Who would be your top 10 greatest Asian cricketers?

[vcs]

Your team would be?

Can I copy yours? I'm not good at picking All-Time XIs.

 

[Teja.]

Can I copy yours? I'm not good at picking All-Time XIs.

Was just interested.

 

[smash84]

All-time Sub-continental Test XI,

Gavaskar
Sehwag
Dravid
Tendulkar
Miandad
Sangakkara(wk)
Khan(C)
Akram
Akthar
Waqar
Murali

The top four pretty much pick themselves IMO. Hanif was considered but a bit of overkill with Gavaskar already there. Dravid and Tendulkar walk in. Sanga competes for Dravid's place but I'd rather have Sanga keep.

The fifth spot was a bit of a think. Sanga>Miandad as a pure batsman IMO, but not as much as Sanga(wk)+Miandad>Sanga+Dhoni(wk). Jayawardene criminally underrated too, but Miandad definitely the better man to bat at five particularly due to his excellence in batting with the tail. Hazare, De Silva, Azhar, Laxman, Inzy all class, but a tier below IMO.

Sangakkara - See above

Imran has to be the first pick anyone will make and Waqar, Akram and Murali walk in. Now the choice is between having Kapil Dev or Akthar. Kapil Dev obviously a fantastic cricketer who never had a significant dip either with bat or ball or body for 16 years and I'd pick him over Akthar in a Greatest Cricketers List but considering the strength of the batting, I'd rather have the better pacer. Shoaib on his days, which are often, is just something else. Can make a featherbed a raging volcano. The length of his career is often underrated too, played about 50 games and had a phenomenal SR and average particularly for this decade.

Fantastic team. I might as well post mine.

My Asian Test XI would be

Gavaskar
Sehwag
Tendulkar
Miandad
Dravid
Sangakkara (wk)
Imran Khan (C)
Wasim Akram
Waqar Younis
Shoaib Akhtar
Muralitharan

12th man: Chandrashekar

LOL.........it turns out the same as Teja's except for the 12th man .....

Gavaskar....arguably the best opener ever to have played the game
Sehwag......unparalleled attacking prowess
Tendulkar....I have Tendulkar at number 3 where he can keep the pressure if Sehwag goes early. Arguably the best batsman the game has seen since Bradman.
Miandad.....the man of crisis comes in at his usual 4 position.
Dravid........A batsman as solid as any that you will find. Shifted down because he is more flexible than other batsmen.
Sangakkara.....as a test batsman definitely above Dhoni. Good wk too.
Imran..............Arguably the finest Asian cricketer ever and has a strong case for the 3rd greatest cricketer ever (after Bradman and Sobers). Easily the best captain from the sub-continent.
Wasim Akram......He could bowl six different deliveries in an over. Best Left arm fast bowler to play the game.
Waqar Younis......Wicket taking abilities unparalleled......a Sehwag of the bowlers .....
Shoaib Akhtar.......Fast and furious. Maybe fastest ever. On his day can match Waqar's lethal bowling prowess.
Muralitharan..........A wicket taking machine. Can spin the ball on glass even. A match winner in all conditions.

12th man: Chandrashekar.....One of the best spinners ever and could stem the run flow and could take wickets with ease. Would come in place of Shoaib if the wicket is really for the spinners.

 

[Xuhaib]

fantastic side bagapath, will go for Kapil or Kumble over Akhtar personally though would be quality seeing Imran fuming after Akhtar walks off holding his hamy after bowling 3.4 overs.

 

[Black_Warrior]

fantastic side bagapath, will go for Kapil or Kumble over Akhtar personally though would be quality seeing Imran fuming after Akhtar walks off holding his hamy after bowling 3.4 overs.

