All time India-Pakistan One-day Eleven
As a child, I always hoped that one day, India and Pakistan would re-unite. This feeling was not borne out of any yearning for peace and brotherhood, but rather out of a deep rooted desire to see our national cricket team dominate the world game. I was convinced that together we packed enough punches to establish a new world order in International cricket.
My hopes received a big boost, when as a 12 year old; I saw the unified Korean team finally ending China’s hegemony in women’s Table Tennis at the World Championships in 1991. Surely, India and Pakistan could take a cue from the Koreas and keep their political differences aside for the sake of sports. And then, I saw the Asian team comprising mainly of Indians and Pakistanis, beat Europe and Australia to win the Inter-Continental Hockey title. It was a complete no- brainer now. The move for ‘Unified Teams’ would be hailed as a landmark effort to bring peace in the subcontinent and the ensuing success on the playing field would win over the populace on both sides of the LOC. The protagonists would win Nobel Peace awards and be voted in for life.
Alas, if wishes were horses, beggars would ride. As I write this, we have fought another war and made shameful exits from the WC 2007. Both nations are looking for new coaches and systems to revitalize their cricket.
So as a tribute to what could have been, I undertake the exercise of putting together an all time India –Pakistan One Day Eleven.
My first two selections are two of the greatest all-rounders of all time; each man inspirational in leading their country to World Cup triumphs – Kapil Dev and Imran Khan. Their presence gives amazing balance to the side, allowing me to play five regular bowlers, without compromising the batting. They will bat at 6 and 7 and could be called upon to open the bowling as well.
Four people vie for the openers’ slots - Sachin Tendulkar, Saurav Ganguly, Rameez Raja and Saeed Anwar. Sachin and Saurav make the cut based on superior individual records and also for having been one of the most successful opening acts in the game.
The middle order (slots 3, 4 and 5) is a real teaser. I need to pick three out of Zaheer Abbas, Majid Khan, Javed Miandad, Saleem Malik, Mohd Azharuddin, Rahul Dravid, Inzamam-ul-Haq, Yousuf Youhana, Ajay Jadeja and Mohinder Amarnath. I finally go with Inzy at three, Azhar at four and Javed Miandad at five.
With a strong supporting cast around, Inzamam can play freely and when he does that, he can murder the best attack in the world. Not picking Azhar would have been akin to sacrilege; he is easily the best proponent of what sub-continental batsmen have come to be known for – deft wristwork. Javed Miandad is the greatest street fighter, I have ever known. Just ask all the Indian fans in the 80’s, who believed he was the incarnate of the devil himself. If I have to pick someone to bat for my life, I would pick Javed ten times out of ten.
My wicket keeper is Moin Khan and he manages to beat off the competition from Syed Kirmani, Saleem Yousuf, Waseem Bari, Farookh Engineer, Rashid Latif and Mahender Singh Dhoni. He has kept brilliantly to both spinners and fast bowlers, and he is the perfect clutch guy to come and finish off the job at number eight.
Wasim Akram is the best fast bowler to come out of the sub-continent in the last thirty years, period. He will open the bowling as the main strike bowler. And he’s capable of clobbering a few sixes as well. He bats at nine.
The number of spinners will depend on the nature of the pitch and ability of the opposition batsmen. This is probably the most difficult selection. Bishen Bedi, Bhagwat Chandrashekhar, Erapalli Prasanna, Abdul Qadir, Saqlain Mushtaq, Mushtaq Ahmed and Anil Kumble merit strong consideration. I prefer attack minded spinners and after much deliberation, take Bedi as my first spinner, and in case I decide on playing a second one; go for his off spinning twin- Prasanna.
The number eleven spot goes to Waqar Younis. He towers over the likes of Javagal Srinath, Aquib Javed, Shoaib Akhtar, Sarfaraz Nawaz and Mohd Asif. He rarely needs the new ball and will operate in the middle and end overs. His presence will ensure that the opposition is kept in check in the slog overs. (And remember there is no chance he will be bowling to Ajay Jadeja)
The issue of captaincy remains. The matter is complicated as this is a team of captains; all of them save for Prasanna have served as national team captain. The two most obvious choices; Kapil and Imran are impossible to separate. So I go for the next one in line; in terms of success as a captain – Sourav Ganguly. He has a strong personality to handle the giants in the side, was never bogged down by the weight of captaincy and has a proven track record.
My twelfth man would be Abdur Razzaq. He can bat multiple positions and is a very good bowler as well. Mohinder Amarnath, Mudassar Nazar, Shahid Afridi, Manoj Prabhakar are the honorable mentions for this role.
The Final team – Ganguly (C), Tendulkar, Inzamam, Azhar , Miandad, Kapil , Imran, Moin, Akram, Bedi, Waqar/ Prasanna. 12th Man – Abdur Razzaq
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My hopes received a big boost, when as a 12 year old; I saw the unified Korean team finally ending China’s hegemony in women’s Table Tennis at the World Championships in 1991. Surely, India and Pakistan could take a cue from the Koreas and keep their political differences aside for the sake of sports. And then, I saw the Asian team comprising mainly of Indians and Pakistanis, beat Europe and Australia to win the Inter-Continental Hockey title. It was a complete no- brainer now. The move for ‘Unified Teams’ would be hailed as a landmark effort to bring peace in the subcontinent and the ensuing success on the playing field would win over the populace on both sides of the LOC. The protagonists would win Nobel Peace awards and be voted in for life.
