Who has been a better batsman between Saurabh Ganguly or Rahul Dravid?

 Well,firstly,the name is Sourav Ganguly,and not what the question states.

Secondly,its really a sin to compare two absolute legends and gems of Indian cricket. But then,comparison is human nature,and so,I’ll compare them according to their batting skills,in the most impartial way possible.

Disclaimer- My answer is not meant to hurt the fans of any of the two cricketers. I have tremendous respect for both of them.

Comparison across formats(only tests and ODIs involved,as Ganguly never played a T20I,and Dravid played just 1). I have alloted 1 point as full point for each round of comparison. And for convenience,I’ll denote Ganguly as G and Dravid as D. Also,I’d skip batting averages at home,as its common sense that every batsman enjoys home conditions-

Test cricket-

Many people call Rahul Dravid as the best test batsman of India,rating him above even Sachin Tendulkar.

• Overall stats-

1. Ganguly- 7212 runs in 113 matches(188 innings)
2. Dravid- 13288 runs in 164 matches(286 innings)

• Runs/innings-

1. Ganguly- 38.36
2. Dravid- 46.46

So here,Dravid beats Ganguly by a huge margin(D1- G0)

• Overall batting average-

1. Ganguly- 42.2
2. Dravid- 52.3

Here too,Dravid is way ahead of Ganguly(D2- G0)

• Overseas batting average(overall)-

1. Ganguly- 41.6
2. Dravid- 53

Dravid is way ahead of Ganguly here(D3- G0)

• Overseas batting average(country specific)

1. Australia- Ganguly- 35 < Dravid- 41.6
2. England- Ganguly- 65.4 < Dravid- 69
3. South Africa- Ganguly- 36.2 > Dravid- 30
4. West Indies- Ganguly- 40 < Dravid- 65.7
5. New Zealand- Ganguly- 28 < Dravid- 64
6. Sri Lanka- Ganguly- 36.7 > Dravid- 33
7. Pakistan- Ganguly- 49.3 < Dravid- 78.6
8. Bangladesh- Ganguly- 62 < Dravid- 70
9. Zimbabwe- Ganguly- 30.6 < Dravid- 79

So,here Dravid is ahead of Ganguly by (7–2) margin.

Overall,Dravid leads Ganguly by (D10- G2)

Conclusion in tests- So,judging by the statistics,Rahul Dravid has simply outclassed Sourav Ganguly,as a way better batsman,in test cricket.

But,here comes the twist. Rahul Dravid has played a whooping 213 innings,at no.3,which is right at the top of the order. But poor Ganguly has never played even a 100 innings at a specific batting position. He has played 99 innings at no.5,where he averages 38,and 47 innings at no.6,where he averages 42. And both these batting positions,especially no.6,are lower middle-order batting positions. So,its quite evident,that mostly,Ganguly had to bat with the tail-enders. And batting with tail-enders,especially in SENAW countries isn’t easy at all. So,stats always don’t say the whole thing.

But going by stats,Dravid is way better as a test batsman.

《●》《●》《●》《●》《●》《●》《●》《●》

Now ODI cricket-

• Overall stats-

1. Ganguly- 11363 runs in 311 ODIs(300 innings)
2. Dravid- 10889 runs in 344 ODIs(318 innings)

• Runs/innings-

1. Ganguly- 37.9
2. Dravid- 34.2

So,Ganguly is better than Dravid here.(G1- D0)

• Batting average(overall)-

1. Ganguly- 41.1
2. Dravid- 39.1

So,Ganguly outsmarts Dravid here.(G2- D0)

• Batting avearge(overseas,as a whole)-

1. Ganguly- 39.7
2. Dravid- 37.6

Ganguly is ahead here too.(G3- D0)

• Batting average(in Australia and South Africa,toughest touring nations)-

1. Ganguly- 33.3 and 50
2. Dravid- 32.8 and 44.3

Ganguly is slightly ahead here too,inspite of his so called short-ball weakness.(G4- D0)

• Strike-rate-

1. Ganguly- 74
2. Dravid- 71

Ganguly has better S/R. (G5- D0)

• Performances in CWC-

1. Ganguly- 1006 runs in 21 matches,at an average of 56,and S/R of 77.5
2. Dravid- 860 runs in 22 matches,at an average of 61.42,and S/R of 75.