He wouldnt dare throw those tantrums with Imran in charge

 

[Black_Warrior]

My Top 10 Asian cricketers

in no particular order but I have to start with the obvious name :P

Imran Khan
Sunil Gavaskar
Kapil Dev
Sachin Tendulkar
Rahul Dravid
Javed Miandad
Wasim Akram
Muttiah Muralitharan
Aravinda De Silva
Inzamam ul Haq


Wow Waqar misses out

 

[Teja.]

fantastic side bagapath, will go for Kapil or Kumble over Akhtar personally though would be quality seeing Imran fuming after Akhtar walks off holding his hamy after bowling 3.4 overs.

Teja, you mean.

 

[Teja.]

All-time Subcontinental ODI Team,

Tendulkar
Jayasurya
Abbas
De Silva
Miandad
Dhoni(wk)
Khan(C)
Akram
Musthaq
Waqar
Murali

I don't watch too many ODIs, so this might/might not be a very great team.

Tendulkar in obv for averaging close to 50 as an opener with a phenomenal SR. Jayasurya competes with Ganguly and Anwar but gets selected because he is the more explosive and is also a brilliant fielder.

Abbas is one of the best five ODI bats of all-time IMO and his statistics particularly for the time he was playing in are splendid. Walks in.

De Silva was a player who performed best under pressure and had a SR which was extremely good for the time he played in. Miandad was a master in playing with the tail and was a prolific scorer who also prospered under pressure. Both these players have Innings of note in WC Finals. People who miss out here are Inzamam, Dravid and Azhar.

Dhoni - WAG. 'nuff said.

Imran Khan over Kapil Dev because Imran averaged close to 35 in an era where only the finest did so with a SR which was the norm, also a more destructive bowler. Kapil the more conservative bowler and destructive batsman and unlucky to miss out but Imran's record is just exemplary.

The bowlers pretty much pick themselves. Akthar is a splendid ODI bowler but Waqar is extremely similar, however, more destructive and the better death bowler.

 

[Xuhaib]

Teja, you mean.

oh yeah lol...

 

[Black_Warrior]

My ODI side

Anwar
Tendulkar
Ganguly
Inzamam
De Silva
Dhoni
Imran Khan (c)
Wasim
Saqlain
Waqar
Murali

 

[bagapath]

all time asian ODI xi

jayasuriya
tendulkar
miandad
de silva
inzamam
dhoni (wk)
imran (c)
kapil
akram
murali
waqar

tough to leave out saqlain, akhthar, anwar, sehwag, abbas and ganguly. but this is a good combo already. jayasuriya at the top and kapil in place of second spinner balance each other out in the bowling department (accurate swing + left arm finger spin to support murali) and together they add tons of firepower to the batting.

second xi

sehwag
anwar
ganguly
abbas
sangakara (wk) (c)
yuvraj
afridi
vaas
saqlain
akhthar
zaheer

 

[bagapath]

fantastic side bagapath, will go for Kapil or Kumble over Akhtar personally though would be quality seeing Imran fuming after Akhtar walks off holding his hamy after bowling 3.4 overs.

????

EDIT: ok. just saw the next msg.

 

[Black_Warrior]

actually u just validated his original post too

 

[Migara]

second xi

sehwag
anwar
ganguly
abbas
sangakara (wk) (c)
yuvraj
afridi
vaas
saqlain
akhthar
zaheer

Abbas I'd think belongs to the first XI, probably over Miandad.

Tempting to put Razzaq or Shakib Al Hasan over Afridi for that matter. Lasith Malinga makes it over Zaheer Khan in the ODI game due to his death bowling. Malinga and Akthar firing yorkers at the end would be a sight.

 

[Shri]

Let me try to make an odi side(made of people who played the majority of their matches in the 90s and later ftr):

Sachin Tendulkar
Sourav Ganguly
MS Dhoni+*
Inzamam Ul-Haq
Aravinda de Silva
Yuvraj Singh
Shahid Afridi
Wasim Akram
Waqar Younis
Shoaib Akhtar
Muthiah Muralitharan

Tough choice between Anwar, Ganguly, Sehwag and Jaya for the solitary opening slot. Anyone could have got in. Jaya's explosiveness and his bowling could have got him in but I already had 5 bowlers in the side. Ganguly gets in based on the proven partnership record in Odis with Sachin.

