"Our team in 2007 ODI World Cup was best in the world. Even better than 2003 and 2011" : Virender Sehwag

[The Bald Eagle]

Indian team in cricket World Cup 2007 just crashed out early from the tournament after an embarrassing lose against young Bangladeshi squad comprising of Shakib ul Hasan and Mushfiqur Rahim but Sehwag thinks otherwise and believes that the 2007 was the best Indian World Cup even better than sides in 2003, 2011 and 2023. Is Sehwag out of his mind or do you think his statement has any credence.

Indian WC Squad 2003:
Ashish Nehra, Sourav Ganguly(C), Anil Kumble, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh, Zaheer Khan, Ajit Agarkar, Javagal Srinath, Mohammad Kaif, Parthiv Patel, Harbhajan Singh

Indian World Cup Squad 2007:
Rahul Dravid (captain), Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Robin Uthappa, Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh (vice captain), Mahendra Singh Dhoni (wicketkeeper), Dinesh Karthik (wicketkeeper), Irfan Pathan, Ajit Agarkar, Harbhajan Singh, Anil Kumble, Zaheer Khan

Indian WC Squad 2011:
Sachin Tendulkar, Zaheer Khan, Gautam Gambhir, Harbhajan Singh, M S Dhoni(C), Munaf Patel, Suresh Raina, Virat Kohli, Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh, Ashish Nehra, Sreesanth, Piyush Chawla, Ravichandran Ashwin, Yusuf Pathan, Praveen Kumar

Indian WC Squad 2023:
Rohit Sharma (c), Hardik Pandya (vc), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Ishan Kishan, Surya Kumar Yadav.

'Our team in 2007 ODI World Cup was best in the world. Even better than 2003 and 2011': Sehwag's colossal remark

Virender Sehwag made a massive remark as he recalled the side's disastrous campaign at the 2007 ODI World Cup, where India was ousted in the group stage.

www.hindustantimes.com

 

[Champ_Pal]

Uthappa and Agarkar cannot be part of an ATG ODI team of India.

2023 WC team will beat them 8 out of 10 times in an ODI series.

 

[Cricket Warrior]

performance of the 2007 World Cup was the worst one by India, i would say that was the most rubbish squad india ever had

 

[Swashbuckler]

Who cares? Maybe strong on paper but results don't support the argument. Most of the players were out of form, and team atmosphere was toxic in the Chappell-Dravid era.

 

[Rana]

This Pakistan team if fully available and fully firing (in my humble opinion) was better than India’s:

1. Salman Butt
2. Imran Nazir
3. Younis Khan
4. Mohammad Yousuf
5. Inzimam ul Haq
6. Abdul Razzaq
7. Shahid Afridi
8. Kamran Akmal
9. Rana Naveed
10. Shoaib Akhtar
11. Mohammad Asif


India had batsmen only, there bowling was decent

Pakistan had a good batting line up, and very good bowlers. The Akhtar, Naveed and Asif 3 man attack was the best pace trio in the world for me in White ball cricket

 

[BaaliSoda]

Viru comes from the same school as Mohammed Kaif and Mohammed Hafeez.

It was an awful time to be an ICT fan with all kinds of off-the-field dressing room drama (Ganguly gang, Chappel and Dravid gang, Sachin gang, and whatnot). Thanks to the humbling of 2007 ODI WC we could come out better going forward.

 

[The Bald Eagle]

Uthappa and Agarkar cannot be part of an ATG ODI team of India.

Yep agreed. But in my opinion India's 2003 was the best even miles ahead than one in 2023.

Because they showed dominance in SA back then rather than being home bullies with doctored pitches.

 

[Swashbuckler]

Pakistan had a good batting line up, and very good bowlers. The Akhtar, Naveed and Asif 3 man attack was the best pace trio in the world for me in White ball cricket

Aus had McGrath, Brett Lee, Bracken, Tait. We all know about the first two but last two were also great ODI bowlers.

 

[jnaveen1980]

Self trolling lol it was the best team alright. On those slow and sluggish wickets Indian batting came apart. On a true better would have done better. WIth ball not coming on they struggled big time. Bangladesh and SL ammunition to exploit the condition.

 

[Swashbuckler]

Greatest Indian ODI squad was 1983 one, and they proved it again in 1985 by winning the WCC in Australia with an unbeaten campaign. Not a joke to beat that WI side twice and India did just that in 1983 WC, first in group stage and then in final. Also both those trophies won overseas.

Sure they had a short peak but they adapted to ODI cricket much faster and better than other sides. That team batted till number 11 and had so many bowling options, high SR batsmen, excellent fielders for that era, they were trendsetters.

 

[jnaveen1980]

Greatest Indian ODI squad was 1983 one, and they proved it again in 1985 by winning the WCC in Australia with an unbeaten campaign. Not a joke to beat that WI side twice and India did just that in 1983 WC, first in group stage and then in final. Also both those trophies won overseas.

Sure they had a short peak but they adapted to ODI cricket much faster and better than other sides. That team batted till number 11 and had so many bowling options, high SR batsmen, excellent fielders for that era, they were trendsetters.

Combination was good one back then. India even lost its premiere batsman vengsarkar during the WC campaign. But enough ball rounders helped India pull off a miracle.

