Yesterday I selected the Best World Cup XI from the southern hemisphere.
Today I’ll try my hand at the Best World Cup XI (plus reserves) from the northern hemisphere.
This includes players from England, the West Indies, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Afghanistan based on statistics in World Cup matches from 1975 to 2015.
Statistical criteria: A player should have scored 900 runs or more or taken 30 wickets or more in World Cup matches. For all-rounders, the criteria are not applied rigidly.
Players batting and bowling statistics are presented below in the two Tables below.
The Southern Hemisphere World Cup XI
World Cup batsmen
| Batsman | Matches | Runs | HS | Ave | SR | 100s | 50s | 6s | Ct |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sachin Tendulkar (Ind) | 45 | 2278 | 152 | 56.95 | 88.98 | 6 | 15 | 27 | 12 |
| Kumar Sangakkara (SL) | 37 | 1532 | 124 | 56.74 | 86.55 | 5 | 7 | 14 | 41^ |
| Brian Lara (WI) | 34 | 1225 | 116 | 42.24 | 86.26 | 2 | 7 | 17 | 16 |
| Sanath Jayasuriya (SL) | 38 | 1165 | 120 | 34.26 | 90.66 | 3 | 6 | 27 | 18 |
| Tillakaratne Dilshan (SL) | 27 | 1112 | 161* | 52.95 | 92.97 | 4 | 4 | 9 | 12 |
| Mahela Jayawardene (SL) | 40 | 1100 | 115* | 35.48 | 85.93 | 4 | 5 | 12 | 16 |
| Javed Miandad (Pak) | 33 | 1083 | 103 | 43.32 | 68.02 | 1 | 8 | 3 | 10 |
| Arvinda de Silva (SL) | 35 | 1064 | 145 | 36.68 | 86.57 | 2 | 6 | 15 | 14 |
| Viv Richards (WI) | 23 | 1013 | 181 | 63.31 | 85.05 | 3 | 5 | 22 | 9 |
| Sourav Ganguly (Ind) | 21 | 1006 | 183 | 55.88 | 77.50 | 4 | 3 | 25 | 1 |
| Shivnarine Chanderpaul (WI) | 31 | 970 | 102* | 40.41 | 62.13 | 1 | 7 | 13 | 7 |
| Arjuna Ranatunga (SL) | 30 | 969 | 88* | 46.14 | 80.95 | 0 | 7 | 7 | 7 |
| Chris Gayle (WI) | 26 | 944 | 215 | 37.76 | 91.11 | 2 | 4 | 37 | 13 |
| Saeed Anwar (Pak) | 21 | 915 | 113* | 53.82 | 79.08 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 3 |
Sangakkara also stumped 13 (a record).
World Cup bowlers
| Bowler | Matches | Wickets | BB | Ave | ER | SR | 5w/i | 4 w/i | Ct |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Muttiah Muralitharan (SL) | 39 | 71 | 7-15 | 18.19 | 3.96 | 27.5 | 2 | 0 | 5 |
| Wasim Akram (Pak) | 25 | 38 | 4-17 | 24.02 | 4.17 | 34.5 | 0 | 2 | 3 |
| Chaminda Vaas (SL) | 23 | 36 | 4-39 | 21.33 | 4.21 | 30.3 | 0 | 2 | 13 |
| Zaheer Khan (Ind) | 32 | 36 | 4-18 | 32.44 | 4.14 | 46.9 | 0 | 2 | 9 |
| Javagal Srinath (Ind) | 17 | 35 | 5-42 | 17.97 | 4.57 | 23.5 | 1 | 2 | 12 |
| Lasith Malinga (SL) | 21 | 34 | 4-27 | 19.23 | 4.12 | 27.9 | 0 | 2 | 8 |
| Imran Khan (Pak) | 18 | 34 | 4-39 | 21.50 | 5.35 | 24.0 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Anil Kumble (Ind) | 17 | 33 | 7-33 | 23.75 | 5.11 | 27.8 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| Ian Botham (Eng) | 17 | 32 | 4-29 | 19.50 | 3.83 | 30.5 | 0 | 4 | 2 |
| Shoaib Akhtar (Pak) | 28 | 32 | 4-7 | 26.90 | 4.43 | 36.4 | 0 | 1 | 7 |
| Shahid Afridi (Pak) | 31 | 31 | 5-36 | 31.29 | 3.60 | 52.0 | 1 | 0 | 12 |
Sri Lanka’s Kumar Sangakkara. (AFP/Marty Melville)
Who will open the innings? India’s ever popular and prolific Sachin Tendulkar is a certainty, having scored most runs in World Cup (2278), hitting most centuries (six) and most fifties (15).
