Best all time XI for each country

[Jager]

I know it's not entirely safe, but is it really that bad?

On Qadir, I chose him despite his mercurial tendencies, I figured it would be better to have a potential match-winner instead of the more reliable option.

 

[kyear2]

Kumble is the better bowler and also more likely to be a match winner as well.

 

[Jager]

Both are subcontinent specialists, really. I prefer the more aggressive spinner.

 

[weldone]

Combined India/Pakistan XI

Gavaskar
Anwar
Dravid
Tendulkar
Miandad
Laxman
Engineer+
Imran*
Akram
Qadir
Waqar

I'll go with:

Sehwag, Gavaskar, Dravid, Tendulkar, Miandad, Imran*, Kapil, Engineer+, Wasim, Kumble, Waqar

 

[smash84]

need to keep kapil out.

The tail is too long

 

[smash84]

My combined Indo-Pak XI would be

Gavaskar
Hanif
Dravid
Tendulkar
Miandad
Inzamam
Engineer/Bari
Imran*
Wasim
Waqar
Kumble

 

[Dan]

Australia
Victor Trumper
Arthur Morris
Sir Donald Bradman
Archie Jackson
Greg Chappell
Keith Miller
Adam Gilchrist
Ray Lindwall
Shane Warne
Dennis Lillee
Glenn McGrath
(Clarrie Grimmett)

England
Sir Leonard Hutton
Sir Jack Hobbs
Archie McLaren
Walter Hammond
Denis Compton
WG Grace
Ian Botham
Alan Knott
Fred Trueman
Jim Laker
Sydney Barnes
(Harold Larwood)

India
Sunil Gavaskar
Vijay Merchant
Rahul Dravid
Sachin Tendulkar
Vijay Hazare
Kapil Dev
Farokh Engineer
Anil Kumble
Jagaval Srinath
Mohammad Nissar
Erapalli Prassana
(Bishan Bedi)

New Zealand
Stewie Dempster
Glenn Turner
Stephen Fleming
Martin Crowe
Martin Donnelly
John R Reid
Daniel Vettori
Sir Richard Hadlee
Ian Smith
Shane Bond
Jack Cowie
(Chris Cairns)

Pakistan
Hanif Mohammad
Saeed Anwar
Zaheer Abbas
Javed Miandad
Inzamam-ul-Haq
Imran Khan
Wasim Bari
Fazal Mahmood
Wasim Akram
Saqlain Mushtaq
Waqar Younis
(Mohammad Yousuf)

South Africa
Bruce Mitchell
Barry Richards
Jacques Kallis
Graeme Pollock
Dudley Nourse
Aubrey Faulkner
Denis Lindsay
Mike Procter
Shaun Pollock
Peter Pollock
Allan Donald
(AB de Villiers)

Sri Lanka
Sanath Jayasuriya
Marvan Atapattu
Kumar Sangakkara
Mahela Jayawardene
Aravinda de Silva
Arjuna Ranatunga
Prasanna Jayawardene
Chaminda Vaas
Somachandra de Silva
Lasith Malinga
Muttiah Muralitharan
(Tillakaratne Dilshan)

West Indies
Gordon Greenidge
Desmond Haynes
George Headley
Brian Lara
Garry Sobers
Viv Richards
Gerry Alexander
Malcolm Marshall
Joel Garner
Curtley Ambrose
Courtney Walsh
(Frank Worrell)

 

[Jager]

Good to see Gerry Alexander get some well-deserved recognition there.

 

[Dan]

Good to see Gerry Alexander get some well-deserved recognition there.

Had it between Walcott, Alexander and Dujon TBH. Walcott I don't rate that highly as a wicketkeeper, he's more a batsman IMO. Then I just preferred Alexander to Dujon.

 

[weldone]

need to keep kapil out.

The tail is too long

Tail! That would be only Kumble and Waqar - though even they were handy bats for no. 10 and 11.

Can't say that there's much tail when Farokh Engineer comes at no. 8 and Wasim Akram at no. 9. And that's the reason, Kapil can come in at no. 6 even though he's not the most ideal no. 6 in an all-time team otherwise.

 

[weldone]

...
Waqar
Kumble

Nah, Kumble was definitely a better test match batsman than Waqar, in fact much better.

