I disagree with that. Dhoni would surely make everyone world XI sides for his contributions to the team but the best batsman in the world? I highly doubt someone whos yet to have a substantial series outside of the subcontinent can be worthy of such adulation. Hes a very good player with many technical deficiencies that will inevitably mean that he will struggle to score prolifically away from home.
Perhaps I didn't make it clear enough in my initial post, but I was talking about the best ODI batsmen in the world right now, and to me that is Dhoni. If Hayden and Ponting had played and done well in the West Indies, or Tendulkar had played in the Asia Cup and scored runs then I would have adjusted my opinion on the issue. Basically I was just taking into account the past year or so, in which Dhoni has been very good.
Would you not consider his 347 runs in the Commonwealth Bank series as 'substantial'? Keep in mind he averaged 70 in that series against Vaas, Malinga, Muralitharan, Lee and Bracken while guiding India to a 2-0 victory in the finals. Aside from that series he has only played 22 ODIs outside the subcontinent (excluding teams that aren't ODI standard), with only the 2007 Natwest Series and World Cup falling into the time frame I mentioned. Even though his average of 25 in England looks poor, he actually played a few good cameo's at the end of India's innings and helped level the series at the Oval.
So yeah, aside from the Commonwealth Bank series, he hasn't scored heavily away from the subcontinent, but he hasn't been in this kind of form before either. The Dhoni we've seen since he took over the captaincy has been an excellent ODI batsman, and I don't see why he won't be able to make runs away from home. Obviously he has a few technical issues, but I'd still back him.
Im still not completely certain about Gambhir given that almost all of his success thus far has come against subcontinental sides or in the subcontinent, in both forms of the game. Again, best player in the world seems a little too soon
That is true, but you can't argue with his form in the past year or so. Since emerging as an international class player he has scored heavily and I expect him to continue doing so. His success started with the Commonwealth Bank series and has carried on since then, including the Kiptly Cup and Asia Cup. He hasn't been fully tested outside the subcontinent, but the signs were good in Australia, and his recent form suggests he has come of age as an ODI batsman.
Ive spent about 10 minutes trying to understand how AB Devilliers has made your World XI. I know Im not one who watches a lot of ODI cricket these days, but I still have a pretty good feel for what is going on and I cannot honestly fathom how AB De Villiers is in ahead of Andrew Symonds. Even purely from a batting perspective, Symonds is easily a better player than half the players listed on that list let alone Devilliers. ]If there is a case for an Indian batsman in that side, then Id go for Yuvraj over Gambhir for reasons mentioned earlier and because Yuvraj has been little short of sensational over the last couple of years.
Symonds and Yuvraj are both averaging 30-odd in 2008, and Yuvraj in particular has struggled after his last couple of years have seem him rise to the top of the ODI batting pile. Symond's probably should be in the XI, but I reckon AB de Villiers deserves a bit of credit for how well he has been performing in ODI cricket lately. Basically it was just me trying to promote a player I am quite fond of
If Chanderpaul plays, Chanderpaul opens. Its easily the position hes been most effective in for his entire career and the only reason he bats down the order for the WI is because it provides more stability to the side and he can fulfill the role of being the team's anchor.
I've always been a fan of Chanderpaul opening for the West Indies because it gives him more overs to bat for, and hopefully allows him the chance to score more runs and anchor the innings for longer. However, all the runs he's been making lately have come with him batting in the middle order so I don't think it would be right to put him in the openers spot for this particular exercise.