 

[The Bald Eagle]

Who cares? Maybe strong on paper but results don't support the argument. Most of the players were out of form, and team atmosphere was toxic in the Chappell-Dravid era.

And the biggest folly by Chapelle was to replace Sourav with Dravid and that proved out to be an abject failure.

Rahul Dravid to be frank can't succeed anywhere I guess.

 

[BunnyRabbit]

Having Sehwag and Tendulkar in the team and not opening with them was a stupid move. Dravid shoudn't have been batting at 5 either.

 

[Swashbuckler]

And the biggest folly by Chapelle was to replace Sourav with Dravid and that proved out to be an abject failure.

Rahul Dravid to be frank can't succeed anywhere I guess.

Dravid isn't as innocent as he looks like, threw all his colleagues under the bus and allied with Chappell. Power hungry? Jealousy?

Ganguly, Kumble, Sachin, Sehwag, Zaheer, Bhajji, Yuvraj, VVS, nobody was comfortable with Dravid that time, not just Chappell. Great insecurity in the squad then, even now these players have PTSD from that period of Indian cricket.

Funny thing is the others always had Dravid's back when he was in trouble or needed a push. Sachin persisted with him in the 90s when he was ordinary especially in ODIs, Kumble and Sachin backed him when he was in terrible form in 2007-08. Ganguly made him keeper just so that he could take him to the 2003 WC, when Dravid was a misfit in ODIs. Even now Dravid is coach because of Ganguly and Sachin. VVS always has been close to Dravid.

 

[NishanKonar]

That 2007 WC team was good on paper just like 2003 Pakistan team - but in reality the team was running more on hype & past reputation than performances

That team lost 4-1 against WI in 2006, crashed out meekly in 2006 CT played in India & then lost badly 4-0 against South Africa. The performance in the WC was not really a shock. The writing was on the wall for quite sometime

Key players like Sehwag, Tendulkar, Ganguly, Dhoni, Harbhajan were out of form. In fact Sehwag got dropped after the WC and was not brought back for almost a year. That was also a time when there were serious discussions on whether Tendulkar should be asked to retire. Thankfully post 2007 WC something changed & Sachin back to to form in roaring fashion

The only positive was BCCI realised that the old gaurd needs to go. Dravid , Ganguly & Kumble were soon dropped, Sehwag replaced as VC & Dhoni got the captaincy soon after. The rest was history

 

[NishanKonar]

Dravid isn't as innocent as he looks like, threw all his colleagues under the bus and allied with Chappell. Power hungry? Jealousy?

Ganguly, Kumble, Sachin, Sehwag, Zaheer, Bhajji, Yuvraj, VVS, nobody was comfortable with Dravid that time, not just Chappell. Great insecurity in the squad then, even now these players have PTSD from that period of Indian cricket.

Funny thing is the others always had Dravid's back when he was in trouble or needed a push. Sachin persisted with him in the 90s when he was ordinary especially in ODIs, Kumble and Sachin backed him when he was in terrible form in 2007-08. Ganguly made him keeper just so that he could take him to the 2003 WC, when Dravid was a misfit in ODIs. Even now Dravid is coach because of Ganguly and Sachin. VVS always has been close to Dravid.

This is actually true. Dravid always wanted the captaincy - so when he got it during the Greg Chappel era , he did not want to lose it

But again there was no real alternative. Sachin did not want captaincy & Ganguly was past his prime. Kumble was no longer a gauranteed ODI starter. Sehwag was still raw & inconsistent. SO had to stick with Dravid

 

[NishanKonar]

And the biggest folly by Chapelle was to replace Sourav with Dravid and that proved out to be an abject failure.

Rahul Dravid to be frank can't succeed anywhere I guess.

Ganguly was woefully out of form when he was replaced as captain. His sacking was justified. You cannot have a captain who was struggling to hold his place in the team

Problem was lack of alternatives.

 

[NishanKonar]

This Pakistan team if fully available and fully firing (in my humble opinion) was better than India’s:

1. Salman Butt
2. Imran Nazir
3. Younis Khan
4. Mohammad Yousuf
5. Inzimam ul Haq
6. Abdul Razzaq
7. Shahid Afridi
8. Kamran Akmal
9. Rana Naveed
10. Shoaib Akhtar
11. Mohammad Asif


India had batsmen only, there bowling was decent

Pakistan had a good batting line up, and very good bowlers. The Akhtar, Naveed and Asif 3 man attack was the best pace trio in the world for me in White ball cricket

India with half-fit Tendulkar thrashed this team 4-1 in Pakistan before the World Cup

Rana Naveed & Asif suffered badly during that series at the hands of Dhoni & Yuvraj during that series

 

[Major]

Could someone post the squads of 2011, 2007 and 2003 for better discussion

 

[Major]

This Pakistan team if fully available and fully firing (in my humble opinion) was better than India’s:

1. Salman Butt
2. Imran Nazir
3. Younis Khan
4. Mohammad Yousuf
5. Inzimam ul Haq
6. Abdul Razzaq
7. Shahid Afridi
8. Kamran Akmal
9. Rana Naveed
10. Shoaib Akhtar
11. Mohammad Asif


India had batsmen only, there bowling was decent

Pakistan had a good batting line up, and very good bowlers. The Akhtar, Naveed and Asif 3 man attack was the best pace trio in the world for me in White ball cricket

Bro, Asif was just a normal bowler in odis. Guy would manage a wicket or 2 and that was about it.

