Tony Greig's all time best Indian Test XI

[Richard]

Thing is, though, Srinath could bowl really well, sometimes even in non-seam-friendly conditions. Certainly I'd rather him than a spinner, meanwhile, in a Test in 1990s England. As so often, you can't really pick an all-time team that would never change, teams always have to change according to conditions, and an Indian one probably more than most.

I've always thought, like Xuhaib and Wasim Akram, that Srinath could have got more out of his career, though not neccessarily because of laze.

 

[Engle]

Dravid s/b at 3 followed by Tendulkar at 4. One cannot shift the batting order and expect them to perform at the same level.

Opening with SMG s/b Merchant.

Gavaskar as capt is another flaw. Ganguly was India's best capt/cricketer and s/b included

Srinath's place is fine. He's proved himself.
A case cud be made for Jimmy. He'd bring mettle to the team, and AR skills.

 

[Richard]

Would always think Kapil > Gavaskar as a captain, but can't see that you could justify picking Ganguly just because of his good captaincy.

 

[Xuhaib]

Dravid opening? He's mad. Why on Earth would you want Dravid not at three?

And why on Earth Prasanna ahead of Chandrasekhar?

SJS will murder you, Prasanna is very highly rated among his peers even in this article Greg says he was the best of the lot.

 

[Engle]

Would always think Kapil > Gavaskar as a captain, but can't see that you could justify picking Ganguly just because of his good captaincy.

Neither SMG nor Kapil can be considered decent captaincy material, which IMO is key to making a diff between winning and drawing/losing.

Colonel, Pataudi, Wadekar and Ganguly are, and of the lot, I choose Ganguly.
Also, his high overseas performances and arguably India's best leftie

 

[adharcric]

Greig doesn't know what he's talking about ... he considered Dhoni for the all-time XI, has Dravid opening and completely forgot about Merchant and more.

 

[Richard]

Neither SMG nor Kapil can be considered decent captaincy material, which IMO is key to making a diff between winning and drawing/losing.

Colonel, Pataudi, Wadekar and Ganguly are, and of the lot, I choose Ganguly.
Also, his high overseas performances and arguably India's best leftie

Nah, the key to the difference between winning and losing is high-calibre players.

 

[Sanz]

Like Nasser Hussain.

 

[Richard]

Indeed. Not sure what relevance he has here, though, he left India at the age of 6.

 

[Shaggy Alfresco]

I remember once doing an Indian all time XI

Gavaskar
Merchant
Dravid
Tendulkar
Hazare
Dev
Engineer
Bedi
Gupte
Srinath
Nissar

 

[Engle]

Nah, the key to the difference between winning and losing is high-calibre players.

Dont disagree.
But in the case of India ( and probably no other) ..leadership is lacking.
For hi-octane, hard-nosed, never-give-an-inch type cricket, you need the leader.

As an example, I consider overseas performances an indicator of a players ability to cope with tough/trying conditions.

And Ganguly averages 44+ overseas (compared to Azhar's 36 and Hazare's 36).

 

[silentstriker]

Dont disagree.
But in the case of India ( and probably no other) ..leadership is lacking.
For hi-octane, hard-nosed, never-give-an-inch type cricket, you need the leader.

As an example, I consider overseas performances an indicator of a players ability to cope with tough/trying conditions.

And Ganguly averages 44+ overseas (compared to Azhar's 36 and Hazare's 36).

Well Dravid averages like 62 away...

 

[Richard]

I remember once doing an Indian all time XI

Gavaskar
Merchant
Dravid
Tendulkar
Hazare
Dev
Engineer
Bedi
Gupte
Srinath
Nissar

See what I mean? Subhush Gupte always gets forgotten!

Almost certainly India's best ever spinner, even if he wasn't part of the greatest spin-attack ever.

Have him ahead of Kumble, Bedi and Chandra.

 

[Richard]

Dont disagree.
But in the case of India ( and probably no other) ..leadership is lacking.
For hi-octane, hard-nosed, never-give-an-inch type cricket, you need the leader.

Leadership doesn't have to be on-field, though. You could have an average captain (like Kapil or Sunil) and a good coach\manager (say John Wright or Ajit Wadekar) and a team that talented would go places.

IMO.

 

[Engle]

Dravid's place is secure...as a batsman. He's not leadership material, yet.

So, you first look for the leader.
Then check how well he's done overseas.

 

[Engle]

Leadership doesn't have to be on-field, though. You could have an average captain (like Kapil or Sunil) and a good coach\manager (say John Wright or Ajit Wadekar) and a team that talented would go places.

IMO.

Respect your opinion. However, in cricket I believe that leadership is def on-field as well.
Neither Sunil nor Kapil give me any confidence in captaincy. (nor the rest of the stars for that matter).

 

[Swervy]

See what I mean? Subhush Gupte always gets forgotten!

Almost certainly India's best ever spinner, even if he wasn't part of the greatest spin-attack ever.

Have him ahead of Kumble, Bedi and Chandra.

why?

 

[Sanz]

Agree, Kapil was the dumbest captain India ever had..yeah dumber than Azhar too. Gavaskar was boring and most of his tactics involved securing a draw first and hence not suitable for my kind of cricket. Pataudi has to be there for sheer captaincy and fielding.

Gavaskar
Mankad
Dravid
Tendulkar
Amarnath
Pataudi
Engineer
Kapil
Prasanna
Chandra
Srinath

 

[Richard]

why?

Because people who remember him (and also saw the spin-quartet... and Kumble) almost without fail say he was the best spinner India have ever produced, and that his average might be 4 or 5 runs lower had he benefited from the Solkars etc. that later spinners did.

 

[Swervy]

Because people who remember him (and also saw the spin-quartet... and Kumble) almost without fail say he was the best spinner India have ever produced, and that his average might be 4 or 5 runs lower had he benefited from the Solkars etc. that later spinners did.

so if they say almost without fail that he was the best, why did you say 'Subhush Gupte always gets forgotten'?