019s fourth-innings average, 36.93, trails Dravid\u2019s. His 12 centuries in losses reveal brilliance, but not always impact. But, to carry so much weight for so long requires focus, determination, and nerves of steel.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cFair point, Holmes. Do you rate him above Dravid?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cDravid defeated bowlers with defiance. Tendulkar destroyed them with his aggression. Dravid looked to defend, Tendulkar to dominate. Dravid frustrated opponents like an impregnable wall. Bowlers feared Tendulkar\u2019s bat like a thunderbolt; he was their worst nightmare – remember Shane Warne?\u201d<\/p>\n Watson chuckled. \u201cWarne, bless him, lost the plot against Tendulkar. Confessed to mid-night visions of Tendulkar dancing down the track.\u201d<\/p>\n Design Credit: Vani Gupta | India Today Digital\n<\/p>\n \u201cDerailed Rawalpindi Express too,\u201d Holmes’ gaze wandered into the past. \u201cTendulkar\u2019s record, his longevity, and fearless cricket make him a modern great. Perhaps the greatest of his generation.\u201d<\/p>\n Watson paused, struggling for words. \u201cBut not the greatest Indian batter, really, Holmes? I am stumped. You think it\u2019s Sunil Gavaskar – the Little Master?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI let facts speak,\u201d Holmes said curtly.<\/p>\n The projector shifted, displaying Gavaskar\u2019s stats: 10,122 runs, 125 Tests, average 51.12. SENA average: 44.80.<\/p>\n Design Credit: Arun Uniyal | India Today Digital\n<\/p>\n \u201cSENA average is underwhelming,\u201d Watson noted.<\/p>\n \u201cWatson, it\u2019s unfair to compare Gavaskar with the other three,\u201d Holmes\u2019 words were heavy with nostalgia.<\/p>\n \u201cWhy so?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cContext, Watson, is the king. A batsman\u2019s greatness is defined not just by records. The quality of the bowlers and playing conditions are equally important. Tougher the test, the greater the achievement.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAgree. Flat track bullies flatter in India but fizzle outside.\u201d<\/p>\n Design Credit: Vani Gupta | India Today Digital\n<\/p>\n \u201cRight. Gavaskar faced Holding, Marshall, Garner, Roberts without helmets,\u201d Holmes noted. \u201cHe took on Lillee, Thomson, and Imran at their peak. Epic. No modern batsman endured such hostility. Thirteen centuries in the West Indies against that ferocious pack. That\u2019s a master taming the giants with a wand.\u201d<\/p>\n Watson imagined a famous fight: Joel \u2018Big Bird\u2019 Garner hurling the ball from a height of nine feet at the Little Master on the Barbados pitch. A chill ran down his spine. \u201cGavaskar opened the batting. The new ball was a different beast, especially in the hands of Malcolm Marshall – he was thunder and lightning on the pitch…\u201d<\/p>\n \u201c…And Michael Holding was Whispering Death. Tendulkar and Dravid also faced ferocious bowlers – Donald, McGrath, Waqar, Wasim. But, Watson, the Gavaskar era pitches were a different beast.\u201d<\/p>\n Watson cupped his chin. \u201cExplain.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe pitches were a middle ground between fully uncovered and modern ones. Partial covers reduced extreme weather effects, but pitches remained variable, deteriorating quickly and favouring bowlers more than today. Pitches were fast in the West Indies, turning in India, seaming in England, and bouncy in Australia. They tested the versatility of a batsman. Compared with modern pitches, they were less predictable, less batsman-friendly, and more prone to wear.\u201d<\/p>\n Design Credit: Vani Gupta | India Today Digital\n<\/p>\n \u201cWow,\u201d Watson whistled. \u201cOn modern pitches, with today\u2019s protective gear, against bowlers less formidable than the West Indies pace quartet, Gavaskar would have averaged in the 60s.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cPerhaps,\u201d said Holmes.<\/p>\n “Test cricket changed a lot in the 90s. Market forces started dominating,” he smirked.<\/p>\n “TV broadcasters wanted Tests to last at least four days, so they pressed for batter-friendly pitches — flat, slow and low. On these doctored pitches, flat-track bullies flourished. Averages shot up globally. Gavaskar would have been a relentless run machine on these pitches.”<\/p>\n Watson scratched his chin. \u201cBut only 125 Tests? Tendulkar played 200.