Our bowling post Waseem Akram and Waqar was a joke.

Akhtar was injured or had disciplinary issues going on. Rana Naveed was just a lousy bowler. While Afridi was a wicket per match bowler thats about it.

Our batting also was nothing special. Younis was awful in ODIs and Inzamam was awful in ICC tournaments. And plz lets not even talk about Nazir who was the Haider Ali of that time. The most over rated player.

The only good batters we had were Yousuf and Salman Butt. Pakistan's bowling was a joke in limited overs from 2003 till 2009.

 

[The Bald Eagle]

Could someone post the squads of 2011, 2007 and 2003 for better discussion

Yep bro, Check the OP.

 

[sweep_shot]

2007 team was a superstar team on paper but not very effective. Bowling was weak.

2003 team, 1983 team, 2011 team, and 2023 team were better.

 

[NishanKonar]

A big issue with Indian & Pakistani fans is we just judge by reputation. We look at a team line up & think this team must have been world beater - without checking if those players were actually in good form at that point of time

Like I have always seen Pakistani fans claim their 2003 WC team was top tier team. In reality that team was packed with players like Wasim Akram ,Waqar Younis, Saeed Anwar who were well past their prime - and actually retired after the WC. Or players like Shahid Afridi & Abdul Razzak whre were struggling for form during that period

Its same with Indian fans & the 2007 WC team. How did that team lose so badly. May be bcoz those players were not in good form at that point of time

 

[The Bald Eagle]

A big issue with Indian & Pakistani fans is we just judge by reputation. We look at a team line up & think this team must have been world beater - without checking if those players were actually in good form at that point of time

Like I have always seen Pakistani fans claim their 2003 WC team was top tier team. In reality that team was packed with players like Wasim Akram ,Waqar Younis, Saeed Anwar who were well past their prime - and actually retired after the WC. Or players like Shahid Afridi & Abdul Razzak whre were struggling for form during that period

Its same with Indian fans & the 2007 WC team. How did that team lose so badly. May be bcoz those players were not in good form at that point of time

Yep, the real thing that matters is form not names. Otherwise Kaif would have been right and also ICC instead of conducting tournaments would have handed the trophy to the best squad on paper.

 

[Rana]

Bro, Asif was just a normal bowler in odis. Guy would manage a wicket or 2 and that was about it.

Our bowling post Waseem Akram and Waqar was a joke.

Akhtar was injured or had disciplinary issues going on. Rana Naveed was just a lousy bowler. While Afridi was a wicket per match bowler thats about it.

Our batting also was nothing special. Younis was awful in ODIs and Inzamam was awful in ICC tournaments. And plz lets not even talk about Nazir who was the Haider Ali of that time. The most over rated player.

The only good batters we had were Yousuf and Salman Butt. Pakistan's bowling was a joke in limited overs from 2003 till 2009.

Pakistan’s bowling was a joke in limited overs from 2003-2009?

What??

 

[Rana]

India with half-fit Tendulkar thrashed this team 4-1 in Pakistan before the World Cup

Rana Naveed & Asif suffered badly during that series at the hands of Dhoni & Yuvraj during that series

Yeah sub-continent has never been good viewing for Pakistan cricket but outside the SC these guys bowled well. The 2007 World Cup was in West Indies, I recon this team I listed was strong enough or stronger than India’s first XI but mentally they probably would not have won. Player to player plus balance wise the team was definitely stronger

 

[NishanKonar]

Yeah sub-continent has never been good viewing for Pakistan cricket but outside the SC these guys bowled well. The 2007 World Cup was in West Indies, I recon this team I listed was strong enough or stronger than India’s first XI but mentally they probably would not have won. Player to player plus balance wise the team was definitely stronger

The pitches in the 2007 WC in the West Indies were very similar to subcontinent. Slow , low pitches with bit of spin

Which actually makes the abysmal performance look even worse !

 

[jnaveen1980]

Definitely not the best. But not the worst either. They underperformed seriously. Biggest blunder in that fiasco was Chappell's ideology slotting players strategically to get the best out of them. On paper it was a good theory. But practically that was a seriously dumb move. Pushing Tendulkar down the order was a big mistake. Even with that India should have beaten both SL and BD. They took both teams lightly and paid the price. Was not good enough to win the whole thing. But good enough to get to next round.

 

[The Bald Eagle]

Definitely not the best. But not the worst either. They underperformed seriously. Biggest blunder in that fiasco was Chappell's ideology slotting players strategically to get the best out of them. On paper it was a good theory. But practically that was a seriously dumb move. Pushing Tendulkar down the order was a big mistake. Even with that India should have beaten both SL and BD. They took both teams lightly and paid the price. Was not good enough to win the whole thing. But good enough to get to next round.

May be it was the exit of Chappell and removal of Dravid from captainship that helped India claim the T20 WC in the same year under Dhoni.

