Who will our most important player be for the Boxing Day match?

[Andybligzz]

The most vital batters bat at 3-5. Thats how the game is played. Openers dont really impact the outcome of Test matches.

My vote on recent form would be Raza. Scored runs vs SL and WI. Only batter to score in ever series ZIM has played this year.

Very well said I’d say the openers will impact a lot though don’t want to Exspose Ervine and Taylor to early , if Hammy can get us off to a good start the pink ball softens up real quick. Ervine and Taylor love this , can only hope

Well Tendulkar/Dravid were always more imp than Sehwag, Ponting > Hayden, etc. The only exception I think of is Bangladesh where Tamim is just as vital as any middle order player, but even then Mushfiqur is arguably more important.

The best batsmen on a team bat at 3 and 4 (#5 is usually the third best), and the best batsmen are necessarily the most important players/wickets for the opposition. The game revolves around those guys. People batting at 6 and below dont get enough time to really control a match, and openers generally dont bat long enough. Middle order guys need to be versatile enough to face the new ball, bat against the softer ball, bat against spin, and also bat against the 2nd new ball against pace. They have to be able to do it all.

If you are saying Dravid was more important than Ponting I think that’s a bit harsh . Ponting was a game changer and could turn a game on his opponents in a session

[brmtaylor.com admin]

Cremer and Jarvis were the only two players to both increase their batting average and lower their bowling average in this Test.