With Inzi and Aravinda in the side, Dhoni the accumulator isn't really needed. Need his old school explosive batting of 2004-2006 at no.3.

Inzi and de SIlva - men for crisis situations when the side loses quick wickets up front.

Yuvraj Singh - right guy to provide a high run rate finish in the death overs without taking too many risks. Clean slogger.

Shahid Afridi - need him more as a bowler than as a batsman. Any lower order runs he makes is a bonus.

Wasim and Waqar - default opening bowling combo in any asian side. Not much explanation needed here.

Akhtar - To be used in short bursts. Awesome odi bowler.

Murali - default spinner in asian sides.

 

[weldone]

all time asian ODI xi

jayasuriya
tendulkar
miandad
de silva
inzamam
dhoni (wk)
imran (c)
kapil
akram
murali
waqar

tough to leave out saqlain, akhthar, anwar, sehwag, abbas and ganguly. but this is a good combo already. jayasuriya at the top and kapil in place of second spinner balance each other out in the bowling department (accurate swing + left arm finger spin to support murali) and together they add tons of firepower to the batting.

Choosing DeSilva over Abbas in ODIs is criminal.

Apart from that, very good selection.

 

[smash84]

Choosing DeSilva over Abbas in ODIs is criminal.

Apart from that, very good selection.

In an ODI XI Saqlain has a pretty decent record too. I thought that for a big part of his ODI career Saqlain was a better ODI spinner than Murali. Despite a dismal showing towards the end of his career it still is an impressive record.

Copied below are Saqlain and Murali's ODI records.

ODI Bowling averages
Mat Inns Balls Runs Wkts BBI BBM Ave Econ SR 4w 5w 10

169 165 8770 6275 288 5/20 5/20 21.78 4.29 30.4 11 6 0

337 329 1816911885515 7/30 7/30 23.07 3.92 35.2 14 10 0

 

[vcs]

In an ODI XI Saqlain has a pretty decent record too. I thought that for a big part of his ODI career Saqlain was a better ODI spinner than Murali. Despite a dismal showing towards the end of his career it still is an impressive record.

Copied below are Saqlain and Murali's ODI records.

ODI Bowling averages
Mat Inns Balls Runs Wkts BBI BBM Ave Econ SR 4w 5w 10

169 165 8770 6275 288 5/20 5/20 21.78 4.29 30.4 11 6 0

337 329 1816911885515 7/30 7/30 23.07 3.92 35.2 14 10 0

Saqlain was easily the best ODI bowler in the world at one point in the '90s. He rarely got taken apart in any big match by any batsman. Murali beats him in longevity, and World Cup record, of course, but I agree, this is a close, close one.

 

[Prince EWS]

Choosing DeSilva over Abbas in ODIs is criminal.

Apart from that, very good selection.

Yeah, Abbas FTW.

[/shamelessplug]

 

[Migara]

In an ODI XI Saqlain has a pretty decent record too. I thought that for a big part of his ODI career Saqlain was a better ODI spinner than Murali. Despite a dismal showing towards the end of his career it still is an impressive record.

Copied below are Saqlain and Murali's ODI records.

ODI Bowling averages
Mat Inns Balls Runs Wkts BBI BBM Ave Econ SR 4w 5w 10

169 165 8770 6275 288 5/20 5/20 21.78 4.29 30.4 11 6 0

337 329 1816911885515 7/30 7/30 23.07 3.92 35.2 14 10 0

People say that Saqlain in the prime was better than Murali, and tend to agree with it. But however, when Saqlain's doosra was understood by the batsmen he was quite easy to score off. It's very well reflected in games against IND and SL, where his ER, progressively got worse. If he continued, I'd say he'll still be a very good spinner. But he won't be able to maintain the amazing peak that Murali maintained for one and half decades.