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThere was less cricket back then. Also, longevity isn\u2019t everything,\u201d Holmes countered. \u201cGavaskar\u2019s 70.20 average in the West Indies dwarfs Tendulkar\u2019s 47.69. His 774 runs at an average of 154.80 in the 1971 West Indies tour redefined Indian batting.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou missed something,\u201d Watson chimed. \u201cGavaskar\u2019s fourth innings average is 58.25, the highest in the world. He is the only Indian to have scored a double-century in the fourth innings. Phenomenal.\u201d<\/p>\n Design Credit: Arun Uniyal | India Today Digital\n<\/p>\n \u201cElementary, Watson. Batting last is the stiffest challenge. Gavaskar was at his best in the 4th innings. His 221 at The Oval in 1979, the greatest Indian innings in the 4th innings, eclipsed only by the Laxman-Dravid masterclass against Australia. But they were following on, in India.\u201d<\/p>\n Holmes picked up his violin and played moodily. \u201cWatson, have you heard of swan songs? Gavaskar\u2019s swan song was his greatest innings. He played it on a minefield in Bangalore.\u201d<\/p>\n Watson nodded. \u201cHeard the legend – the ball was wriggling like a serpent, jumping like a mamba.\u201d<\/p>\n Holmes smiled. \u201cApt description. It was 1987, against Pakistan. Gavaskar scored 96, facing 264 balls. The second-highest score was 26. He later said he was in a trance – remembered just two balls. That was his last innings.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSaved the best for the last, bravo,\u201d Watson mocked a salute.<\/p>\n \u201cGreat men write their own ending, don\u2019t leave it to fate, Doctor. Sunny could have played longer. Retired at the peak, averaging 58.07 in his final season.\u201d<\/p>\n Design Credit: Vani Gupta | India Today Digital\n<\/p>\n The Verdict<\/p>\n Watson\u2019s brow furrowed. \u201cSo, who\u2019s ahead? Dravid\u2019s resolve, Gavaskar\u2019s courage, or Tendulkar\u2019s genius?\u201d<\/p>\n Holmes leaned back. \u201cIt\u2019s tight. Dravid\u2019s consistency, clutch performances, and impact in wins make him formidable. Dravid\u2019s team-first approach – keeping wickets (reguarly in One-Dayers, as standby in Tests), batting anywhere from opening to No. 6 – makes his case solid. Tendulkar\u2019s brilliance, Gavaskar\u2019s courage – equally compelling.\u201d<\/p>\n Watson\u2019s impatience broke through. \u201cDon\u2019t play it safe. Give me a name.\u201d<\/p>\n Holmes paused, pipe glowing. \u201cDravid owned England, where the ball swings, but struggled in South Africa. Tendulkar bossed the Aussies, English and Proteas. Gavaskar was the don in West Indies and Pakistan. Tendulkar\u2019s 100 international centuries, unmatched, and Gavaskar\u2019s pioneering defiance against pace tilt the scales. Dravid, unfortunately, loses out. We are left with two.\u201d<\/p>\n Design Credit: Vani Gupta | India Today Digital\n<\/p>\n \u201cGrrr,\u201d Watson feigned anger. \u201cOne name. Now.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cPutting a gun to my head, eh? Alright.\u201d Holmes rose from his lounge chair, spread his arms, and bowed theatrically: \u201cLadies and Gentlemen, I go with Gavaskar, in a photo finish with Tendulkar.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBlimey,\u201d Watson said. \u201cGavaskar it is.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYes, he\u2019s the greatest because he was fearless. Fought alone, didn\u2019t have the luxury of batting with Dravid, Laxman, Sehwag and Ganguly. In his era, Gavaskar was India. Hope floated with his arrival, faded with his departure, a lone warrior who reshaped a nation\u2019s cricketing destiny.\u201d<\/p>\n Watson leapt up. \u201cShall I blog it? Another poll?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cProceed,\u201d Holmes said, plucking his violin. \u201cBut warn your readers: facts, not fandom, crown the champion.\u201d<\/p>\n Watson posted immediately:<\/p>\n After a thorough investigation, Sherlock Holmes has deduced that Kohli comes in 4th in a field of 4 greatest Indian Test batters.<\/p>\n The #FabFourDebate<\/a> is now down to Dravid, Gavaskar, and Tendulkar.<\/p>\n Who\u2019s your pick?<\/p>\n Vote: https:\/\/t.co\/76CEDJnyOW<\/a><\/p>\n PS: Scroll down to find clues\u2014 India Today Sports (@ITGDsports) June 21, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Did you enjoy this two-part series?<\/p>\n (Sandipan Sharma, our guest author, likes to write on cricket, cinema, music and politics. He believes they are interconnected)<\/strong><\/p>\n Published On: <\/p>\n Jun 21, 2025<\/p>\n\n