Dravid has better average,but Ganguly has better S/R,so points will be shared here. (G6- D1)

• Performances in ICC Champions’ Trophy-

1. Ganguly- 665 runs in 13 matches,at an average of 74,and a S/R of 83.
2. Dravid- 627 runs in 19 matches,at an average of 48,and a S/R of 73.

Here,Ganguly is way ahead of Rahul Dravid.(G7- D1)

• Not-out frequency(total not-outs in total innings)

1. Ganguly- 0.076(23 not-outs in 300 innings)
2. Dravid- 0.125(40 not-outs in 318 innings)

Dravid has higher not-out frequency.(G7- D2)

• Performances in crunch clashes-

Ganguly has 3 tons and a brilliant 83,in the knock-out matches of ICC CWC and ICC Knockout Trophy/Champions’ Trophy. Rahul Dravid hasn’t got even a decent score to show.

Ganguly makes it (8–2) against Dravid in ODIs.

Conclusion in ODIs- Sourav Ganguly was a way better batsman in this format,than Rahul Dravid. Ganguly has single-handedly bailed India out of trouble in several matches,while Dravid has very few moments in his entire ODI career,most notably- his 22-ball-50 against NZ,and being the highest scorer in ICC CWC 1999.

Overall conclusion- The honours have been shared. Rahul Dravid emerged as a better batsman in tests,whilst Ganguly proved his mettle in ODIs.

However,both have got immense contributions to Indian cricket,and will always remain the epitomes of India’s success between the years 1996- 2008.

P. S.- It took exactly 4.5 hours to compile the stats,and then organize this answer. Its my heartiest request to all readers,please read the answer till the end,and please do upvote if you like it.🙏🌝

《●》《●》《●》《●》《●》《●》《●》《●》

Special mention(idea given by Jotham )-

Comparison of batting stats of captain Ganguly and captain Dravid-

In tests-

1. Dravid- 44.51(25 matches)
2. Ganguly- 37.66(49 matches)

So,Dravid was a much better batsman,while captaining team India,than Ganguly,though Ganguly has captained in a lot more tests.

In ODIs-

1. Dravid- 42.2(79 matches)
2. Ganguly- 38.7(147 matches)

Dravid outsmarts Ganguly here too,but again,Ganguly was captain for almost twice as many matches as Dravid.

Why did Dhoni drop Rahul Dravid in ODIs? Was Dravid totally ignored by Dhoni?

It so happened that after the Commonwealth Bank Series of 2008,then Indian captain M. S. Dhoni wanted a relatively younger team.

Seniors like Sachin Tendulkar,Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly were present in that team.

While no one could ever question Tendulkar’s position in the team,as he was such a great batsman,and was definitely scoring at quite a fast strike-rate even at that age.

But Dravid and Ganguly,inspite of being in form,weren’t being able to keep pace with that time.

And young guns like Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma were willing to prove themselves always,and rising very fast. Rohit had had a brilliant World T20 2007,and Kohli was always at his imperious best. So the selectors tried to invest in these youngsters.

Dhoni started rotating Gambhir and Sachin as openers,keeping Sehwag fixed in the opening position.

So the top 3 positions were filled up by Gauti,Viru and Tendulkar.

Dravid used to bat at no.4 in ODIs. And the form that Kohli started putting up at that position(yes,Kohli once used to bat at no.4) after 2009 simply closed the gates for Dravid’s comeback in the ODI side.

So both Dravid and Ganguly were dropped after this series,and soon fell out of favour in the limited overs team.

While Dravid continued to flourish in tests,Ganguly decided to take immediate retirement.

When Dravid did make a comeback in 2009 in ODIs,he managed a solitary half-century(76) in 5 innings,and thus did himself no favours to be selected again. And he played with a strike-rate of 69 that year,which was criticised immensely by several cricket pundits. And Kohli,who succeeded Dravid at no.4 position thereafter,was averaging some 55 odd that year.

After the 2011 CWC,when India flew to England to play the foreign series,Dravid earned a surprise call-up in both ODIs and T20Is.

He declared that it would be his last series.

That’s why he could play only one T20I,where he thrashed Samit Patel for three consecutive 6s.

