All about All-time XIs

[Zunaid]

Everyone has done the all time all time XIs at some point or the other. Here is the place for it and more.

So Sohel asked - what's your all time subcontinent XI? Lay out the roster here.

And as we exhaust one category, one can always create more creative ones.

All time Bombay XI. All time mustachioed XI. All time banned XI. All time Southern Hemisphere XI.

So on so forth.

[zinatf]

All-time Asia XI

Saeed Anwar
Sachin Tandulkar
Mahela Jayawardene
Rahul Dravid
Javed Miandad
Kumar Sangakkara (WK)
Imran Khan (C)
Shakib Al Hasan
Wasim Akram
Waqar Younis
Muttiah Muralitharan

[Sohel]

ATG Indian Subcontinent Test XI

1. Sourav Ganguly (C)
2. Sachin Tendulkar
3. Rahul Dravid (in the Subcontinent)/VVS Laxman (outside the Subcontinent)
4. Mahela Jayawardene
5. Javed Miandad
6. Aravinda de Silva
7. Kumar Sangakkara (WK)
8. Shakib Al Hasan (in the Subcontinent)/Imran Khan (outside the Subcontinent)
9. Wasim Akram
10. Waqar Younis
11. Muttiah Muralitharan

[Sohel]

ATG Indian Subcontinent ODI XI

1. Sachin Tendulkar
2. Sanath Jayasuriya
3. Saeed Anwar
4. Aravinda de Silva
5. Javed Miandad (C)
6. Kumar Sangakkara (WK)
7. Yuvraj Singh
8. Shakib Al Hasan (in the Subcontinent)/Imran Khan (outside the Subcontinent)
9. Wasim Akram
10. Waqar Younis
11. Muttiah Muralitharan

[BrianLara7]

Originally Posted by Sohel
ATG Indian Subcontinent Test XI

1. Sourav Ganguly (C)
2. Sachin Tendulkar
3. Rahul Dravid (in the Subcontinent)/VVS Laxman (outside the Subcontinent)
4. Mahela Jayawardene
5. Javed Miandad
6. Aravinda de Silva
7. Kumar Sangakkara (WK)
8. Shakib Al Hasan (in the Subcontinent)/Imran Khan (outside the Subcontinent)
9. Wasim Akram
10. Waqar Younis
11. Muttiah Muralitharan

I am sorry brother but Sourav ganguly at best was a decent test player as his average of 40 suggests, Sunil gavaskar is unarguably the greatest test opener to have emerged from the subcontinent and considered as one of the greatest batsmen ever.

[thebest]

Originally Posted by Sohel
ATG Indian Subcontinent Test XI

1. Sourav Ganguly (C)
2. Sachin Tendulkar
3. Rahul Dravid (in the Subcontinent)/VVS Laxman (outside the Subcontinent)
4. Mahela Jayawardene
5. Javed Miandad
6. Aravinda de Silva
7. Kumar Sangakkara (WK)
8. Shakib Al Hasan (in the Subcontinent)/Imran Khan (outside the Subcontinent)
9. Wasim Akram
10. Waqar Younis
11. Muttiah Muralitharan

Sohel bhai,
This is surprising selection from a cricket sage like you and who did not grown up in internet age. Ganguly would not get a place in Indian all time test XI let SubContinent one and Dravid is better player in overseas condition then in subcontinent. Jaya as graceful player as he, but a FTB; Non Subcontinental test team could be without Hanif Md and Sunny.
My team would consist 2 opener, 3 middle order, 1 Wk (does not matter whether he could bat or not), 1 all rounder, 3 pacer and 1 spinner.
for opener there is no choice
1. Hanif mohammad and 2. S Gavasker. Honorable mention Shehwag and Watemuny
The most headache is middle order and two place is certainly occupy. those are tendy and miandad. For the remaining spot the contenders are Dravid, J Abbas, De Silva, Mendis, Sangakara, Youhanna, Vishy, Vengsarker, Laxman, Ganguly. My sentimental favorite would is Silva/ Abbas just the openers are accumulators. However the logical choice is Dravid. Sub continent has only 2 worthy all rounders - Kapil and Imran and the choice is simple. I belive Sakib has not yet reach their levels. As Imran is pace bowler we could play two spinners. The contenders - Murali, Qadir, Kumble, Indian famous quartet, Sakib and Saqlain. My picks are Murali and Qadir. Akram is sure shot for pacer position. For the other contenders are waqar, shoib, srinath, the tainted asif and Sarfaraz Newaz. As I could not decide between waqar and shoib I would let you decide. The W/K position is a tussle between W Bari and Kirmani. I am going againest the bald headed because of Bari's experience against quality fast bowler . So my all time sub continental XI in batting order
1. Gavasker
2. Hanif
3. Dravid
4. Tendy
5. Miandad
6. Imran
7. Bari
8. Akram
9. Waqar
10.Qadir
11. Murali

[BrianLara7]

All time Asia test XI is dominated by Indian batsmen and Pakistani bowler/ all rounder. Only sri lankans would be Murali and Sanga.
Hopefully Shakib will be in there by the time he is done

[AsifTheManRahman]

All Time Subcontinent/Asia XI - Tests

1. Sunil Gavaskar
2. Sachin Tendulkar
3. Rahul Dravid
4. VVS Laxman
5. Mahela Jayawardene
6. Kumar Sangakkara (wk)
7. Imran Khan (c)
8. Wasim Akram
9. Chaminda Vaas
10. Waqar Younis
11. Muttiah Muralitharan

Only one spinner, YEAH!

