ALL TIME WORLD XI - FINAL TEAM WITH A CAPTAIN

Over four posts on this blog, I have analysed and selected my team for the Cricinfo’s All-Time World XI Test team. Here is a look at the entire team: 

1. Sir Jack Hobbs (England)
2. Virender Sehwag (India)
3. Sir Donald Bradman (Australia)
4. Sachin Tendulkar (India)
5. Ken Barrington (England)
6. Jacques Kallis (South Africa)
7. Adam Gilchrist (Australia)
8. Imran Khan (Pakistan)
9. Shane Warne (Australia)
10. Muttiah Muralitharan (Sri Lanka)
11. Malcolm Marshall (West Indies)

Looks a formidable side, doesn’t it? However, when I was discussing this side with a friend, he told me that it is indeed a very strong side, but it really does not have a feel of being the ALL-TIME XI. And so I took another searching look at it.

And I thought that he had a point. The names in the side are big champions in their own right, but does this resemble what an ALL-TIME XI should be like? He told me that I should consider removing either Jacques Kallis or Muttiah Muralitharan, and consider putting in a fast bowler like Dennis Lilllee or Michael Holding or Fred Trueman or Allan Donald or even Curtly Ambrose or Waqar Younis or Wasim Akram.

He was of the opinion that of all the great, fiery and devastating fast bowlers that have ruled our game, it is quite meek that my ALL-TIME WORLD XI’s new ball attack be headed by just Malcolm Marshall and Imran Khan, with Jacques Kallis as the first change pacer. In my post about the bowlers, Elegantstroke had a similar comment about the new ball attack.

And so I made two changes. I replaced Jacques Kallis with Sir Garfield Sobers and then replaced Muttiah Muralitharan with Fred Trueman. Two contemporary greats replaced by two past greats. The rationale behind this is simple: Sir Garry Sobers is another batting all rounder like Jacques Kallis, but he is a spinning all rounder rather than a medium pace one. Having made this change, I could then omit Murali from the team (rather painfully… you see, 800 wickets is quite a loss) and bring in lightening speed and fire in the form of Fred Trueman. With a strike rate of a wicket in a little of every 8 overs, I have ensured that on an average day, my new ball attack will bring me 2 wickets by the end of their first spell.

So here’s the look at my new bowling unit: Malcolm Marshall, Fred Trueman, Imran Khan, Shane Warne and Sir Garfield Sobers. Does this sound better than the previous one… I think so!

So my final team for the Cricinfo ALL-TIME WORLD XI in is:

1. Sir Jack Hobbs (England)
2. Virender Sehwag (India)
3. Sir Donald Bradman (Australia)
4. Sachin Tendulkar (India)
5. Ken Barrington (England)
6. Sir Garfield Sobers (West Indies)
7. Adam Gilchrist (Australia)
8. Imran Khan (Pakistan)
9. Shane Warne (Australia)
10. Malcolm Marshall (West Indies)
11. Fred Trueman (Australia)

And now comes the question of captaincy… there are only three reasonable contenders for this job – Sir Donald Bradman, Sir Garry Sobers and Imran Khan. Here are their records as captains:

• Sir Donald Bradman: M 24 W 15 D 6 L 3, and his batting average improved to 101.51 from a career average of 99.94
• Sir Garfield Sobers: M 39 W 9 D 20 L 10, and his batting as well as bowing averages were almost identical to his career averages
• Imran Khan: M 48 W 14 D 26 L 8, and his batting average improved to 52.34 from 37.69 and his bowling average improved to 20.26 from 22.81 

So it was a fight between Imran Khan and Sir Don Bradman. Though Imran’s feats are prima facie relatively more impressive, I would still go for Sir Don Bradman. I know Imran Khan had to lead a Pakistani side, which is always more difficult than Sir Don’s Australia… but the captaincy of ALL-TIME WORLD XI is not only a recognition of their abilities, but also an honour. And no one deserves this honour more than Sir Donald Bradman.

ALL TIME WORLD XI - THE MIDDLE ORDER

Oh well, this is one difficult task. Selecting the middle order of the World's All-Time Test XI. Before I start this exercise, I'll mention the team that I have already picked thus far in one previous blog.

Openers: Sir Jack Hobbs, Virender Sehwag.
Wicketkeeper: Adam Gilchrist.