So,it wasn’t a case of ignorance on Dhoni’s part. It was only that he wanted to make a young and strong team for the 2011 CWC.

Personal opinion- Dravid was striking at 83 in 2007. He could have done better if he had been given more chances. So dropping him in 2008 was a little harsh,as I would say. But he was already 35 by that time,and not getting any younger. Kohli,in his early 20s was full of energy,and that was the probable reason why they were preferred!

What are some mind-blowing facts about Rahul Dravid?

 I had initially written this article in the comments section in Mr. Gaurav Guha’s answer . I received a few personal messages telling that this would be better as an answer rather than as a comment.

I was one of the fortunate few to have witnessed this low-key match played at the HAL sports club. It was a gloomy day. 20th October 2013 to be specific. Being a hard core Rahul Dravid fan, it was a surreal experience for me to witness this match.

I got to know that Dravid is playing in a club match from the WhatsApp status of a friend of mine who was a professional scorer in the Karnataka State Cricket Association ( KSCA) and was the official scorer of this match. At that time I was in my GATE coaching classes in Indira Nagar. Immediately my friend Srinidhi and i rushed to the ground to witness the great man play in possibly his last competitive cricket match.

This day was a special day in my life because of the following reasons:

1. This match was probably Rahul Dravid’s last match in whites ( he had retired from Test cricket just recently)
2. No unwanted attention, just low-key pure cricket.
3. No tickets :) could see Rahul Dravid from just 3 feet distance

In a way I was a bit unfortunate because I could not witness the great man’s batting ( he had retired after scoring a marvellous ton) by the time I reached and his team was fielding after declaring the innings. So I could see him in the slips. The best part was that he was correcting the young batsmen of the opposite team when they made any mistakes with shot selection.

The best thing happened after the match. Rahul and his guys walked to the pavillion. He was as calm and composed as ever. Not a hint of arrogance. He was playing with boys half his age. Both the team members gathered around him while Rahul was packing his kit. I remember that he adviced a young spinner how to stick on to a line and not bowl a loose delivery, and also other batsmen about temperament.

One thing that touched my heart was when he enquired about the fielder who was rushed to the hospital after sustaining an on-field injury. He took out a brand new SG bat from his kit and told one of the boys to keep it in the injured player’s kit.

Last but not the least, he happily obliged the fans, including me, waiting for autographs and photographs with him.I managed to get an autograph from Mr. Dravid, and that’s a prized possession for someone who had been an ardent fan of his.

This man is an epitome of simplicity even in real life, trust me.

Thank you.

Image was taken by me while he was busy talking to the players.

What are the unknown facts about Rahul Dravid?

 1. Rahul Dravid’s full name is Rahul Sharad Dravid and his mother tongue is Marathi.

2. Rahul Dravid earned his nickname Jammy because his father used to work in ‘Kissan’ factory. Later Rahul also did an advertisement for ‘Kissan Jam’.

3. Rahul Dravid was proposed on MTV’s popular show – ‘Bakra’, as the part of the prank Of course. But he advised that women to continue her education and devote her time to other important things in life.

4. There is also a local Cricket tournament at the school level named after the veteran batsman Rahul Dravid. The ‘Jammy Cup’ is held in Bangalore and the man-of-the-match gets the title of ‘Jammy of the Day.’

5. Rahul Dravid has won 11 Man of the Match Awards in Tests, 8 of them in overseas Tests.

6. Rahul Dravid is the only Indian who holds the record for scoring Centuries in 4 consecutive innings in Test Cricket.

7. Rahul Dravid was voted as the “Sexiest Sports Personality in India” in an online survey (2004-05), beating the likes of Yuvraj Singh, Sania Mirza and others sports personalities.

8. Rahul Dravid has faced 31,258 deliveries (5209 overs) in Test Cricket in 164 matches. No other batsman has faced 30,000 deliveries.

9. Rahul Dravid is the only cricketer who debuted in T20 Internationals and took retirement in the same match.

10. Rahul Dravid’s Jersey number is 19 when asked about the reason, he said, “it’s the best way to remember my wife’s birthday.”

11. Rahul Dravid was honoured with “Padma Shri” and “Padma Bhushan” from the Government of India for his services to Cricket.