2500 runs at 18 (with a century) versus 1000 runs at 10 is a no contest TBH.

 

[Migara]

My combined Indo-Pak XI would be

Gavaskar
Hanif
Dravid
Tendulkar
Miandad
Inzamam
Engineer/Bari
Imran*
Wasim
Waqar
Kumble

How about all time Asian test XI?

Gavaskar
Hanif
Dravid
Tendulkar
Miandad
Sangakkara+
Inzamam
Imran*
Wasim
Waqar
Muralidaran

ODI XI

Jaysuriya
Tendulkar
Abbas
De Silva
Inzamam
Dhoni+
Kapil
Imran
Wasim
Saqlain
Muralidaran

 

[Migara]

Sri Lanka
Sanath Jayasuriya
Marvan Atapattu
Kumar Sangakkara
Mahela Jayawardene
Aravinda de Silva
Arjuna Ranatunga
Prasanna Jayawardene
Chaminda Vaas
Somachandra de Silva
Lasith Malinga
Muttiah Muralitharan
(Tillakaratne Dilshan)

Debatable selections

Marvan Atapattu
Sanath Jayasuriya
Kumar Sangakkara
Aravinda de Silva
Mahela Jayawardane
Thilan Samaraweera
Brendon Kuruppu+
Ravi Ratnayake
Chaminda Vaas
Rumesh Ratnayake
Muttiah Muralidaran

if pre test era players allowed, I'd drop Jayawardane and bring in Mahadevan Sathasivam

 

[weldone]

if pre test era players allowed, I'd drop Jayawardane and bring in Mahadevan Sathasivam

Why won't you drop Samaraweera before dropping Jayawardene?

 

[smash84]

Nah, Kumble was definitely a better test match batsman than Waqar, in fact much better.

2500 runs at 18 (with a century) versus 1000 runs at 10 is a no contest TBH.

indeed Kumble was a better batsman. Not disputing that at all.

Only thing is that you can make the team much stronger by bringing in a specialist bat rather than having Kapil in there.

 

[weldone]

Only thing is that you can make the team much stronger by bringing in a specialist bat rather than having Kapil in there.

Nah, I don't think so. Our best 4 bowlers are definitely Imran, Wasim, Waqar and Kumble no doubt. Now, Wasim is a serviceable batsman and Imran is a very good batsman for a frontline bowler. That means an opportunity to bring in an additional bowler, especially if that bowler is as good a batsman as Kapil.

If there ever was a case for playing 5 bowlers, that would be in an Indo-Pak combined XI. It's strange that I don't support playing 5 bowlers in general, but am voicing an opinion in support here. That's because 2 among the 5 bowlers are good batsmen, 1 is a serviceable lower-order contributor with the bat, and the other 2 are good tailenders.

 

[Agent Nationaux]

How about all time Asian test XI?

Gavaskar
Hanif
Dravid
Tendulkar
Miandad
Sangakkara+
Inzamam
Imran*
Wasim
Waqar
Muralidaran

ODI XI

Jaysuriya
Tendulkar
Abbas
De Silva
Inzamam
Dhoni+
Kapil
Imran
Wasim
Saqlain
Muralidaran

Bloody good teams, but I would rather have Anwar for Hanif in Tests and for ODI's on a fast bowling wicket Waqar in for either Saqlain or Murali. Also wouldn't mind having Vaas in as a reserve.

 

[Jager]

Had it between Walcott, Alexander and Dujon TBH. Walcott I don't rate that highly as a wicketkeeper, he's more a batsman IMO. Then I just preferred Alexander to Dujon.

No love for Hendricks?

 

[Dan]

The 'Unfortunate Names' XI

1. Salman Butt
2. Arthur Fagg
3. Jack Crapp
4. Julien Wiener
5. Peter Willey
6. Richard Daft
7. Napoleon Einstein
8. Luke Woodcock
9. Peter Sleep
10. Love Ablish
11. Ryan Sidebottom

Started to struggle a little bit with finding bowlers..

 

[weldone]

It'll be interesting to see combined teams for:

1. Australia and Bangladesh
2. England and Zimbabwe
3. West Indies and New Zealand
4. South Africa and Sri Lanka
5. India and Pakistan

Will make 5 competitive teams IMO.