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The ATG Teams General arguing/discussing thread

Silver Silva

International Regular
Only 3 proper bowlers in the first team?? Imo Mendis, Kulasekara Or Hasaranga makes the team ahead of Perera or Arnold? Also, No Hasaranga in either team?
I didn't pick Ajantha Mendis because :

●Murali already does his job as a Frontline off spinner , and for holding spinners I already have Sanath, Tilla & Aravinda
●He is a genuine No.11 and I don't feel comfortable having Mendis , Malinga and Muralitharan at no.9 ,10 and 11
●His career is unique because a lot of what made him a threat was his mystery, once he got decoded his career ended prematurely but I still recognize his contribution by putting him in the second team.


I didn't pick Kulasekara because :

●He's largely a new ball operator , and I already have Vaas and Malinga for that, you don't give Kulasekara the new ball it takes a lot away from his armoury

●His batting is not good enough for a No.8, Thisara for his explosive batting makes more sense and Thisara is just as skilled as Kukasekara in terms of death bowling. Hence why he was in such big demand in T20 leagues..
In fact Thisara actually has a better bowling average than Kulasekara in ODI cricket, Kulasekara 199 wickets @33.92
Thisara Perera 175 wickets @32.80 plus a far better batsman.

I didn't pick Hasaranga because :

●He's a bit of a minnow basher , against top 9 odi teams (Australia,Afghanistan,Bangladesh,England,India,West Indies,New Zealand, Pakistan,South Africa) he averages 36 with the ball with 23 batting average
●He still has time to have a career worthy of selection, for now I wouldn't put him ahead of any allrounder I picked.

So in my first team there is 10 bowling options and strong batting all the way to No.9 so I think there is balance and quality, Sri Lanka has won all the white ball trophies because of versatility and skill rather than stat padding so I've picked a team that fits closest to that philosophy.
 

Silver Silva

International Regular
Only 3 proper bowlers in the first team?? Imo Mendis, Kulasekara Or Hasaranga makes the team ahead of Perera or Arnold? Also, No Hasaranga in either team?
The seven options which you don't consider proper bowlers have 955 odi wickets between them ..

Russell Arnold scorecard 1700 runs at no.6 @44, quality finisher..

Mathews is the only one a bit out of place at No.7 but I need a quality player to guide the lower order and with so many bowling options that's the luxury I can have with Mathews who also has the power game to finish innings ..And his useful medium pacers will also come in handy.
 

capt_Luffy

Cricketer Of The Year
The seven options which you don't consider proper bowlers have 955 odi wickets between them ..

Russell Arnold scorecard 1700 runs at no.6 @44, quality finisher..

Mathews is the only one a bit out of place at No.7 but I need a quality player to guide the lower order and with so many bowling options that's the luxury I can have with Mathews who also has the power game to finish innings ..And his useful medium pacers will also come in handy.
I personally would had preferred a more handy bowler, as while those 7 bowlers have bowled plenty between them, you can't really call most of them proper allrounders and I feel Mathews is kinda wasted at 7 when you have Perera at 8 and Vaas at 9. But I can see your point now.
 

Fuller Pilch

Hall of Fame Member
I didn't pick Ajantha Mendis because :

●Murali already does his job as a Frontline off spinner , and for holding spinners I already have Sanath, Tilla & Aravinda
●He is a genuine No.11 and I don't feel comfortable having Mendis , Malinga and Muralitharan at no.9 ,10 and 11
●His career is unique because a lot of what made him a threat was his mystery, once he got decoded his career ended prematurely but I still recognize his contribution by putting him in the second team.


I didn't pick Kulasekara because :

●He's largely a new ball operator , and I already have Vaas and Malinga for that, you don't give Kulasekara the new ball it takes a lot away from his armoury

●His batting is not good enough for a No.8, Thisara for his explosive batting makes more sense and Thisara is just as skilled as Kukasekara in terms of death bowling. Hence why he was in such big demand in T20 leagues..
In fact Thisara actually has a better bowling average than Kulasekara in ODI cricket, Kulasekara 199 wickets @33.92
Thisara Perera 175 wickets @32.80 plus a far better batsman.

I didn't pick Hasaranga because :

●He's a bit of a minnow basher , against top 9 odi teams (Australia,Afghanistan,Bangladesh,England,India,West Indies,New Zealand, Pakistan,South Africa) he averages 36 with the ball with 23 batting average
●He still has time to have a career worthy of selection, for now I wouldn't put him ahead of any allrounder I picked.

So in my first team there is 10 bowling options and strong batting all the way to No.9 so I think there is balance and quality, Sri Lanka has won all the white ball trophies because of versatility and skill rather than stat padding so I've picked a team that fits closest to that philosophy.
Despite Perera's better average, Kulasekera was a much much better bowler though (e/r 4.9 vs 5.83). Kulasekera reminded me a lot of Kyle Mills (2 of the very best ODI bowlers of their era) and having a quality new ball bowler allows Malinga to save more overs for the middle and the death. However, like I said earlier, power death hitting is SL's biggest weakness which is why I understand the Perera selection. Maharoof perhaps provides a compromise - better bowler than Perera but still a decent finisher.
 

capt_Luffy

Cricketer Of The Year
Despite Perera's better average, Kulasekera was a much much better bowler though (e/r 4.9 vs 5.83). Kulasekera reminded me a lot of Kyle Mills (2 of the very best ODI bowlers of their era) and having a quality new ball bowler allows Malinga to save more overs for the middle and the death. However, like I said earlier, power death hitting is SL's biggest weakness which is why I understand the Perera selection. Maharoof perhaps provides a compromise - better bowler than Perera but still a decent finisher.
Can't Maharoof come in for Mathews then?? He isn't doing much at 7, normally you would expect that's where a proper finisher bats.
 

