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What ... no Tendulkar?
Wisden CricInfo staff - February 15, 2002

We asked for your reaction to the publication of the Wisden ODI 100 and you haven't been slow in coming forward with your opinions. Here we publish a small selection ... Kapil Dev's 175 should have been in the second place. Because of that innings India stayed in the 1983 World Cup and finally won it. There are some other results also I don't agree with. This is as controversial as the Wisden 100 for Tests. - Rahmatullah

While there is no denying that all the innings in the top ten are gems, it is hard to believe that Kapil Dev's innings was not the best. Any player who comes in at 9 for 4, very soon sees that become 17 for 5, and goes on to score 175 with players of calibre of Madan Lal, Kirmani etc needs to be given the honor of having the best innings. You might say that the bowling attack was not so good. But then I could not see great bowling attacks in any of the other top five innings. And mind you Zimbabwe were a great fielding side, better than all the other opposing teams in the top five innings. - Saurabh Srivastava

The list is totally biased and has one objective in mind – to try to undermine Tendulkar so that the white bowlers the world over don't suffer. He is the best one-day batsman. Do you mean to tell us those knocks in Sharjah in 1998 against the Aussies were not good enough to be in the top 10, nor so many of his knocks which single handedly changed the result of a match. All you are trying to do is make one point that Tendulkar is not a great batsman because it humiliates the colonial rulers that an Indian could be the best. I'm going to throw away all Wisden magazines and almanacks collected through the years. - Vishaal

I believe that Sachin Tendulkar's hundreds against Australia in Sharjah a few seasons ago were as good, if not better than most of the top 10 you have included. One can barely understand your justification for Tendulkar's poor showing in the Test Top 100, and now this? One has to wonder whether it is a bid to raise publicity - as such controversies prove to do. The opposition was top notch, the pitches in a neutral country and the quality of the innings utterly superb. Keyur Dave

Great list - very comprehensive and probably right on the money. However, where is Wasim Akram's great analysis and all time great spells in the World Cup final of 1992 against England? I know he took at least three wickets and nobody in the world forgets those two unplayable balls (leg cutter and inswinger) he bowled to Lamb and Lewis? What about the last ball Botham ever faced in World Cup? If Madan Lal's 3 for 31 merits a 10th place position then I am sure this analysis by Wasim should be in the top 20 at least. - Aman Haque

I did not watch the 1975 World Cup so I cannot comment on Gilmour's bowling and batting performance. But I certainly did watch Aqib Javed bowling against India in Sharjah. I am really sorry to say that the rating given for his 7 for 36 is a bit high. With due credit given to the talented swing bowler Aqib Javed, I would definitely not put his performance as second best in the history of one-day cricket. I hope the ratings did allow for some of the controversial lbws in the hat-trick. Even assuming all the seven dismissals were all genuine, his record should not figure in the top three - Ravi Chandran

Do you agree with the Wisden 100? E-mail your views to feedback@wisden.com.

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