INDIA XI

Cricket in India has turned 225. CC&FC has turned 225. So, CC&FC president and cricket veteran Arun Lal turned selector for t2oS to pick his India XI vs World XI. The format? Test, of course.  The era? 1966 to 2016. The time taken? 30 “real tough”  minutes!

1. Sunil Gavaskar
In his debut series, he scored 774 runs in the West Indies, which was unheard of! 34 Test centuries, over 10,000 runs, a career spanning about 17 years, playing for a team which wasn’t the best.… It was his confidence. A game changer as far as Indian cricket was concerned. 

2. Virender Sehwag
My favourite! Whether it is a World XI or an India XI, Sehwag fits in. One of the greatest match-winners, a destroyer of bowling. A paradigm shift. Anybody who would go into bat after him benefited, and, the team too. In opening batting in Tests, there can be ‘Before Sehwag’ and ‘After Sehwag’ eras. He really turned the game on its head. Sehwag played for the team. You would never see him reaching 100 from 90 with singles. Can you imagine someone scoring a triple hundred with a six? I am a fan!

3. Rahul Dravid (captain)
A thorough gentleman. A student of the game. Sensible. A great act to follow. Highly respect-worthy. A great batsman. Recently, there was a study about which batsman made the most impact... depending on the situation of the game, the opposition, the conditions... Dravid seems to have had more impact than even Sachin Tendulkar.

4. Sachin Tendulkar
What can you say about him, yaar? Whether you look at it from the statistics point of view, confidence, standing alone, run accumulator.... I preferred Sachin in the first half of his career though. Maybe later the responsibility of the team came, maybe it comes with age, the role assigned to him....

5. Virat Kohli
At number five, there are some huge guys! Mohd. Azharuddin, VVS Laxman, Sourav Ganguly.... I think I am going to go with Virat Kohli. Boy wonder. Again, a game changer. He has taken his fitness to astronomical levels. There is a paradigm shift in fitness levels. Great attitude. I found him too aggressive in the beginning and not that dignified. But he is mature now. I love his attitude, his belief.

6. MS Dhoni (wicketkeeper)   
Nobody like him. Dhoni is Dhoni. In ODIs and T20s he is exceptional, but also in Tests... he is cool, calm, collected. And, because he is a captain and batsman par excellence, people have forgotten that he is one of the safest keepers. His temperament is an asset.

7. Kapil Dev
He figures among the top five-six all-rounders that the world has ever seen. Awesome. He was fearless and played his natural game.

8. Anil Kumble 
Between (B.S.) Chandrasekhar and Anil Kumble, I’ll go with Anil Kumble. 600-plus wickets. Great gentleman. Dignified. Composed. Look at his intent on the field, 619 Test wickets! And, of course, 10 wickets in an innings.

9. R. Ashwin
The fastest to reach 250 wickets. A student of the game, again very aggressive in his intent, hungry for wickets... similar temperament as Anil Kumble.

10. Javagal Srinath
He was genuine fast on his day, as fast as anybody else. He was intimidating and had the ability to grab wickets with both the old and new ball.

11. Zaheer Khan
Depending on whether we are playing three medium-pacers or three spinners, whether we are playing at home or away, I will pick Zaheer. He was a wizard with the ball and moved the ball brilliantly, although fitness was an issue at the fag end of his career.

COACH: I’ll go with John Wright. A lovely guy. You’ve got to get the best out of these guys. It’s not so much about teaching them the technique. It’s more about man-management and strategy.

[Actually I should have gone with Sourav Ganguly or Laxman, but I am putting somebody who is right now in the team (Kohli). If Ganguly was in this team he would have been the captain because he is one of the best captains India has had. His captaincy changed Indian cricket. You are seeing the benefits of that today. You saw it then and you are seeing it today. ‘Before Ganguly’ and ‘After Ganguly’ as far as captaincy goes. VVS Laxman’s Eden Gardens innings against Australia was one of the best. I saw him win a series for India against Australia in Chandigarh.... I saw him play a series-winning innings in Sri Lanka.... A series-winner, a series-changer. But I am picking Kohli for the current impact he has had on me.]

What changes would you make to Arun Lal’s India XI and why? Tell t2onsunday@abp.in

 

WORLD XI

1. Gordon Greenidge
He was devastatingly good. He played against some fantastic bowling all over the world and left an indelible mark on my mind. Although he never had to play against the West Indies!

2. Jacques Kallis 
I thought of a lot of names... there is Majid Khan, actually Barry Richards... but I haven’t seen him play. Chris Gayle comes to mind. But since there are only that many spots in the team, I have to get Kallis in. He was the Bradman of the modern era. 10,000-plus runs in both forms of the game, 45 Test 100s, 250-plus wickets, a great catcher in the slips... your ultimate all-rounder. For some reason he hasn’t got his due.

3. Viv Richards
The king of cricket. Nobody comes anywhere close to him. Sheer dominance, body language, impact... awesome!  You had to get him early. That was the challenge, otherwise he would take the game away from you in a short time.

4. Brian Lara
The ultimate batsman. You travel miles and miles  to watch him. After Richards, it would be Lara.

5. Ricky Ponting
I would have gone with Graeme Pollock, but I haven’t seen him play. This would then be a toss-up between Zaheer Abbas, Ricky Ponting, Greg Chappell, Michael Clarke, Steve and Mark Waugh, but I will go with Ponting. I like his aggressive intent and the belief with which he played.

6. Garry Sobers (captain)
I have to get an all-rounder in (yes, I got stuck here!) and though I haven’t seen the best of Sobers, I will pick him. I saw a lot of him on video clips and when he came to India.  

7. Adam Gilchrist
(wicketkeeper)
I would pick a wicketkeeper here. Huge fight between (Kumar) Sangakkara and (Adam) Gilchrist. I would go with Gilchrist, but not by miles... only because he played some real impactful innings where he won matches.

8. Wasim Akram
The best fast bowler. Ever! 

9. Dennis Lillee 
The aura of Dennis Lillee at that time was something else. He redefined fast bowling.

10. Shane Warne
The best spinner the world has ever seen.

11. Muttiah Muralitharan
Have to take him... the highest wicket-taker in Tests... 800 wickets! If the ICC is okay with his action, so am I!

COACH: I’ll pick Clive Lloyd. Dominated world cricket for a decade. Highly respected.   

What changes would you make to Arun Lal’s World XI and why? Tell t2onsunday@abp.in