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Self confessed sporting fanatic and long suffering Liverpool and St Kilda fan Dream job is to be the ball-by-ball bloke on Cricinfo: 1.1 - Cummins to Burns. Dot Ball Cummins bowls a length ball outside off stump and Burns leaves.
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Backing up from my previous article is a rest of the world XI to play my greatest Indian Test XI in India. As with…
With India’s recent series victory in Australia, I thought it might be fitting to continue my series of greatest all-time XIs with the nation…
Having picked my all-time England XI, I need a side to play against them. Below is my all-time Rest of the World XI to…
The English famously invented the game of cricket and played in the first ever Test match in 1877 against Australia. Since then, no other…
Who shall our All-time Australian XI play against? How about a Rest of the World XI comprising overseas players from the other cricketing nations?…
Australia is the most successful nation in Test match history with more wins and a higher winning percentage than any other established nation in…
Why outside of Singapore Bernie?
I’m from Singapore originally. It’s a majority Chinese country but Chinese people aren’t the native people of the country. Should still count as a migrant population
The all-time ROW XI to play against India in India
Hi Bernie,
Yes. From Durban which I believe is the city with the highest Indian population in the world outside of India 👍
The all-time ROW XI to play against India in India
Make that 5 Test Match hundreds and an average close to 30 now Zak 😊
India's greatest-ever Test XI
Hi mate,
If I was selecting this side in 2010 I’d probably put Hazare in. If you consider that Mankad plays, as the left arm spinner, then selecting the best offie (which at that time would’ve been Prasanna) makes sense.
I still would’ve gone with Zaheer Khan over Srinath but part of that is personal bias – I just never rated Javagal. I can’t get the memory (different format as it was) of Srinath getting pasted all over the Wanderers in the 2003 World Cup Final by Ponting & Martyn out of my head.
This X1 picked in 2010 tells me I’m on the right track with my selections though!
India's greatest-ever Test XI
Underwood as the most successful spinner after Warne in general or in the subcontinent?
The all-time ROW XI to play against India in India
You’re excessively kind here Micko! 😂 😂
The all-time ROW XI to play against India in India
Point taken WillowWiz.
It’s just that my feel when it comes to these All Time X1s is to pick two genuine openers (in itself probably an arbitrary and subjective distinction).
I reckon there are 3 ‘great’ middle order batsmen for every ‘great’ opener. More than half these All Time X1s would probably have a middle order batsman opening if you were to just select the best 5 or 6 batsmen.
Certainly when considering how to fit Ponting, Bradman, Waugh, Border, Chappell into 3 in the All Time Aussie X1 (because Keith Miller has the number 6 spot), the easy thing to do would be to open one of them alongside Hayden.
I don’t think Ponsford, Trumper, Morris etc holds a candle to those 5 names above, but it would be a hollow Aussie X1 without two genuine openers. Get where I’m coming from?
The all-time ROW XI to play against India in India
Hi Raj,
KP’s Mumbai masterpiece in 2012 was definitely one of the greatest innings ever played that’s for sure!!
Overall though he averaged about 43 in India which is good but a fair way down the pecking order when you’re looking at pure Stats.
I do agree though that Stats don’t tell the full story and KP’s first tour of India in 2005/06 was only his third series as an England player and perhaps should be overlooked in the same way that I overlooked Malcolm Marshall’s first tour of India.
Not a bad call!
The all-time ROW XI to play against India in India
Hi Micko,
It certainly wasn’t going to be Tatenda Taibu I can tell you that much!!
The all-time ROW XI to play against India in India
Hi Paul,
Amla was definitely in the mix for a middle order spot. The thing that I counted against him (perhaps unfairly) was his ordinary final series in India.
When going through this exercise I tried to pick men who performed consistently great in India series on series. You’re trying to split hairs when looking at the greatest of all time in any category.
Unfair perhaps but that was the method to my madness.
The all-time ROW XI to play against India in India
Hi Bernie,
It’s a fair point but Clarke is nowhere near getting a guernsey for me even if you discard someone like Everton Weekes.
He only averages 40 in India compared with men who averaged in the 60s in recent times (of which Smith is one and the others are – Root, Jayawardene, Amla.
Ditto Warnie. Greatest spin bowler of all time maybe but there aren’t too many mitigating factors for his poor performances in India compared with others.
If we want to go with a more recent spin bowler Nathan Lyon would be my pick!
The all-time ROW XI to play against India in India
Hi WillowWiz,
One thing I will say is that India’s spin bowling has been world class for 40+ years. Think the likes of Bedi, Chandrasekhar, Prasanna.
Certainly until much more recent times (talking 2015ish….much later than 2000 anyway) their pace bowling has not been what I’d call world class.
I’d be happy to say overseas touring batsmen from say 1970 onwards who have done well have indeed made runs against elite or close to elite spin attacks in India (which for the most part comprised the whole Indian attack).
What’s your thoughts?
The all-time ROW XI to play against India in India
6 out of 11 isn’t bad!!!
Davidson would’ve been my 12th man. Younis Khan at opener is cheating because he wasn’t an opener!
