confused by possessive nouns and pronouns

[joey]

Hello GMAT geniuses!,
Please help me out:

(those vs that, apostrophe or not ?)

1. Sachin's batting skills are superior to that of Bradman
2. Sachin's batting skills are superior to that of Bradman's
3. Sachin's batting skills are superior to those of Bradman
4. Sachin's batting skills are superior to those of Bradman's
5. Sachin's batting skills are superior to Bradman's

Please say which of the above is correct & why ?

[chatekar]

2, 3, and 4 are wrong to me.
2 and 4 for reputations of possessiveness indicators
and 3, I think for using 'those'

Between 1 and 5 i would go for 1.

Moderators, please guide.

[moneyman]

I would go with 2 because the comparison is made of A's skills to that of B's

[beny]

5. works.

[joey]

Yes 5 works I agree.

But there is still considerable confusion among members of this forum
on choices 1-4.

I want to know WHY each answer choice is wrong, not just that 5 is right --
even if its a trivial explanation.

Moderators and others, please spend a few more minutes on it.

[devesh]

1. Sachin's batting skills are superior to that of Bradman
2. Sachin's batting skills are superior to that of Bradman's
3. Sachin's batting skills are superior to those of Bradman
4. Sachin's batting skills are superior to those of Bradman's
5. Sachin's batting skills are superior to Bradman's
that is incorrect in 1and 2
those of bradman's is double possesive.
between 3 and 5
3 is more clear although 5 is concise.

[BTGmoderatorRO]

Possessive adjective is an adjective that is used to show ownership . It comes before a noun in the sentence and it allow us to know to whom the noun belongs.
Many cased of ownership are shown with possessive nouns ( Karen's, children's). These possessive adjectives are not nouns and are not formed by adding by adding an apostrophe + s.

Skill is used as an adjective in the above sentence; thus, it is a possessive adjective.
Since we are referring the skill of both Sachin and Bradman, there is no need to use 'that of'.

Hence, Option 5 is the right answer
Sachin's batting skills are superior to Bradman's