As mentioned in an earlier post, Cricinfo, as a part of its 25 year anniversary celebrations, is inviting readers to pick their dream team across formats from 1995 to 2017. The shortlist can be found here. With 46 players the shortlist is larger than the test shortlist and consists of 21 batsmen ( including 3 keepers ), 11 all-rounders and 14 bowlers including 4 spinners. Dale Steyn, Rohit Sharma and Virender Sehwag were surprising omissions in the list. Readers have to pick at least 5 from the 21 batsmen including atleast 1 keeper and a minimum of 5 from the bowlers and all-rounders. The one additional slot is up to our discretion. Here’s my pick from the list. This is again not basis any statistics but only from what i have watched.
Adam Gilchrist (WK ), Sachin Tendulkar, Ricky Ponting, AB De Villiers, Michael Bevan, Shakib Al Hasan, Lance Klusener, Shaun Pollock, Wasim Akram, Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath.
This team is slightly more concentrated as compared to the test XI – 5 Australians, 3 South Africans, 1 Indian, 1 Bangladeshi, 1 Pakistani. 4 of them also feature in the test XI ( Gilchrist, Tendulkar, Akram, Warne )
In terms of team mix I have gone for 4 specialist batsmen and 1 keeper. I have added 3 all-rounders to the team which includes one spinner, one medium pacer and one all-rounder who is good enough to open the bowling. In terms of specialist bowlers, I have opted for 1 left arm fast bowler who is also a decent bat, 1 leg spinner and 1 fast bowler. Theoretically the team bats all the way down to No. 9 and has six full-time bowlers in addition to a couple of batsmen who can roll their arms if required. The only missing link is an off spinner and like in the test XI, I would choose Murali as the 12th man.
The rationale for the choices are as follows:
1. Openers – Sachin Tendulkar and Adam Gilchrist: Sachin Tendulkar is a straight shoo-in. No words are enough to describe his genius. Period. Adam Gilchrist is a personal favorite. He changed the way keepers were looked upon and his stint as an opener for Australia was characterized by multiple hard-hitting innings where he took the game away from the opposition in no time.
3. Ricky Ponting: Ricky Ponting at his peak was an unstoppable force. He virtually decimated bowling attacks across the world. He also had the uncanny knack of coming good on big occasions. Indians would well remember his century in the 2003 world cup finals. He also captained his team to multiple world cup victories and by the virtue of it would also be the captain of this team. Many also regarded him to the best fielder in his time – quite an achievement considering that his career overlapped with Jonty Rhodes. Lara was a close contender for this number 3 slot.
4. AB De Villiers: Another personal favorite. In my mind ( and in the minds of a lot of other cricket fans ), this man is the most complete batsman of all time. He is still not spoken about in the same breadth as a Tendulkar or a Richards but i believe cricket historians will judge him much better. His fielding is no less brilliant and he can genuinely claim to a successor of Jonty Rhodes. ABD along with Ponting would be the fielding lynchpins of the team.
5. Michael Bevan: This was a tough one and may surprise people especially when the shortlist consisted the likes of Virat Kohli. I was very tempted to go for Kohli but finally settled for Bevan. Bevan at one point of time had an atrociously high batting average – yes even better than Tendulkar. He used to bat at 5/6 relentlessly accumulating of runs in the middle over at a brisk pace and was the original king of finishes. He was also very good in batting with the tail and won many matches for Australia.
6. Shakib Al Hasan: I wanted to have atleast one all-rounder with spin bowling capabilities. The choices available were Afridi, Jayasurya, Shoaib Malik and Shakib. Shakib is a much better bowler than Jayasurya and Shoaib Malik and while he may not be as explosive a batsman as Jayasurya and Afridi, he certainly is a lot more consistent and reliable as compared to the other two. He also has played in the middle order most of his career as compared to Afridi and Jayasurya who has their best days as openers. With respect to Malik, while both Shakib & Malik bring similar value in terms of bat, Shakib’s ability to be both a wicket taker and a containing bowler gives him an edge over Malik.
7. Lance Klusener: Lance Klusener was the man of the tournament in the 1999 World Cup held in England. He was an explosive hitter and had he played a generation later he would have been the toast of T20 leagues. He was also an effective bowler and could have walked into most teams for either of his skill sets. His presence in this team adds considerable balance by providing the team a genuine hard-hitting batsman at 7 and his bowling abilities give the team a valuable 6th option who could bowl 10 overs if needed. This too was a tough call considering that the shortlist had the likes of Shane Watson, Jacques Kallis and Chris Cairns. I just feel that Lance Klusener is suited more for a # 7 position rather than a Watson who would be better off opening or a Kallis at 3/4. While Cairns could be as entertaining as Klusener and was of similar bowling abilities, I believe that Klusener’s batting had that extra additionally explosiveness that gave him an edge over Cairns.
8. Shaun Pollock: Shaun Pollock opened the bowling for South Africa for a number of years and was known to be extremely measly with conceding runs while having the knack of taking wickets regularly. His bowling is good enough for him to walk into the team as the main bowler and hence having him in this team as a the first change bowler adds a lot of heft to the bowling. He can also come back in the death overs and keep things tight. In addition to this he was quite a handy bat and could wield the long handle to good effect when required. Flintoff was a close contender but i think Pollock is a much superior bowler and hence the right pick for number 8.
9. Wasim Akram: As stated in the earlier post on the test XI, Akram is probably the greatest left arm fast bowler of all time. He had a wide variety of deliveries including a deadly yorker and was virtually unplayable when he was at his best. He was instrumental in Pakistan lifting the 1992 World Cup and had a fairly successful stint as a captain. He was also a decent bat and more than accomplished to strike a few long blows at # 9. Mitchell Johnson and Chaminda Vaas were other contenders for the left armer slot but Akram is streets ahead.
10. Shane Warne: He along with Murali were by far the best spinners in the time period considered. I have a preference for leg spin and hence he gets the cut over Murali.
11. Glenn McGrath: By far the meanest of all bowlers who played in this area. At his best he regularly took the best batsman of the opposite team early. His record against both Lara and Tendulkar are exemplary. His presence was an important element of the all-conquering Aussie team of the late 1990’s and 2000s.
Like the test XI, I will come up with a follow on post selecting a XI purely on basis of statistics.