 

[NishanKonar]

Definitely not the best. But not the worst either. They underperformed seriously. Biggest blunder in that fiasco was Chappell's ideology slotting players strategically to get the best out of them. On paper it was a good theory. But practically that was a seriously dumb move. Pushing Tendulkar down the order was a big mistake. Even with that India should have beaten both SL and BD. They took both teams lightly and paid the price. Was not good enough to win the whole thing. But good enough to get to next round.

India should have beaten Bangladesh but Sri Lanka now way

That Sri Lanka team way too well prepared & organised for India. No way we were beating them. Their bowling was also way too stronger - Malinga , Chaminda Vaas & Murali clicking together as a unit. Their batting had Sangakkara & Jayawardena at peak form - ably supported by Jayasuriya , Dilshan & Tharanga. Only Australia was better than them

On a different note that 2007 Sri Lanka WC team vs 2011 India WC team wud have been a fantastic contest

 

[jnaveen1980]

India should have beaten Bangladesh but Sri Lanka now way

That Sri Lanka team way too well prepared & organised for India. No way we were beating them. Their bowling was also way too stronger - Malinga , Chaminda Vaas & Murali clicking together as a unit. Their batting had Sangakkara & Jayawardena at peak form - ably supported by Jayasuriya , Dilshan & Tharanga. Only Australia was better than them

On a different note that 2007 Sri Lanka WC team vs 2011 India WC team wud have been a fantastic contest

Not beating a side that has DIlhara Fernando and co was a sin lol India should have owned them. INdia plays Malinga the best. Sehwag terror against any spinners. Conditions just suited them better. INdia looked deflated.

 

[NishanKonar]

Definitely not the best. But not the worst either. They underperformed seriously. Biggest blunder in that fiasco was Chappell's ideology slotting players strategically to get the best out of them. On paper it was a good theory. But practically that was a seriously dumb move. Pushing Tendulkar down the order was a big mistake. Even with that India should have beaten both SL and BD. They took both teams lightly and paid the price. Was not good enough to win the whole thing. But good enough to get to next round.

To be fair Tendulkar also was not in great form during that period. Became more of a accumulator. Chappel wanted more attacking batter as opener

Good that Tendulkar returned to his old attacking self after the WC

 

[Slim]

Indian ex and current players are obsessed with calling themselves the best with no trophies to show for.

 

[NishanKonar]

Not beating a side that has DIlhara Fernando and co was a sin lol India should have owned them. INdia plays Malinga the best. Sehwag terror against any spinners. Conditions just suited them better. INdia looked deflated.

At that point Malinga was in peak form. India played him well from 2010 onwards. Murali was turning the ball square on that pitch

Remember before the WC India invited Sri lanka for a practice series. Sri Lanka came without Vaas & Murali & still India struggled to beat them. That should have ranged the alarm bells. Malinga got Dhoni out first ball in that series - but was reprieved due to no ball. That no ball dismissal exposed Dhoni's extravagant backlift which was resulted in golden ducks against both BD & SL in the WC

Like I said it all looks good in hindsight but that Sri Lanka team in 2007 WC was a genuinely strong ODI team

 

[NishanKonar]

Indian ex and current players are obsessed with calling themselves the best with no trophies to show for.

Sehwag actually has won both ODI & T20 World Cup !

 

[Rana]

Sehwag actually has won both ODI & T20 World Cup !

And Sehwag played clutch knocks in both campaigns

 

[Rana]

Pakistan's bowling was a joke in limited overs from 2003 till 2009.

@Major can you please explain what do you mean by ‘joke’ bowling and what isn’t joke bowling?

 

[Swashbuckler]

Sehwag actually has won both ODI & T20 World Cup !

Also a CT. 3 ICC trophies.

 

[The Bald Eagle]

Indian ex and current players are obsessed with calling themselves the best with no trophies to show for.

Another gaffe by Sehwag. He should be talking about paper strength but doesn't he know that cricket is played on pitch not papers

 

[jnaveen1980]

At that point Malinga was in peak form. India played him well from 2010 onwards. Murali was turning the ball square on that pitch

Remember before the WC India invited Sri lanka for a practice series. Sri Lanka came without Vaas & Murali & still India struggled to beat them. That should have ranged the alarm bells. Malinga got Dhoni out first ball in that series - but was reprieved due to no ball. That no ball dismissal exposed Dhoni's extravagant backlift which was resulted in golden ducks against both BD & SL in the WC

Like I said it all looks good in hindsight but that Sri Lanka team in 2007 WC was a genuinely strong ODI team

India wa a better side overall. Only reason BD and SL competed well was because of the nature of the surface. It overwhelmingly favored the slow bowlers and bowlers who bowled cutters. Vaas bowled a lot of cutters into the pitch. Same thing happened against BD. They just could not time anything. They were stuck going nowhere. Tendulkar already had that experience from 1996 world cup where we imploded against part timers.

 

[Swashbuckler]

Rana Naved was a gun ODI bowler in the mid 2000s. Asif was a great new ball bowler but struggled in middle and death overs. Akhtar was a beast, ODI was his best format and he had gained bowling IQ by then, mixing up his speeds and bowling according to the pitch unlike his younger self. Razzaq was a handy 4th seamer. Afridi the bowler was yet to peak then but on paper the seam options were pretty good, it's a different matter that some of then had discipline related issues. Ability-wise second best behind that Aussie pace unit I guess.

