Why Aravinda de Silva was the Best Batsman of All?
Why Aravinda de Silva was the Best Batsman of All? Nirgunan Tiruchelvam , reprinting a controversial article published in The Island in 2009 F or the first century of its existence, the Taj Mahal was unknown outside India. If there was a cricketing equivalent of this monument it would be Aravinda de Silva. For much of his career, Aravinda was not recognized abroad. The World Cup victory changed that, but not enough. The Indian cricket historian Ramachandra Guha has argued that Sunil Gavaskar was a superior batsman to Viv Richards. Though Viv Richards was much more destructive, he never had to face his own bowlers. Gavaskar not only faced Garner, Marshall and Holding, but he mastered them. He scored a scarcely believable 13 centuries against the feared West Indian bowlers. That is by far the highest number of centuries against the Windies, which was the leading attack of that era. By the same token, Aravinda was a superior batsman to Brian Lara and Sach...