[Ajfar]

^ That's my squad too. For ODI I would switch out Laxman for Arvinda D Silva/Ranatunga

[AsifTheManRahman]

Originally Posted by Ajfar
^ That's my squad too. For ODI I would switch out Laxman for Arvinda D Silva/Ranatunga

de Silva yes, but I don't know about a few of the others. As you can see, I've handed the chop to Dravid, Sanga and Jaya for (IMO) superior batsmen in this format. Kohli gets in because he will be greater than many subcontinent batsmen by the end of his career.

[roman]

Subcontinent test XI

1 Gavaskar
2 Tendulkar
3 Dravid
4 Miandad
5 Arvinda De Silva
6 Sangakkara (wk)
7 Imran Khan (c)
8 Wasim Akram
9 Waqar
10 Shoaib Akhter
11 Muralitharan

ODI XI

1 Saeed Anwar
2 Jayasuria
3 Tendulkar
4 Inzamam ul Haq
5 Sangakkara
6 Shakib al Hasan
7 Imran Khan
8 Wasim Akram
9 Waqar
10 Muralitharan
11 Vaas

[AsifTheManRahman]

All Time Subcontinent/Asia XI: ODIs

1. Sachin Tendulkar
2. Sanath Jayasuriya
3. Virat Kohli
4. Aravinda de Silva
5. Inzamam-ul-Haq
6. Mahendra Dhoni (wk)
7. Imran Khan (c)
8. Wasim Akram
9. Chaminda Vaas
10. Waqar Younis
11. Muttiah Muralitharan

Only one spinner, YEAH!

[AsifTheManRahman]

Kapil Dev, while a very good medium fast bowler (the pioneer of genuine pace bowling - as opposed to gentle leg cutters - in India), doesn't make the cut ahead of Imran. Saeed Ajmal also falls short, because no one is greater than Murali. All this for Tests and ODIs of course.

[Kohli_Sox]

ATG Asia Test XI

1. Sunil Gavaskar
2. Hanif Mohammad
3. Rahul Dravid
4. Sachin Tendulkar
5. Javed Miandad
6. Kumar Sangakkara+
7. Imran Khan*
8. Wasim Akram
9. Waqar Younis
10. Fazal Mahmood
11. Muttiah Muralitharan

Sehwag to be 12th man and very hard exclusion. Sunil Gavaskar has to be an automatic choice for Asia All Time Test XI. Now I don't know why Hanif Mohammad is so overlooked. Hanif Mohammad is one of the best openers for Pakistan imo. As much as I like Saeed Anwar but Hanif Mohammad edges him comfortably. Not to forget Hanif Mohammad's marathon triple century to save the game against West Indies. Next Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar also automatic choices in Asia Test XI. The next spot at no 5 is also a crucial selection. Javed Miandad is the best bat for Pakistan, can't leave him out. Therefore he edges over Inzamam and Yousuf.

Now another dilemma at no 6 spot. I don't particularly like the fact Sangakkara keeping over a genuine keeper because Sanga's batting generally gets affected if he also has to bat. He avergaes around 42 with keeping duties which boosts to over 60 when he doesn't have to keep, but for lack of room in XI, Sanga has to do both here and not depending on Sanga much with batting as the guys above him already likely to make over 500 runs (biased opinion I know). Then only one room for all rounder which goes to Imran Khan over Kapil Dev. Now the bowler selection is pretty easy with Wasim and Waqar there.

Another spot I couldn't leave Fazal Mahmood. Fazal Mahmood was the one who started the pace bowling trend esp for sub continent. A bowler with genuine swing and pace. The guy literally destroyed half of the batting line up half of the time he played. Outstanding hold of 13 five fers and 4 ten fers with economy rate of 2??!! One of my all time heroes. Then spinner, Muttiah Muralitharan, no need to say anything about him. So that pretty much completes my All Time Asia Test XI.

Honourable Mentions:

Batsman: Vijay Hazare
Bowler: Anil Kumbe
Wicket keeper: Farokh Engineer

(Shakib will be right up there by the time he finishes his career)

[AsifTheManRahman]

Hey Kohli Sucks, Hanif Mohammad and Fazal Mahmood are very good picks.