Battingwise that was Pakistan's greatest ever. Bob Woolmer had constructed a brilliant team back then especially in ODIs, he was a genius coach.

Aus and SA were the two best ODI sides on paper but all 3 Asian teams were very close to the number 2 spot. Number 1 was of course you know who, no one else stood a chance against those monsters

 

[sweep_shot]

India didn't just lose against Bangladesh but also against Sri Lanka.

If they were really strong (like Sehwag's claim), they should've won both.

Even after losing to BD, they could've been gone to Super Eight had they beaten Sri Lanka. But, they lost both games.

 

[Swashbuckler]

India wa a better side overall. Only reason BD and SL competed well was because of the nature of the surface. It overwhelmingly favored the slow bowlers and bowlers who bowled cutters. Vaas bowled a lot of cutters into the pitch. Same thing happened against BD. They just could not time anything. They were stuck going nowhere. Tendulkar already had that experience from 1996 world cup where we imploded against part timers.

SL was a gun team back then especially in ICC events . Look at the names in their team sheet: Sanath, Mahela, Sanga, Tharanga, Murali, Vaaa, Malinga.

 

[Swashbuckler]

India didn't just lose against Bangladesh but also against Sri Lanka.

If they were really strong (like Sehwag's claim), they should've won both.

Even after losing to BD, they could've been gone to Super Eight had they beaten Sri Lanka. But, they lost both games.

Strong on paper. Weak when you take into account form. Chappel's India had a terrible run, never translated reputation and potential to results.

 

[sweep_shot]

Strong on paper. Weak when you take into account form. Chappel's India had a terrible run, never translated reputation and potential to results.

Yup.

It seems like internal frictions distracted them or something. They played like how Germany played in 2019 FIFA World Cup.

 

[jnaveen1980]

SL was a gun team back then especially in ICC events . Look at the names in their team sheet: Sanath, Mahela, Sanga, Tharanga, Murali, Vaaa, Malinga.

India had a record of 8-2 in their favor coming into the world cup.Even in one of the match India lost was stupidity of INdia with 23 to get in 5 overs lost 4 wickets for 19 runs. Otherwise India always dominated them. Only on sluggish slow pitches where they were effective. MSD, Yuvi, Sachin, Ganguly India had an array of good batsmen in that set up. India was under pressure to win the match to get qualified. Choked on a sluggish pitch.

 

[Swashbuckler]

India had a record of 8-2 in their favor coming into the world cup.Even in one of the match India lost was stupidity of INdia with 23 to get in 5 overs lost 4 wickets for 19 runs. Otherwise India always dominated them. Only on sluggish slow pitches where they were effective. MSD, Yuvi, Sachin, Ganguly India had an array of good batsmen in that set up. India was under pressure to win the match to get qualified. Choked on a sluggish pitch.

SL beat us in many big matches back then.
2007 WC
2010 WT20
2004 and 2008 Asia Cup finals
Few other multi nation finals

We bullied then in bilaterals.

 

[NishanKonar]

SL beat us in many big matches back then.
2007 WC
2010 WT20
2004 and 2008 Asia Cup finals
Few other multi nation finals

We bullied then in bilaterals.

Sri Lank was a ery god team in that era

Most India fans under estimate Sri lanka bcoz last few years they are not doing great - especially against India

But in 2007 they were very well drilled team. I remember watching that 2007 WC game which was must win for us - and deep down I knew we need an upset to win. That Sri Lanka team was like NZ - a team greater than the sum of its parts

 

[Major]

@Major can you please explain what do you mean by ‘joke’ bowling and what isn’t joke bowling?

dont have time to tell you how rana naveed, yasir araft and rao ifti sucked.

Our ICC tournaments from 2003 till 2007 world cup are there to judge the bowling.

 

[jnaveen1980]

Sri Lank was a ery god team in that era

Most India fans under estimate Sri lanka bcoz last few years they are not doing great - especially against India

But in 2007 they were very well drilled team. I remember watching that 2007 WC game which was must win for us - and deep down I knew we need an upset to win. That Sri Lanka team was like NZ - a team greater than the sum of its parts

I still remember that match. I never considered Srilanka a threat. India had resources to neutralize their threat. As i said SL was good in certain conditions. Indian team management was in confused state at that time. That tug of war between CHappell/Ganguly all caused instability within the set up. Once MSD took over India started dominating Srilanka. MSD's Winloss record over Srilanka is close to 2. Just because SL had good players that doesn't mean India did not have.

 

[NishanKonar]

Rana Naved was a gun ODI bowler in the mid 2000s. Asif was a great new ball bowler but struggled in middle and death overs. Akhtar was a beast, ODI was his best format and he had gained bowling IQ by then, mixing up his speeds and bowling according to the pitch unlike his younger self. Razzaq was a handy 4th seamer. Afridi the bowler was yet to peak then but on paper the seam options were pretty good, it's a different matter that some of then had discipline related issues. Ability-wise second best behind that Aussie pace unit I guess.

Battingwise that was Pakistan's greatest ever. Bob Woolmer had constructed a brilliant team back then especially in ODIs, he was a genius coach.