Now, the middle order... there's the question of whether it should be a 3-man or a 4-man middle order... and there are some BIG names eligible. Here's a look at the Test numbers of the men selected by Cricinfo as eligible for selection into the World XI:

Seriously big names and seriously difficult decision. My first task was shortlisting some names who are good enough to make the cut for the All-Time World XI team in my opinion. Those names are highlighted yellow.

As great the others above are, I do not think that they are ones to make the cut for the All-Time World XI. It was a particularly difficult decision to leave out Greg Chappell and Rahul Dravid, but I had no choice. This decision was based on the numbers listed above, their profile descriptions on Cricinfo and whatever other knowledge I possessed of their cricket.

Now, Kallis was causing a bit of a problem. He is too good a bowler to be considered as a specialist middle-order batsman. So, I have cut him out of this analysis and decided to include him in my All Rounders analysis. This then made the task slightly easier for me as I was able to decide upon the formation of my team, which will be: 2 Openers, 3 Middle Order Batsmen, 2 All Rounders, 1 Wicketkeeper and 3 Bowlers.

What remains in front of me is a list of 10 batsmen... the best you can find anywhere! And I have to select just 3 of them... a pity!

The easiest selection was the No. 3 spot... no one can hold that other than Sir Donald Bradman. I don't even have to discuss his case further. The numbers, the stories, the quotes... there's everything available to back this decision.

And for the 2 remaining spots, I choose Ken Barrington and Sachin Tendulkar. Again, it was very difficult to leave out Brian Lara, George Headley, Sir Viv Richards and Wally Hammond. But after frying my brains over it, I settled on the former two.

Sir Viv Richards lost a place in my team because for all his intimidating persona, his Test records fall short of the other mighty men included above. And to inspire fear in the bowlers, I have Sehwag opening the batting for this team. That ensured that Viv missed out.

Omitting George "The Black Bradman" Headley was even more difficult. In fact, I penned him in my team initially before scratching his name out. What counted against him was that all his runs have come against the English and Australian attacks in those two countries and his home archipelago of West Indies. He just played 1 Test at a different place - against Indian at Delhi where he made 2. So he was never really tested on slower pitches against good spin bowling. He did not even play South Africa ever. That led to his omission. Not his fault, but I really can't help it much.

Barrington and Tendulkar climbed the ladder above Lara and Hammond because they have played everywhere, scored everywhere and scored BIG everywhere... In Tendulkar, the team has a player who can bat in any gear, can adapt his game for any situation and play any bowler. Barrington got in as he could provide the ideal foil with his resolute style of batting. His natural game, according to his Cricinfo profile, was attacking... but he changed it to be a "stonewaller" and thus, he becomes a part of my team.

I know there will be many objections to this selection... I just hope the Don at least is approved by all. Please do comment about my middle order selection and let me know about your opinions.

GANGULY TAKES HIS SHIRT OFF

A brattish upstart brings the tone of Lord's down a notch or two

London, 13 July 2002

I remember it vividly. Mum was woken from her sleep, dad was going ballistic in his rocking chair, and I was prancing between hall, kitchen and mid-air. All of a sudden, one glance at the television and there was Sourav Ganguly baring his torso, swinging his India shirt, hurling invective, making quite a spectacle of himself.

The camera moved to Freddie Flintoff, a destroyed bowler, squatting on the pitch after conceding the winning run. The same Flintoff who'd charged topless around the Wankhede Stadium a few months earlier. Ganguly, standing on the Lord's balcony, was delivering the mother of all tit-for-tats, and it took some time before we could grasp the enormity of the defiance. Headquarters of cricket, the MCC's sanctum sanctorum, egg-and-bacon ties… and here was a scene out of Kolkata's Salt Lake Stadium after a local derby.

An extraordinary match got its perfect climax - hero extracting revenge and indulging in a war dance. The Wankhede and Lord's would be treated equally. We needed no further vindication that this Indian team was playing an inspired brand of cricket, not only with bat and ball but also with the head, and that it would wear its heart on its sleeve.

Dad, who grew up on tales of Ken Barrington, was a little shocked when he witnessed the scenes, and we ended up having a silly argument over the "spirit of the game". I simply loved it, mostly because it was the one moment where the essence of Ganguly was plain to see, the one moment we related perfectly to. Dada taught us several things on the cricket field; that day, he taught us how to celebrate.

- Siddhartha Vaidyanathan

Link to the Original Article - Ranked at No. 37 by Cricinfo.