[Kohli_Sox]

Originally Posted by AsifTheManRahman
Hey Kohli Sucks, Hanif Mohammad and Fazal Mahmood are very good picks.

Thanks!

[Gowza]

yeah wasim, waqar and murali are auto picks. gavaskar is an auto pick, i wouldn't open with tendulkar in tests so probably anwar or sehwag would be the 2nd opener. 1st down is clearly between dravid and sanga but unless you want dhoni keeping sanga has to be in the team as keeper so dravid is 1st drop. tendulkar at #4, the #5 spot can go to a lot of different people: miandad, yousuf, inzi, de silva, mahela, younis khan #6 goes to sanga. #7 goes to shakib, #8 imran #9 wasim #10 waqar #11 murali

if you don't want a 5th bowling option (outside of tendulkar and similar) then one of miandad, yousuf, younis khan, de silva, inzi, mahela can bat at #6, sanga can drop to #7 then shakib makes way so imran at #8 wasim at #9 waqar at #10 murali at #11

1 gavaskar
2 anwar/sehwag
3 david
4 tendulkar
5 miandad/inzi/de silva/yousuf/khan/mahela
6 sanga
7 shakib
8 imran
9 wasim
10 waqar
11 murali

i guess you could also pick another specialist spinner infront of shakib, qadir, saqlain, bedi etc but i'm not sure it would make to much difference since you already have imran, wasim, waqar and murali and shakib is as good as most of the next best specialist spinners anyway.

[Zunaid]

All time mustachioed 11

1. David Boon
2. Graham Gooch
3. Brian Lara
5. Allan Border
6. Javed Miandad
7. Rod Marsh (wk)
8. Ian Botham
9. Kapil Dev
10. Andy Roberts
11. Richard Hadley

12th Man Merv Hughes. Just for that bloody mustache.

I had to sit out so many greats. Lloyd, Border, Rice (the entire Indian and Pakistani teams of the 60s and 70s) et al

[Gowza]

Originally Posted by Zunaid
All time mustachioed 11

1. David Boon
2. Graham Gooch
3. Brian Lara
5. Allan Border
6. Javed Miandad
7. Rod Marsh (wk)
8. Ian Botham
9. Kapil Dev
10. Andy Roberts
11. Richard Hadley

12th Man Merv Hughes. Just for that bloody mustache.

I had to sit out so many greats. Lloyd, Border, Rice (the entire Indian and Pakistani teams of the 60s and 70s) et al

mate you have border at #5. quality team, clive lloyd a shout due to his captaincy ability, does malcolm marshall count as a mustache? and dennis lillee has to be up there to. what about spinners? bedi who else...

[Zunaid]

Originally Posted by Gowza
mate you have border at #5. quality team, clive lloyd a shout due to his captaincy ability, does malcolm marshall count as a mustache? and dennis lillee has to be up there to. what about spinners? bedi who else...

Aye. Forgot Lloyd and Lillee. See how tough it is? You can probably make two all time hirsute 11s.

[Sohel]

Originally Posted by Zunaid
Aye. Forgot Lloyd and Lillee. See how tough it is? You can probably make two all time hirsute 11s.

ATG Long Bearded Test XI:

1. WG Grace (C, because WG secretly stands for Wahidul Gani. He pulled a Neil Armstrong before Neil was born and became a key part of the faked moon landing.)
2. Saeed Anwar (Imam)
3. Hashim Amla
4. Moeen Ali
5. Inzamamul Haq (WK)
6. Mohammad Yusuf
7. Mehrab Hossain "Jr"
8. Mohammad Sohrawardi
9. Saqlain Mushtaq
10. Mushtaq Ahmed
11. Waqar Younis

[Zunaid]

Originally Posted by Sohel
ATG Long Bearded Test XI:

1. WG Grace (C, because WG secretly stands for Wahidul Gani. He pulled a Neil Armstrong before Neil was born and became a key part of the faked moon landing.)
2. Saeed Anwar (Imam)
3. Hashim Amla
4. Moeen Ali
5. Inzamamul Haq (WK)
6. Mohammad Yusuf
7. Mehrab Hossain "Jr"
8. Mohammad Sohrawardi
9. Saqlain Mushtaq
10. Mushtaq Muhammad
11. Waqar Younis

Bravo! Pictures please.

[Dilscoop]

LOL @ all the biased buffoons mentioning Shakib's name among those other legends and HOFers. As soon as I saw the title I went straight to facepalm mode knowing how people in this forum would just jerk up Shakib's name in there.

[Zunaid]

Well, looking at Amla, I'm tempted to do a bald atg XI.

[Sohel]

Originally Posted by Zunaid
Well, looking at Amla, I'm tempted to do a bald atg XI.

Now that's a challenge without the aid of Adobe or Corel if you're doing bald and long bearded, unless you have access to CIA's satellite pics. Simply bald can be done. Here's your top 3:

1. Herschelle Gibbs
2. Sanath Jayasuriya
3. Hashim Amla