Aus and SA were the two best ODI sides on paper but all 3 Asian teams were very close to the number 2 spot. Number 1 was of course you know who, no one else stood a chance against those monsters

Naah. That Pakistan team was good only on paper

I mean India had a horror run of form in 2006 in ODIs - losing badly everywhere & yet they thrashed that Pakistan team 4-1 in Pakistan with half-fit Tendulkar & novice bowlers. In the 5th game ( dead rubber) India dropped many key players & still won so easily

Rana Naveed , Sami, Asif & Razzak got treated like club bowlers in that series by Dhoni & Yuvraj

 

[NishanKonar]

I still remember that match. I never considered Srilanka a threat. India had resources to neutralize their threat. As i said SL was good in certain conditions. Indian team management was in confused state at that time. That tug of war between CHappell/Ganguly all caused instability within the set up. Once MSD took over India started dominating Srilanka. MSD's Winloss record over Srilanka is close to 2. Just because SL had good players that doesn't mean India did not have.

Thats the point. Dhoni changed his game after 2007 WC bcoz he was badly exposed by Malinga & Murali during that WC

The fact that India struggled to beat depleted Sri Lanka in the practice series before the WC was a sign of how bad things were

 

[DeadlyVenom]

They can add a trophy for this achievement to their "topped the group stage" in 2023 world cup trophy, and their "we would have won the cup but kept losing the toss T20 world cup" trophy.

 

[NishanKonar]

dont have time to tell you how rana naveed, yasir araft and rao ifti sucked.

Our ICC tournaments from 2003 till 2007 world cup are there to judge the bowling.

Agree here. Pakistan's bowling in that era was really bad - that's why they lost 3 out of 4 bilateral ODI series against India in that phase. Pakistan's weak bowling got badly exposed by Indian batting

Only in 2005 series Pakistan won - bcoz Rana Naveed was brilliant in that series. But after that he never reproduced that form

 

[jnaveen1980]

Thats the point. Dhoni changed his game after 2007 WC bcoz he was badly exposed by Malinga & Murali during that WC

The fact that India struggled to beat depleted Sri Lanka in the practice series before the WC was a sign of how bad things were

A meek captain like Dravid was never going to inspire a team to win anything. You could see how his team botched up the easiest chance to win a world cup this year. 2003 team was under Ganguly. They had guys like DInesh Mongia, Nehra. India badly lost 2-5 in NZ prior to world cup. Fleming made a statement "We want to keep the morale of India down" after that series win on those doctored pitches. INspite of that INdia went to final. Same way 2000 CT final also reached under Ganguly. 2002 CT final also reached under Ganguly. Dravid had zilch under his captaincy. CT 2006. India did not even reach semi final that too in India under Dravid. There are certain guys that are not fit to lead side like India. Dravid was one.

 

[Rana]

dont have time to tell you how rana naveed, yasir araft and rao ifti sucked.

Our ICC tournaments from 2003 till 2007 world cup are there to judge the bowling.

Pakistan’s bowlers from 2003-09

Shoaib Akhtar
Rana Naveed
Mohammad Asif
Mohammad Amir (1 year)
Umar Gul
Sohail Tanvir
Mohammad Sami

All of these bowlers were world class or top class bowlers.

Yasir Arafat played 15 games for Pakistan and Rao Iftikhar played 61 with an average of 31, which isn’t too bad. Pakistan’s current bowling attack hyped up to be the greatest in its history had the worst ever World Cup campaign, so what’s your point?

 

[topspin]

Our batting also was nothing special. Younis was awful in ODIs and Inzamam was awful in ICC tournaments. And plz lets not even talk about Nazir who was the Haider Ali of that time. The most over rated player.

The only good batters we had were Yousuf and Salman Butt. Pakistan's bowling was a joke in limited overs from 2003 till 2009.

This was addressed by Mamoon in that thread where you were exposed for claiming Misbah was a superior bat to Inzy. If you go back to thread you were advised that both Inzy and Younis Khan were superior to Misbah in red and white ball cricket. Remember this was coming from someone who had a strong dislike for Younis Khan but I have to give him credit for putting his dislike aside and being honest about it.

Secondly, Younis Khan had his best period as an ODI batsman between 2006-2008, so even if he was "awful" in ODIs, this doesn't hold true in 2007. This is evident by the fact that 5 of his 7 ODI tons came during these years. Before you want to dismiss this, you ought to be reminded Misbah didn't manage a single ODI ton despite having played in far more batting friendly era.

 

[jnaveen1980]

Pakistan’s bowlers from 2003-09

Shoaib Akhtar
Rana Naveed
Mohammad Asif
Mohammad Amir (1 year)
Umar Gul
Sohail Tanvir
Mohammad Sami

All of these bowlers were world class or top class bowlers.

Yasir Arafat played 15 games for Pakistan and Rao Iftikhar played 61 with an average of 31, which isn’t too bad. Pakistan’s current bowling attack hyped up to be the greatest in its history had the worst ever World Cup campaign, so what’s your point?

More to do with nature of Pakistan surfaces. No bounce. No lateral movement. Absolute roads. The current attack were going at 6 plus an over even in Tests in similar conditions. Imagine them on those roads. Yuvraj, MSD from that era would have thrashed this attack to the oblivion on similar surfaces.