His opening partner will be Chris Gayle from the West Indies. His top score of 215 is second only to New Zealander Martin Guptil’s 237 not out. Gayle smashed 37 sixes – a record he shares with South Africa’s AB de Villiers.
The Windies Master Blasters Brian Lara and Vivian Richards swagger in at number 3 and 4 as the opposition captain places most of his fielders on the boundary line.
There are many candidates for number 5. I go for Pakistan’s Javed Miandad for his stylish batting. Sri Lanka’s wicketkeeper batsman Kumar Sangakkara comes in at number six. He scored 1532 runs at an impressive average of 56.74 and made most dismissals, 54 (41 caught and 13 stumped).
Who will captain the side? It will be the legendary all-rounder and future Prime Minister of Pakistan – Imran Khan. Apart from taking 34 wickets at 19.26 he also scored 666 runs at 35.05 hitting an unbeaten century. He led Pakistan to a World Cup win in Melbourne in 1991-92.
Team mate Wasim Akram will open the bowling with him.
We need three more bowlers, one seamer and two spinners. On statistics, Sri Lanka’s fast medium Chaminda Vaas cannot be bypassed. He captured 49 wickets at 21.22, once taking 6 for 25.
Another Sri Lankan, controversial off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan, is a certainty. That leaves one spot for a leg-spinner. So in comes India’s leg-break and googly bowler Anil Kumble.
Sri Lankan bowler Muttiah Muralitharan in the whites. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)
12th man
My choice is Sri Lanka’s left-hand opening batsman Sanath Jayasuriya. With Tendulkar and Gayle to open the batting, Jayasuriya could not make it in the XI. He has impressive figures though. Apart from registering three centuries he also took 27 wickets.
One needs a good fielder to be an ideal 12th man and he held 18 catches, most catches for a non-wicketkeeper from the northern hemisphere.
Another opener, the venturesome Virender Sehwag (“Viru” to his admirers, “virulent” to opposition opening bowlers) misses out as he scored 843 runs, 57 short of reaching our criterion.
We need three reserves from six candidates below to select the Best XV:
Sri Lanka’s hairy, fiery fast-medium bowler Lasith ‘Slinga’ Malinga has a strong claim to be in the squad of 15. In 22 matches he captured 43 wickets at 21.11.
He is the only bowler to take two hat-tricks in the World Cup which include the unique achievement of taking four wickets in four balls.
Arvinda de Silva scored 1064 runs at 36.68 at a SR of 86.58 hitting two centuries (HS 145), six fifties and 15 sixes. India’s Sourav Ganguly scored 1006 runs at 55.88 hitting four centuries (HS 183), three fifties and 25 sixes.
Then there are two batsmen from Sri Lanka, the aggressive Tillakaratne Dilshan and the classy Mahela Jayawardene.
India’s all-rounder Kapil Dev has been edged out narrowly by Imran Khan. In 26 matches Kapil scored 669 runs at 37.16 with an impressive SR of 115.14, hit one century (175 not out) and one fifty and 14 sixes, took 28 wickets at 31.85, best bowling 5 for 43, ER 3.76, SR 50.7 and 12 catches.
England’s all-rounder Ian Botham scored 297 runs in 22 matches at an average of 18.56, SR of 62.39 and HS of 53. He also took 30 wickets at 25.40, ER 3.43, SR 44.4, best bowling 4 for 31 and 10 catches.
My vote for the reserves goes to Sri Lankans Malinga, Dilshan and Jayawardene.
