No one played pace better than Gavaskar: Jones

Former Australian batsman Dean Jones has termed Indian batting legend Sunil Gavaskar as the best player of pace, saying: "Gavaskar played against all the great West Indians and hit many hundreds and averaged over 65."

He further said that it is not easy to pick the best batsman I ever saw or played against, but it is easier is to pick the batsmen who played each shot the best.Sunny never looked rushed and had an awesome defensive part to his game. He used the bowlers' pace very well and never hit a ball with violence. Allan Lamb also played the quicks very well," he added.



Gavaskar set world records during his career for the most Test runs and most Test centuries scored by any batsman. He held the record of 34 Test centuries for almost two decades before Tendulkar broke it in December 2005.

Gavaskar was widely admired for his technique against fast bowling, with a particularly high average of 65.45 against the West Indies, who possessed a four-pronged fast bowling attack regarded as the most vicious in Test history.

Talking about best forward defence, he said Tony Dodemaide was the best followed by Gavaskar and Sachin Tendulkar.

He also said that Tendulkar's is the best player of spin, with Javed Miandad and Brian Lara a close second, The Age reports.

"Tendulkar's ability to move down the pitch or play the ball off the back foot while playing Shane Warne on big turners was the best cricket entertainment anyone could wish for," he said.

Jones, who is a specialist commentator and has played cricket for nearly 28 years, again picked Tendulkar as the best player of straight drive.(ANI)