Silver Silva

International Regular
Despite Perera's better average, Kulasekera was a much much better bowler though (e/r 4.9 vs 5.83). Kulasekera reminded me a lot of Kyle Mills (2 of the very best ODI bowlers of their era) and having a quality new ball bowler allows Malinga to save more overs for the middle and the death. However, like I said earlier, power death hitting is SL's biggest weakness which is why I understand the Perera selection. Maharoof perhaps provides a compromise - better bowler than Perera but still a decent finisher.
I wouldn't mind Maharoof at no.8 , shame he suffered with a lot of injuries he was very highly rated as a youngster
 

number11

State Regular
India ODI XI

Sachin Tendulkar
Rohit Sharma
Shubman Gill
Virat Kohli
Yuvraj Singh -6
MS Dhoni +*
Ravinder Jadeja -5
Kapil Dev - 1
Kuldeep Yadav - 4
Jasprit Bumrah - 2
Mohammad Shami - 3
Gill already?

I would opt for someone else [Dravid, Azhar, Ganguly...] but that is a serious, serious team.
VK at #3 obviously, and then someone else at #4 [Dravid for instance], but that side bats deep, has solid bowling.
 

Silver Silva

International Regular
NZ ODI XI born outside NZ

  1. BJ Watling (wk)
  2. Devon Conway
  3. Mathew Sinclair
  4. Scott Styris
  5. Roger Twose
  6. Grant Elliot
  7. Glenn Phillips
  8. Colin De Grandhomme
  9. Dipak Patel
  10. Tama Canning
  11. Ish Sodhi
Not much pace in the attack but a very deep batting lineup and lots of slow bowling options. Good that Patel can open the bowling. Colin Munro misses out.

Edited
Do you think they would beat a foreign born Australian ODI XI ?

1.Kepler Wessels
2.Usman Khawaja
3.Marnus Labuschagne
4.Andrew Symonds
5.Moises Henriques
6.Josh Inglis (WK)
7.Luke Ronchi
8.Michael Neser
9.Brendon Julien
10.Fawad Ahmed
11.Dirk Nannes
 

Silver Silva

International Regular
India ODI XI

Sachin Tendulkar
Rohit Sharma
Shubman Gill
Virat Kohli
Yuvraj Singh -6
MS Dhoni +*
Ravinder Jadeja -5
Kapil Dev - 1
Kuldeep Yadav - 4
Jasprit Bumrah - 2
Mohammad Shami - 3
I don't think Kuldeep has done enough to surpass Kumble who has double the wickets and a better WC record , probably needs to get to 200+ odi wickets with his current bowling average to surpass him .
 

capt_Luffy

Cricketer Of The Year
I dont simply because Shami actually has played very few ODIs overall.
Not very few, around a 100 (due to stupid selection policy of Indian team). He played around half the no of matches as Zaheer and have 2/3 wickets..... That's like saying Bumrah is India's no 2 as Kapil played much longer. As for the WCs, no doubt Zaheer was great in more than a few of those; but I think you're underestimating the beast Shami was in the last two. In 5 less WC matches he has 11 more wickets; he took over 3 WPMs while averaging 13.... And that's including the 2015 cup in which he was just good.
 

honestbharani

Whatever it takes!!!
Not very few, around a 100 (due to stupid selection policy of Indian team). He played around half the no of matches as Zaheer and have 2/3 wickets..... That's like saying Bumrah is India's no 2 as Kapil played much longer. As for the WCs, no doubt Zaheer was great in more than a few of those; but I think you're underestimating the beast Shami was in the last two. In 5 less WC matches he has 11 more wickets; he took over 3 WPMs while averaging 13.... And that's including the 2015 cup in which he was just good.
Mate, now you are just giving excuses. All I am pointing out is 100 games is not enough sample size to judge someone to be better than someone who played 200 over a far longer period and a wider variety of playing conditions, both in terms of rules and then in terms of surfaces.

I think there is more than enough reason for me to think Sham is not a level above Zak as an ODI bowler and that is good enough for me to put Zak over him in the ATG side for the sheer variety and skillsets Zak brings in. Plus, he is a better batter and fielder than Shami in this format, which also matters.
 

capt_Luffy

Cricketer Of The Year
Mate, now you are just giving excuses. All I am pointing out is 100 games is not enough sample size to judge someone to be better than someone who played 200 over a far longer period and a wider variety of playing conditions, both in terms of rules and then in terms of surfaces.

I think there is more than enough reason for me to think Sham is not a level above Zak as an ODI bowler and that is good enough for me to put Zak over him in the ATG side for the sheer variety and skillsets Zak brings in. Plus, he is a better batter and fielder than Shami in this format, which also matters.
Zak's batting and fielding is really not enough to be a plus on his side. And I would had agreed with your longevity point, had not Shami literally had over 2/3 of Khan's wickets.... At some point, you really need to consider the effectiveness too. As I said earlier, your point is akin to Kapil>Bumrah as bowlers.
 

honestbharani

Whatever it takes!!!
Zak's batting and fielding is really not enough to be a plus on his side. And I would had agreed with your longevity point, had not Shami literally had over 2/3 of Khan's wickets.... At some point, you really need to consider the effectiveness too. As I said earlier, your point is akin to Kapil>Bumrah as bowlers.
I am not saying Zak is definitively better either. I am just saying its close enough for me to choose Zak over Shami for the other reasons I mentioned, esp. the left arm angle. I just think it makes our ATG side a more effective one.
 

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