 

[topspin]

Pakistan’s bowlers from 2003-09

Shoaib Akhtar
Rana Naveed
Mohammad Asif
Mohammad Amir (1 year)
Umar Gul
Sohail Tanvir
Mohammad Sami

All of these bowlers were world class or top class bowlers.

Yasir Arafat played 15 games for Pakistan and Rao Iftikhar played 61 with an average of 31, which isn’t too bad. Pakistan’s current bowling attack hyped up to be the greatest in its history had the worst ever World Cup campaign, so what’s your point?

He has a habit of disrespecting cricketers who played before 2010 because this is the year when he starting watching cricket, as mentioned by you that he claims that Misbah > Inzamam as an ODI batsman.

 

[batandballbattle]

stronger on paper but not much else, the 2011 team gelled better as a unit

 

[Rana]

This was addressed by Mamoon in that thread where you were exposed for claiming Misbah was a superior bat to Inzy. If you go back to thread you were advised that both Inzy and Younis Khan were superior to Misbah in red and white ball cricket. Remember this was coming from someone who had a strong dislike for Younis Khan but I have to give him credit for putting his dislike aside and being honest about it.

Secondly, Younis Khan had his best period as an ODI batsman between 2006-2008, so even if he was "awful" in ODIs, this doesn't hold true in 2007. This is evident by the fact that 5 of his 7 ODI tons came during these years. Before you want to dismiss this, you ought to be reminded Misbah didn't manage a single ODI ton despite having played in far more batting friendly era.

I think he means to say Pakistan bowling before he started watching cricket was a joke

 

[Major]

This was addressed by Mamoon in that thread where you were exposed for claiming Misbah was a superior bat to Inzy. If you go back to thread you were advised that both Inzy and Younis Khan were superior to Misbah in red and white ball cricket. Remember this was coming from someone who had a strong dislike for Younis Khan but I have to give him credit for putting his dislike aside and being honest about it.

Secondly, Younis Khan had his best period as an ODI batsman between 2006-2008, so even if he was "awful" in ODIs, this doesn't hold true in 2007. This is evident by the fact that 5 of his 7 ODI tons came during these years. Before you want to dismiss this, you ought to be reminded Misbah didn't manage a single ODI ton despite having played in far more batting friendly era.

read the thread title. Its not about series, its about ICC tournaments.

 

[Major]

Pakistan’s bowlers from 2003-09

Shoaib Akhtar
Rana Naveed
Mohammad Asif
Mohammad Amir (1 year)
Umar Gul
Sohail Tanvir
Mohammad Sami

All of these bowlers were world class or top class bowlers.

Yasir Arafat played 15 games for Pakistan and Rao Iftikhar played 61 with an average of 31, which isn’t too bad. Pakistan’s current bowling attack hyped up to be the greatest in its history had the worst ever World Cup campaign, so what’s your point?

No they were not.

Shoaib Akhtar was injured and had disciplinary issues and was not there for most of icc tounrnaments.

Rana naveed was crap

Asif was a test bowler, in ODIs he was nothing special, just ok. He would taken a wicket or two and that was about it.

I clearly mentioned 2003-2007, Amir came in 2009 onwards.

Umar Gul was the only good bowler, and one good bowler doesnt make your bowling attack good.

Sohail Tanvir sucked, and so did Mohammad Sami.

Rao iftikhar and Yasir Arafat were not international level.

Pakistan's bowling post Waseem Waqar 2003 was a big joke up untill 2009 when they unearthen good bowlers and gave consisstent run to new guys.

 

[Rana]

No they were not.

Shoaib Akhtar was injured and had disciplinary issues and was not there for most of icc tounrnaments.

Rana naveed was crap

Asif was a test bowler, in ODIs he was nothing special, just ok. He would taken a wicket or two and that was about it.

I clearly mentioned 2003-2007, Amir came in 2009 onwards.

Umar Gul was the only good bowler, and one good bowler doesnt make your bowling attack good.

Sohail Tanvir sucked, and so did Mohammad Sami.

Rao iftikhar and Yasir Arafat were not international level.

Pakistan's bowling post Waseem Waqar 2003 was a big joke up untill 2009 when they unearthen good bowlers and gave consisstent run to new guys.

Wow.

So who was international class according to you? Rahat Ali, Sohail Khan and Mohammad Irfan?

 

[topspin]

Wow.

So who was international class according to you? Rahat Ali, Sohail Khan and Mohammad Irfan?

It wasn’t long ago when he said Rahat Ali was a very good bowler and Amir was overrated. Sums up his standards and reading of the game.

 

[Rana]

It wasn’t long ago when he said Rahat Ali was a very good bowler and Amir was overrated. Sums up his standards and reading of the game.

My God

He needs a cricket exorcism

 

[Major]

Wow.

So who was international class according to you? Rahat Ali, Sohail Khan and Mohammad Irfan?

maybe learn to stay on what is being discussed rather than diverting because you cant comprehend something?

 

[Rana]

maybe learn to stay on what is being discussed rather than diverting because you cant comprehend something?

But you just wrote a whole essay on why all the fast bowlers from 2003-09 were poor…why are you deflecting now?

Read exactly what you wrote about those bowlers.