The all-time ROW XI to play against India in India
Hi Dave,
It’s a fair point – comparing someone’s performances against weaker Indian sides as opposed to stronger ones.
I have to say for the large part that I disregarded this – perhaps incorrectly.
The all-time ROW XI to play against India in India
Hi Tigerbill,
Vinoo Mankad was definitely a legend of Indian bowling and would add a left arm option for sure.
He was the olden day Ravi Jadeja maybe.
India's greatest-ever Test XI
Nope Hyderabad. It’s where Laxman is from too.
Ganguly is from Calcutta.
India's greatest-ever Test XI
Great point here WillowWiz.
I am about to do a ROW X1 to play India in India so I have to say that my X1 was selected ultimately in mind for a home test series in India.
If we were to pick a team for a Test match or series in a ‘NESA’ country then I’d go with the 1 spinner and 3 pace bowlers.
I’d have to say that Ravi Ashwin’s record away from the Subcontinent isn’t much more flash than Kumble. Bishen Bedi would be my spinner’s pick.
Your point about Sehwag is interesting and something I might have overlooked. I’d have to go look and see what openers performed well in NESA countries (not entirely sure about the Pujara opening pick here). From what I can see Shikhar Dhawan and Gautam Gambhir had relatively poor records in Australia and England but solid records in New Zealand and Gambhir had an excellent record in South Africa.
Your Shami pick is interesting too. I definitely think that the second fast bowler’s spot in this All Time X1 is his if he can play for a few more years.
India's greatest-ever Test XI
Hi WillowWiz,
If it wasn’t for Kohli, Azhar would have been very close to getting the #5 slot although I personally would’ve still gone for Laxman.
I thought both were very similar type batsmen, wristy and ironically both hailing from Hyderabad.
India's greatest-ever Test XI
Hi Timbo Wilderbeeste,
Wowwee!! Your comments makes me wonder if you even read my article at all.
Where have I said that I’m selecting players based on whether I’ve seen them in action? I’m 32 and never saw Gavaskar or Kapil Dev play. I think you might have made that up or somehow come to this nonsensical conclusion based off my reminiscing of the great innings and performances that I did see in my descriptions of recent players.
The only part of your comment that makes sense is your argument for Bedi above Ashwin. As mentioned this was a very close selection but I went for Ashwin based on his numbers. I never saw Bedi play so it is obviously very hard for me to pass judgement on who was the better bowler by the eye test but this in no way meant I discarded him, Prasanna and Chandrasekhar simply because of this. Those that saw both Bedi and Ashwin bowl and prefer Bedi probably know more than me in this regard. No problems with you wanting Bedi over Ashwin.
Your comment about a right-left hand combination and Ganguly’s inclusion I have to say made my day. Number 1, Sourav Ganguly opened the batting in Test Cricket in exactly 1 innings scoring 11. I think you’re confusing your One Day cricket with Test Matches here mate. I would have a great deal more respect for your comment here if you had mentioned someone like Gautam Gambhir or Shikhar Dhawan.
Number 2, a left-right hand combination I agree is preferable but no knowledgable cricket person I know would consider selecting someone in a side ahead of someone else that is more deserving just because they need a left-right hand combination. If so, Australia would have stuck with Michael Slater over Langer and one of Gordon Greenidge and Desmond Haynes would have been turfed.
In regards to your comments about the pace bowling lineup, I have to say that I’m struggling to understand where you’re coming from here too. You talk about Zaheer Khan not being a match winner (which I agree with by the way) and only taking 3 wickets a game at nearly 33 but yet say you would pick Ishant Sharma who averages 32 and has a worse strike rate and wickets per game ratio than Zaheer.
I agree that India has produced a number of world class spinners and very few, if any great pace bowlers but you can’t select a side without pace bowlers in it. Nowhere did I say that every single pace bowler in this lineup was an out and out champion like a McGrath or DK Lillee. What I perhaps should have done was dropped a pace bowler in place of Bishen Bedi and gone in with 2 pacemen (including Kapil) and 3 spinners.
Also, yes I know what seaming the ball is, but the phrase seamer is generally used throughout the cricketing world as referring to a fast bowler in general. I’m sorry that that comment ruffled your feathers and I didn’t use something like ‘this guy is a right handed outswing bowler’ or ‘left arm generally around the wicket, sometimes swings it away, sometimes swings it in and occasionally gets a bit of cut off the deck away from the right hander’ bowler.
India's greatest-ever Test XI
Hi Tanmoy,
Kapil and Dhoni can interchange sure, I just thought I’d go with Dhoni as he’s got the higher average and it relieves some of the batting pressure off Kapil who would bowl plenty of overs too.
India's greatest-ever Test XI
Hi JGK,
I always thought Dhoni was an excellent keeper actually. You don’t agree?
India's greatest-ever Test XI
Hi Paul,
That’s actually not a bad call. The only problem would be the enormous load put on Kapil Dev’s shoulders to be one of two specialist pace bowlers as well as bat a bit.
Having said that Ashwin and Kumble have test hundreds so the batting is already fairly deep.
Two pacemen in India could work I guess. Good call!
India's greatest-ever Test XI
Google tells me it’s New York but that can’t be right surely.
The all-time ROW XI to play against India in India