Alas, if wishes were horses, beggars would ride. As I write this, we have fought another war and made shameful exits from the WC 2007. Both nations are looking for new coaches and systems to revitalize their cricket.
So as a tribute to what could have been, I undertake the exercise of putting together an all time India –Pakistan One Day Eleven.
My first two selections are two of the greatest all-rounders of all time; each man inspirational in leading their country to World Cup triumphs – Kapil Dev and Imran Khan. Their presence gives amazing balance to the side, allowing me to play five regular bowlers, without compromising the batting. They will bat at 6 and 7 and could be called upon to open the bowling as well.
Four people vie for the openers’ slots - Sachin Tendulkar, Saurav Ganguly, Rameez Raja and Saeed Anwar. Sachin and Saurav make the cut based on superior individual records and also for having been one of the most successful opening acts in the game.
The middle order (slots 3, 4 and 5) is a real teaser. I need to pick three out of Zaheer Abbas, Majid Khan, Javed Miandad, Saleem Malik, Mohd Azharuddin, Rahul Dravid, Inzamam-ul-Haq, Yousuf Youhana, Ajay Jadeja and Mohinder Amarnath. I finally go with Inzy at three, Azhar at four and Javed Miandad at five.
With a strong supporting cast around, Inzamam can play freely and when he does that, he can murder the best attack in the world. Not picking Azhar would have been akin to sacrilege; he is easily the best proponent of what sub-continental batsmen have come to be known for – deft wristwork. Javed Miandad is the greatest street fighter, I have ever known. Just ask all the Indian fans in the 80’s, who believed he was the incarnate of the devil himself. If I have to pick someone to bat for my life, I would pick Javed ten times out of ten.
My wicket keeper is Moin Khan and he manages to beat off the competition from Syed Kirmani, Saleem Yousuf, Waseem Bari, Farookh Engineer, Rashid Latif and Mahender Singh Dhoni. He has kept brilliantly to both spinners and fast bowlers, and he is the perfect clutch guy to come and finish off the job at number eight.
Wasim Akram is the best fast bowler to come out of the sub-continent in the last thirty years, period. He will open the bowling as the main strike bowler. And he’s capable of clobbering a few sixes as well. He bats at nine.
The number of spinners will depend on the nature of the pitch and ability of the opposition batsmen. This is probably the most difficult selection. Bishen Bedi, Bhagwat Chandrashekhar, Erapalli Prasanna, Abdul Qadir, Saqlain Mushtaq, Mushtaq Ahmed and Anil Kumble merit strong consideration. I prefer attack minded spinners and after much deliberation, take Bedi as my first spinner, and in case I decide on playing a second one; go for his off spinning twin- Prasanna.
The number eleven spot goes to Waqar Younis. He towers over the likes of Javagal Srinath, Aquib Javed, Shoaib Akhtar, Sarfaraz Nawaz and Mohd Asif. He rarely needs the new ball and will operate in the middle and end overs. His presence will ensure that the opposition is kept in check in the slog overs. (And remember there is no chance he will be bowling to Ajay Jadeja)
The issue of captaincy remains. The matter is complicated as this is a team of captains; all of them save for Prasanna have served as national team captain. The two most obvious choices; Kapil and Imran are impossible to separate. So I go for the next one in line; in terms of success as a captain – Sourav Ganguly. He has a strong personality to handle the giants in the side, was never bogged down by the weight of captaincy and has a proven track record.
My twelfth man would be Abdur Razzaq. He can bat multiple positions and is a very good bowler as well. Mohinder Amarnath, Mudassar Nazar, Shahid Afridi, Manoj Prabhakar are the honorable mentions for this role.
The Final team – Ganguly (C), Tendulkar, Inzamam, Azhar , Miandad, Kapil , Imran, Moin, Akram, Bedi, Waqar/ Prasanna. 12th Man – Abdur Razzaq
3 comments:
The team looks simply awesome on paper but guess captaincy could be a huge problem...ganguly getting the nod over kapil and imran is simply unimaginable as both of them have led their teams to world cup triumphs...can there be a better criteria?i guess not.
Both of them should be given equal opportunities and accordingly the captain should be selected :)
And by the way should they have a foreign coach ?;)
On the first look the team looks okay, but I hope the Selector-in-Chief has not forgotten to do a SWOT analysis of the indvividual players.
Well in case he hasnt, I ll do a MAUL analysis myself, before this team is unleashed to MAUL the Gora Brigade.
M Meritoriuos
A Adequate
U Unreliable
L Liability
Saurav Ganguly :
Batting-Meritorious
Bowling-Unreliable
Fielding-Liability
Strength-Hitting over the top
Weakness-Greentops & Bouncy Tracks spell doom
Sachin Tendulkar :
Batting-Meritorious
Bowling-Unreliable
Fielding-Adequate
Strength-Blast the Opposition Attack
Weakness-None
Inzaman-ul-Haq :
Batting-Meritorious
Bowling-Liability
Fielding-Liability
Strength-Ability to adapt according to situations
Weakness-Genius brings with itself some eccentricity
Miandad :
Batting-Meritorious
Bowling-Liability
Fielding-Adeqaute
Strength-Ability to adapt according to situations
Weakness-MORE Genius brings with itself some MORE eccentricity
---Will be continued tommorrow --
Dude Iam still waiting for part two. Also, if you could come up with an alternative eleven. Will post it.
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