Even as the curtains were raised for another riveting contest between the two titans of test cricket, I was busy picking my own all time World XI on the sidelines. The posting was delayed by a very very special innings at Mohali. I was expecting something special from my No. 4 in Bangalore to make up for the let down in Punjab. Having got it from the Master, I cannot delay the posting any further as the CricInfo will be coming out with theirs on Monday. The riches at hand were intoxicating and only two out of the eleven picked themselves.
For the openers slots I have selected a vintage accumulator nonpareil, who could well have padded up and went to the crease, had he been alive this day and a modern day warrior, often touted as the very “savior” of test cricket. The first two men to walk into bat first for my team would be Sir John Berry Hobbs and Virender Sehwag.
Sir Jack seldom made “an uneducated stroke. When he misjudged the nature of a ball he could make the wrong right stroke”…he was one batsman who “widened and strengthened cricket’s appeal and history......the vintage Hobbs”, scorer of 199 centuries in first class cricket.
“Tests are all about strategy. Virender destroys all strategies. He brings the excitement and drama from the first ball. If Test cricket is still alive, it is because of players like him. It’s good for the game.” Matt Hayden
At one down comes the Don. When Nelson Mandela was released from prison after 27 years, his first question to an Australian visitor was;
“Is Sir Donald Bradman still alive?”
Cricket is a game thriving on statistics like no other and the statistics show that no sportsman had dominated an international sport to the extent that Bradman did in cricket. In order to post a similarly dominant career statistic, it is estimated that a baseball batter would require a career batting average of .392, while a basketball player would need to score an average of 43.0 points per game. The respective records are only .366 and 30.1!
To quote from Neville Cardus again; “Discussing him entirely from the point of view of a writer on the game, I am happy to say that he was for me a constant spur to ideas. A newspaper column couldn’t contain him. He was, as far as a cricketer can be, a genius.”
I don’t think that my humble blog can contain him either.
Sir Donald George Bradman, my No. 3
And my No. 4 is the man who reminded the Don of himself, the only player from the current generation to be included in Bradman’s XI. In 2002, Wisden ranked him the 2nd greatest Test batsman of all time, behind Sir Donald Bradman, and the 2nd greatest one day international batsman of all time, behind Sir Viv Richards. Shane Warne rated him as the greatest player he had played with or against. As a young boy he made Merv Hughes say to Allan Border; "This little prick's going to get more runs than you, AB" as an adult Matthew Hayden had this to say on him; "I have seen God; He bats at No. 4 for India in Tests". And as an ‘old man’ of 36 years and 306 days; he broke a 40-year-old barrier by scoring the first double-century in one-day cricket. It is now only a matter of time for him to become the first cricketer to score 100 international hundreds, which like Bradman's batting average could be a mark that lasts forever.
“Sachin is a genius, I am a mere mortal” Brian Lara.
Yes, simply Sachin, my No. 4.
For the next man in; you may have to wait, for he’ll keep you waiting, to prepare yourselves for the inevitable. Then he’ll appear, and begin what is the most imperial walk of all to the crease in cricket history. He would take guard, and then, chewing his gum disdainfully, he would walk a few steps down the pitch tapping it and turn his head to look the bowler in the eye. It is nothing but calculated menace and magnificent theatre from arguably the most devastating batsman of the history of the game. He remains one of only four non-English cricketers to have scored 100 first-class centuries, the others being Bradman, New Zealander Glenn Turner and Pakistani Zaheer Abbas. Wisden rates him as the greatest ODI batsman of all time, as well as the third greatest Test batsman of all time, after Bradman and Tendulkar. No other batsman in the history of the game could intimidate and rip apart bowling attacks like he did.
“I didn’t wrap myself up in cotton wool - with a helmet, a chest guard, an elbow guard - I did it the way men should and I’m proud of that…..I don’t look solely at what I achieved. I look at what the Caribbean and the other guys achieved in showing what teamwork can do. We all think so differently in the various parts of the Caribbean. We each have our different spices, we boast about them and other things because we are from another country and we represent that country. Being able to be in the same team as all these guys, to know the differences between us but still fulfill your goals - that to me was the greatest achievement.”
Yes, Sir Isaac Vivian Alexander Richards, the most destructive batsman I was fortunate to see in action; the only captain under whom West Indies never lost a series is my No. 5.