Here is the World Cup northern hemisphere XI in batting order
1. Sachin Tendulkar (India)
2. Chris Gayle (West Indies)
3. Brian Lara (West Indies)
4. Vivian Richards (West Indies)
5. Javed Miandad (Pakistan)
6. Kumar Sangakkara (Sri Lanka, wicketkeeper),
7. Imran Khan (Pakistan, captain)
8. Wasim Akram (Pakistan)
9. Anil Kumble (India),
10. Chaminda Vaas (Sri Lanka)
11. Muttiah Muralitharan (Sri Lanka).
12th man: Sanath Jayasuriya (Sri Lanka).
Reserves: Sri Lanka’s Lasith Malings, untilakaratne Dilshan and Mahela Jayawardene.
Yesterday, the best southern hemisphere team was selected by me based on similar statistical criteria. Just as Australian cricketers dominated the southern hemisphere squad, Sri Lankans have had lions’ share in the northern hemisphere squad.
Who will win this hypothetical super match between the two hemispheres? I leave it to the knowledgeable Roarers.
The watcher
Guest
One player who I would have had in there regardless of whether he enough wickets was Malcolm Marshall. Really unlucky in that he only got 2 World Cups and the second was in India and Pakistan- not exactly known for being great conditions for fast bowlers. And he could bat too. Problem was with Garner Holding Ambrose Walsh in support he hardly had too.
Wobbly
Guest
Great articles to wind up the poms. Besides Beefy as a possible 5th reserve... nada! Effing brilliant.
Kersi Meher-Homji
Expert
Anindya, I enjoy a debate in team selection and you have raised interesting and valid points. Chris Gayle is my first choice as an opener in limited overs cricket. Just look at his Strike Rate. I would have loved to have Ganguly, Jayasuriya and Dilshan in my team, as also Lloyd, Botham and Kapil. Perhaps one can select two teams from the Northern Hemisphere. Thank you for making the debate lively.
Anindya Dutta
Roar Guru
While I had less disagreements on the other side, this one I do have some differences of opinion with. First, the opening pair. I don’t believe Chris Gayle deserves a place. The pair up there for me without a doubt need to be Tendulkar and Ganguly. Ganguly averaged almost 20 runs more than Gayle. By sheer numbers they are the greatest ODI opening pair in history. Consider this: 1) Over 11 years, they scored 6609 runs in 136 innings. 2) They put on 23 half-century partnerships and 21-century partnerships, the highest by a fair distance, the next best being 16. 3) They also hold the record for most opening partnership runs in victories, 65 out of 136, averaging 67.95 exceeding even Haynes and Grrenidge. I am a bit lost as to why Miandad is in the team. I cannot see how he can have any claim to a slot givennhis recird. Surely Dilshan or Saeed Anwar deserves it more by sheer numbers? Once you make a couple of changes, I think you will have an awesome team to challenge the South!
Kersi Meher-Homji
Expert
Thank you Peterj.
Peterj
Guest
That is some team! Wow! When you’re leaving Jayasuria on the bench, a guy who changed the way ODI cricket is played you know you’ve got a strong team. Great article both today and yesterday. Thanks for the read!
Paul
Roar Guru
The concern from an English perspective has to be how few players rate highly in this form of the game. Sure, they have some guys who are expected to do well in this Cup, but considering they invented short form cricket, I thought they'd have had better quality exponents over the past 40 years or so.
Kersi Meher-Homji
Expert
Paul, it was hard to leave out England's Ian Botham as also WI's Clive Lloyd and India's Kapil Dev. I would have liked to include this trio with Lloyd as the captain. But I have gone with statistics rather than on my personal opinion.
Paul
Roar Guru
I'll bet your English readers will be thrilled Kersi, with only player rating a mention.
Kersi Meher-Homji
Expert
Thank YOU dungerBob. I try to go for the unusual. A comment like yours makes the hard work so rewarding. You are correct in saying that the venue could be the decider.
dungerBob
Roar Rookie
Well, that's a very powerful side you've got there. As to who would win between this one and the pesky southerners I think much would depend on where the games where played. The reason I say this is because I feel the batting more or less cancels each other out and it would get down to who bowls better on the day. The south team has a better pace attack imo but the northerners have the edge with spin. If the game was played on the sub continent the northerners might have the advantage but if it was played in Australasia or South Africa the southerners would be slight favourites. Either way it would be one hell of a game and I would pay good money to watch it. .. This was a very interesting exercise and a lot of fun to think about. Thanks Kersi, good work mate.