 

[The Bald Eagle]

What a joke by Sehwag! It's just like saying Pakistan had the best wc squad in 2007 and England had the best one in 2015 . When they got booted out early from the tournament.

 

[MP2011]

Sehwag has this habit of constantly putting foot in mouth whenever he opens it and this instance is on similar lines.

He thinks he looks and sounds smart but obviously that's delusion on his part.

Don't remember when was the last time he said something intelligent.

Even Afridi makes much more sense when he opines on cricket. Sehwag is our own Sarfaraz Nawaz with a lesser propensity to indulge in match fixing lose talk whenever his country loses.

 

[The Bald Eagle]

Sehwag has this habit of constantly putting foot in mouth whenever he opens it and this instance is on similar line

You are hilarious bro. Can't forget how he embarrassed himself in 2017 after India's loss in final owing to his 'baap baap hota hai' comment

stronger on paper but not much else, the 2011 team gelled better as a unit

TBH bro, India were just lucky how Pakistan choked in semi final otherwise 2003 side was on a next level.

 

[The Bald Eagle]

Who cares? Maybe strong on paper but results don't support the argument. Most of the players were out of form, and team atmosphere was toxic in the Chappell-Dravid era.

I won't blame Chappell he had done things in good faith. It was Dravid who could not step up to the captaincy challenge. And Sourav being not captain any more did not give his 100 % in that world Cup.

 

[jnaveen1980]

Sehwag has this habit of constantly putting foot in mouth whenever he opens it and this instance is on similar lines.

He thinks he looks and sounds smart but obviously that's delusion on his part.

Don't remember when was the last time he said something intelligent.

Even Afridi makes much more sense when he opines on cricket. Sehwag is our own Sarfaraz Nawaz with a lesser propensity to indulge in match fixing lose talk whenever his country loses.

He is known for his hyperbole.

 

[MP2011]

He is known for his hyperbole.

This is not a hyperbole though. Its idiocy and he has been very prone to it.

 

[Jazx]

Pakistan’s bowlers from 2003-09

Shoaib Akhtar
Rana Naveed
Mohammad Asif
Mohammad Amir (1 year)
Umar Gul
Sohail Tanvir
Mohammad Sami

All of these bowlers were world class or top class bowlers.

Yasir Arafat played 15 games for Pakistan and Rao Iftikhar played 61 with an average of 31, which isn’t too bad. Pakistan’s current bowling attack hyped up to be the greatest in its history had the worst ever World Cup campaign, so what’s your point?

All were good except Sami and Arafat. But all were bad with new ball except Asif, amir and Tanvir.

 

[The Bald Eagle]

Naah. That Pakistan team was good only on paper

I mean India had a horror run of form in 2006 in ODIs - losing badly everywhere & yet they thrashed that Pakistan team 4-1 in Pakistan with half-fit Tendulkar & novice bowlers. In the 5th game ( dead rubber) India dropped many key players & still won so easily

Rana Naveed , Sami, Asif & Razzak got treated like club bowlers in that series by Dhoni & Yuvraj

Sami and Rana Naveed were good initially but become liability of late. Indian team then was not better than Pakistan but surprisingly won by a 4-1 margin against us. Before that series india were the minnows in the rivalry against Pakistan. And Pakistan used to bully Indian team before and hence till date Pakistan has a better win loss record against them.

All were good except Sami and Arafat. But all were bad with new ball except Asif, amir and Tanvir.

Well gul was also good back then even around 2010 he had become Pakistan's go to bowler.

 

[Jazx]

Sami and Rana Naveed were good initially but become liability of late. Indian team then was not better than Pakistan but surprisingly won by a 4-1 margin against us. Before that series india were the minnows in the rivalry against Pakistan. And Pakistan used to bully Indian team before and hence till date Pakistan has a better win loss record against them.

Well gul was also good back then even around 2010 he had become Pakistan's go to bowler.

Jazx
I never liked Gul with the new ball. But he was excellent with the old ball when it was reversing

 

[Statpadder Inc]

Sami and Rana Naveed were good initially but become liability of late. Indian team then was not better than Pakistan but surprisingly won by a 4-1 margin against us. Before that series india were the minnows in the rivalry against Pakistan. And Pakistan used to bully Indian team before and hence till date Pakistan has a better win loss record against them.

Well gul was also good back then even around 2010 he had become Pakistan's go to bowler.

Lol absolute rubbish. Pakistan lost an odi series in there in own backyards to india in 2004 and even got humiliated in the 2003 wc.
India didn't surprisingly beat Pakistan, we were the better team, dhoni and yuvi trashed the so called world class bowling attack.
Pakistan should feel lucky that India doesn't play bilaterals with them anymore, otherwise the win loss record would have been corrected

 

[Statpadder Inc]

Sehwag chatting rubbish like usual.

 

[The Bald Eagle]

Hah

Lol absolute rubbish. Pakistan lost an odi series in there in own backyards to india in 2004 and even got humiliated in the 2003 wc.
India didn't surprisingly beat Pakistan, we were the better team, dhoni and yuvi trashed the so called world class bowling attack.
Pakistan should feel lucky that India doesn't play bilaterals with them anymore, otherwise the win loss record would have been corrected

Lol You are unwilling to submit your own team Rubbish. See the stats below and acknowledge the truth with some guts