My all rounder is the greatest all-round cricketer the world has seen; the only player to score 300 plus runs and pick up more than 20 wickets in a Test series three times.
“A brilliant batsman, splendid fielder, particularly close to the wicket, and a bowler of extraordinary skill, whether bowling with the new ball, providing orthodox left-arm spin or over-the-wrist spin” Richie Benaud
“Sublime left-hand batsman….one of the greatest cricketers ever to have graced the game; certainly the greatest all-rounder….has a great cricketing brain and his thought processes are lightning quick”. Fred Trueman
Sir Garfield St. Augustine Sobers, left-handed batsman and bowler. His versatility enabled him to bowl all varieties of left-arm bowling from spin to fast-medium. As a fielder he was usually stationed close to the wicket but he was also a very capable outfielder.
My WK is one of the greatest wicket-keeper-batsmen in the history of the game; holder of the second most Test dismissals (416) and the most ODI dismissals by a wicketkeeper (455). His 17 Test and 16 ODI centuries are also the most by a wicket-keeper. His strike rate is amongst the highest in the history of both One-day and Test cricket; the only player to have hit 100 sixes in Test cricket. No wonder then that he was voted as the “World’s Scariest Batsman” in a poll of international bowlers. He changed the role of the wicketkeeper, changed the way batting orders were constructed. He became two cricketers, a dashing and dangerous batsman and a polished glove man. Throughout his career Australia were playing with 12 men.
“he completely changed the way we looked at wicketkeepers. After his ascent, specialist wicketkeepers started taking a back seat and wicketkeepers who could contribute big runs with the bat came into prominence. He put a lot of pressure on other teams to unearth players who would become genuine wicket keeping all-rounders.” Kumar Sangakkara
Adam Craig Gilchrist walks in for my XI, to scare away the bowlers
And to my bowlers now…three genuine quicks- one left armer- and a spinner.
My left arm quick is regarded as one of the best fast bowlers in cricket; perhaps the best left-arm fast bowler of all time. He holds the world record for most wickets in List A cricket with 881. He is considered to be one of the founders and perhaps the finest exponent of reverse swing bowling; the first bowler in international cricket to take more than 400 wickets in both forms of the game.
On passing his record, Glenn McGrath said, “Wasim Akram, to me, is one of the greatest bowlers of all time. Left-armer, swung it both ways with the new ball and he was so dangerous with the old ball. To go past him is something I will always remember.”
“Over my 15 or 16 years of playing international cricket in Tests and One Day Internationals, Wasim Akram is definitely the most outstanding bowler I’ve ever faced.” Brian Lara
Wasim Akram, the childhood hero, on whom the boyhood looks were modeled can easily walk into my XI; but purely on merit.
And my spinner was selected by a panel of cricket experts as one of the five Wisden Cricketers of the Century; the only specialist bowler selected in the quintet. He also has the third highest number of Man of the Match awards in Test cricket, with seventeen
Kim Hughes described him as the “Donald Bradman of bowling”
Shane Keith Warne is in my XI for his superior batting skills over Murali
And my first right arm fast bowler is the first man to take 300 Test wickets. Since then many have gone past him, but few have matched his average (21.57) and strike rate (a wicket every 49 balls). Wisden described him as probably the greatest fast bowler England has produced. But he believed himself to be “t’finest fast bowler that ever drew breath” and there were many who agreed with him.
Charismatic Frederick Sewards Trueman will be running in for my XI with the follow-through which “resembled a Sea Fury finishing its mission along the runway of an aircraft carrier”
And my other quick holds the world record for the highest number of Test wickets by a fast bowler. Known throughout his career for maintaining a remarkably accurate line and length, his consistency enabled him to be one of the most economical fast bowlers of his time. He had success against every opposition team, in both Test and one-day cricket. He deliberately and publicly targeted the opposition’s best batsmen prior to a series in an attempt to distract them. At the beginning of a series against the West Indies he stated, that he would dismiss Sherwin Campbell for his 299th wicket, then remove star batsman Brian Lara for his 300th wicket the very next ball. Not only it happened as he stated, he also followed this with the dismissal of Captain Jimmy Adams to complete a memorable hat trick!
Glenn Donald McGrath is in my XI “not only for his 563 Test wickets at 21.64 and his inescapable line and length, but also for his aura.”
So my XI is ready.
Now waiting for the Cricinfo list :)
