The Greatest All Rounder of all time - Sir Garry Sobers or Sir Ian Botham?

Botham en route during his famous 149 at Edgbaston

After his debut, Garfield Sobers became a regular feature in the team with his bowling abilities and average batting skills. But then came a time when in a role as sacrificial lamb, he metamorphosised into a roaring majestic lion. In a tour where Australian bowlers like Miller and Lindwall were demolishing the top order batsmen like timber, Garry Sobers was sent out to open. He ended up hitting ten boundaries and making 43 runs in less than 42 minutes.

This was just a preview to his superlative batting abilities that would astound the world. His first century was not just any century but went on to become a world record. In the third test at Sabina Park against Pakistan, Garry scored his maiden hundred when he walked in at no. 3. He hooked the ball towards mid wicket, back lifted length deliveries for cover drives and hit sixes all over.

His strokes were so masterful and hit with such power that it zoomed past hapless fielders before they could even comprehend what was happening. ‘Not a man move’ was the phrase that caught on when sobers batted. He went on to make 365 runs. An orthodox left arm spinner had just set a world record for highest score by an individual in a test match that stood for 36 years.

His supremacy in batting continued till he retired 77 tests later. He went on to make 26 hundreds in the 77 tests he played after the Sabina park extravaganza. He was handed the reins of captaincy in 1965-1966. His captaincy style was always a topic of much debate with his laid back attitude and lack of discipline enforced on his teammates. of the 39 tests he captained, west indies won 9 and lost 10. But he was a captain that led by example. He often promoted himself up the batting order and won matches on pitches which were near fatal to play on.

Here is where Ian Botham loses out. His brief stint as a captain was controversial and a failure to say the least. He was appointed skipper for the 1980 and failed to register a single win as a captain. He resigned in the middle of ashes series of 1981 having drawn one and losing another to Australia.

The third test too seemed to favour the Australians. The odds, media , spectators even his own teammates were against Ian Botham when he came on to bat at no .8. He left the ground 145 not out. He responded to the challenge of the occasion and proved his credibility as an all rounder with the ball too. England won.

In the next match too Botham took 5 wickets and hit a century in the one after to add to his heroics. Botham, the ex skipper was undoubtedly the man of the series. With the pressures of captaincy relieved Botham returned to his former self- yet he was a changed man.

Dissecting and analyzing two mammoth all rounder’s is a difficult task. Comparing Botham to Sobers is like comparing a living legend to a demi-God. The conditions, the facilities, the eras might not be the same. Yet the struggle to remain consistent in all forms and holding up to the expectations of the viewers of the game and more so of self is what puts these two in the same bracket.

However, for me, Sir Garfield Sobers will always be a notch higher. Simply because there was not a thing left in cricket that he could not do and end up excelling in it. The self belief, the confidence that he radiated led him and his team to a pedestal, which in those days was not a mean feat for a nation like West Indies to achieve. He left the West Indian game richer.

On being asked on what he felt like to be compared to the likes of Sir Garfield Sobers, Sir Ian Botham replied that it was an honour for him to even be deemed worthy of being compared to Garry Sobers. I rest my case.