An old guy picks his BEST TEST XI

[bujhee kom]

The last thread was my favourite X1 - this time it is the *best* X1. I feel this is the best X1 of players I have seen.

S. Gavaskar
G. Smith
Viv Richards
BC Lara
SR Tendulkar
A. Gilchrist (w)
Imran Khan *
W. Akram (or Lillee, Akram if I want a LH for variation)
C. Ambrose
M. Marshall
SK Warne

Not too tough. 2nd opener and 2 fast bowling slot are the only 2 really up for grabs. Gavaskar is a lock, Viv, Lara and Sachin are all locks. Imran and Gilly are locks. Warne is a lock.

So 1 opening slot, 2 fast bowling slots are up for grabs (Marshall is a lock). So many greats have come and gone in my viewing time. All the WI quicks, a half dozen Aussies, a few Pakistanis, 1 Kiwi, 2 ATG Saffer quicks.

Ambrose has that 6th gear where he is unstoppable. Warne is the most obvious authentic genius Cricket has ever seen. Imran Khan is probably the best cricketer of the last 40 years.

 

[Rightarmfast]

Surprising enough, the first person I would remove from this team is Imran Khan. We have class batsmen in the team, and we dont need an all rounder for batting. I would rather have someone like Mcgrath in place of Imran for his effectiveness. Wasim to give that left right combo. Marshall will be in. In place of Ambrose I would have Murali. It becomes a killer attack then.

 

[Cryin Out Loud]

Op, what do you mean old guy? How old are you?

 

[Subhan999]

My team based on stats and stats alone

Tendulkar
Ponting
Kallis
Dravid
Sangakkara
Lara (top 6 test run getters in history)
S Waugh (c) (72% win ratio as test captain)
Wasim (most wickets for lefty)
Warne (most wickets for a leggie)
McGrath (most wickets for a right arm)
Murali (most wickets for a offie)

 

[bujhee kom]

Op, what do you mean old guy? How old are you?

Almost 56.

I will retire in a few years and then I will be lost.

 

[bujhee kom]

Surprising enough, the first person I would remove from this team is Imran Khan. We have class batsmen in the team, and we dont need an all rounder for batting. I would rather have someone like Mcgrath in place of Imran for his effectiveness. Wasim to give that left right combo. Marshall will be in. In place of Ambrose I would have Murali. It becomes a killer attack then.

An AR gives a team balance. Add to that the fact that Imran was a world class fast bowler and you lose nothing. It provides for a potent 5 man attack and some extra depth to the batting.

 

[bujhee kom]

Surprising enough, the first person I would remove from this team is Imran Khan. We have class batsmen in the team, and we dont need an all rounder for batting. I would rather have someone like Mcgrath in place of Imran for his effectiveness. Wasim to give that left right combo. Marshall will be in. In place of Ambrose I would have Murali. It becomes a killer attack then.

2 spinners adds nothing to this team. The bowlers picked are fine for all conditions. Between Warne and Murali, I pick Warne every time. Much more magical bowler.

 

[GoUgandaCranes]

Almost 56.

I will retire in a few years and then I will be lost.

You can always be PakPassions's resident advisor.

Also I'd like to know about players like Dean Jones, Bruce Reid, Sirkant, Sandip Patel, Houghton, Martin Crowe, Graeme Dilly, Bruce French, Sidarth Wettimany, etc.

Good players who played great cricket but never really became household names due to various reasons

 

[AuxiliA]

1. Gavaskar
2. Richards
3. Ponting
4. Tendulkar
5. Lara
6. Kallis
7. Gilchrist
8. Khan
9. Marshall
10. Muralitharan
11. McGrath/Warne

 

[Buffet]

Almost 56.

I will retire in a few years and then I will be lost.

56 is hardly old that you will be lost. Cheer up.

 

[Blitz]

Surprising enough, the first person I would remove from this team is Imran Khan. We have class batsmen in the team, and we dont need an all rounder for batting. I would rather have someone like Mcgrath in place of Imran for his effectiveness. Wasim to give that left right combo. Marshall will be in. In place of Ambrose I would have Murali. It becomes a killer attack then.

Given Imran was a better bowler then McGrath, this is a pretty moot point.

Notwithstanding that Imran averaged over 50 with the bat for the last 10 years of his career. Ridiculous.

 

[Rightarmfast]

Given Imran was a better bowler then McGrath, this is a pretty moot point.

Notwithstanding that Imran averaged over 50 with the bat for the last 10 years of his career. Ridiculous.

Having watched Imran and Mcgrath both, I can easily say Mcgrath was not just better, but way better than Imran as a bowler. Mcgrath owned the top batsmen of his era.

As far as batting is concerned, well Imran's average has a lot to do with his not outs. Even with that average, he was not a force with the bat. He was way too slow and lacked the charisma of a quality batsman. He was nothing more than an above average lower order batsman.

 

[Buffet]

Given Imran was a better bowler then McGrath,

Not given at all.

Majority of fans will take McGrath over IK as bowler and take IK over McGrath as cricketer. It is likely to be the same in PP as well.