Sachin Tendulkar names Wasim Akram in his all-time best playing-XI

[MenInG]

Legendary cricketer Sachin Tendulkar is considered to be one of the best batters if not the best to have played the gentleman’s game. The Master Blaster’s records speak for themselves. Tendulkar has scored 15,921 runs in ODIs and 18,426 runs in Tests during his international career. Including all the formats, Sachin has a total of 100 international centuries and 201 wickets to his name.

However, despite all the facts and stats, Tendulkar didn’t pick himself in his all-time best playing-XI.

Recently, the Master Blaster picked up his best Playing-XI in a list of some of the most celebrated cricketers which caught many off guards as he not only missed out on his name but missed out on many big names too.

Notably, the likes of MS Dhoni, who is considered as the greatest captain to have led the Indian cricket team, Virat Kohli – who is hailed as run machine, legendary spinner Muttiah Muralitharan, wall of Indian cricket team- Rahul Dravid, and many more were missing from the all-time playing XI of Sachin.

Interestingly, Tendulkar picked legendary Brian Lara, Viv Richards, Jacques Kallis, and Sourav Ganguly for the middle-order of his playing XI. For the wicket-keeper role, Sachin picked Australian great Adam Gilchrist. In the bowling department, the little master picked some of the greats - Harbhajan Singh, Shane Warne, Wasim Akram, and Glenn McGrath.

Sachin Tendulkar’s Playing XI:

Virender Sehwag, Sunil Gavaskar, Brian Lara, Viv Richards, Jacques Kallis, Sourav Ganguly, Adam Gilchrist, Shane Warne, Wasim Akram, Harbhajan Singh, and Glenn McGrath.

https://zeenews.india.com/cricket/n...ime-best-xi-check-full-list-here-2425654.html

 

[PakPremi]

Ganguly, Harbajhan, and Sehwag are in only because they are Indians, they no where close to ATG material. Anyway its his choice so good luck to him.

 

[Protea Fan]

Ganguly, Harbajhan, and Sehwag are in only because they are Indians, they no where close to ATG material. Anyway its his choice so good luck to him.

I had seen sehwag's name in many non indian's all time eleven as well

 

[YousafTheBeast]

If you’re going to pick an all time xi with 2 spinners and not have Murali in it then you’re just mentally not right in the head.

Harbhajan Singh wouldn’t even make it into the top 10 spinners of all time.*

 

[NishanKonar]

This looks like Sachin's best friends XI

 

[WhenSultansBowled]

Sachin did dominate Murali and Warne.

Only Saqi and Ajmal* troubled him.

Maybe he found Harbhajan's doosra really hard in the nets.

Solid XI.

 

[JibranAnsari]

saurav ganguly and harbhajan singh? Ashwin is surely better than harbhjan and can bat too.

 

[Corridor of Uncertainty]

Playing 11s are always controversial and more often than not, led by personal agendas.

They give an insight into the person more than into the XI.

I could argue a case for Ganguly based on his captaincy and Harbhajan based on his record at home. Similarly I can argue against Dravid, Ponting, Waugh, Kumble, Murali, Dhoni, Waqar, McGrath etc for some other reason.

To each, his own metaverse.

 

[Unbiased-Fan]

Its okay to include Saurav in your all time XI but why Harbhajan? **

 

[Cover Drive Six]

This guy can't even pick proper XI...Poor

 

[Bhaag Viru Bhaag]

I would replace Ganguly with either Laxman or Hussey. And it seems he wanted to make Bhajji happy lol. I would pick Graeme Swann instead.

 

[Ab Fan]

What is Harbhajan doing here? What next? Include Rohit Sharma in it?

 

[Last Monetarist]

This guy can't even pick proper XI...Poor

It's not hard to understand why he was a failure as captain.

 

[Uzi]

I'm surprised Srinath and Prasad aren't spearheading the bowling.

 

[Xoib]

Heard he was always salty of dravid of outperforming him on away trips not surprised he's.not in the xi.

 

[MP2011]

Heard he was always salty of dravid of outperforming him on away trips not surprised he's.not in the xi.

Dravid couldn't possibly upstage Lara in the XI, could he?

 

[MP2011]

Ganguly & Bhajji don't deserve to be in the XI, for sure.

However his XI, his choice.

 

[Concerned]

Ashish Nehra should have replaced Wasim Akram.

 

[Bewal Express]

Where is Mohanty?

 

[Bewal Express]

If its Indians he wanted then Dravid, Azhar and Vengsarkar were all better

 

[Cricwc2021]

Nayan Mongia should have been there.

 

[Justcrazy]

Any world XI will have wasim Akram 99 % times , because he was a left handed bowler , and there is absolutely NO competition here , he provides the variation.

 

[Xoib]

Dravid couldn't possibly upstage Lara in the XI, could he?

So murali can be upstaged by bhaji and then don't get me started on saurav who was a fine batsman in his own right but would struggle to get in to a world xi of his playing days let alone an all time xi

 

[Technics 1210]

Very odd XI.

Clearly Gavaskar is in the list based on highlights given he retired in 87. Richards must also be based on highlights. Might as well include Bradman at this rate.

Baji? Perhaps something to do with Tendulkar changing his testimony at Monkey-gate hearings.

No wonder Tendulkar was a rubbish captain.

 

[Mirpur express]

Lmao @ bhaji ‘s name there * No wonder he was a horrible captain,

 

[Tera Gawaandi]

Clearly Gavaskar is in the list based on highlights given he retired in 87. Richards must also be based on highlights. Might as well include Bradman at this rate.

Sachin first showed interest in Tennis at age 8, idolising John McEnroe. He had grown long hairs like McEnroe and use to wear wrist bands and head bands like his Tennis hero and use to carry Tennis racket with him.

Sachin started coaching under Ramakant Achrekar at age 11 in 1984. (I believe he started watching cricket 1 year prior to this).

Sachin came to field as substitute for Imran Khan's side in an exhibition game in January 1987.

Sachin was selected for Bombay in November 1987, although he was only used as a substitute fielder. Next year he played his first match for Bombay and scored a 100 not out on Debut.

Sachin debuted in 1989 for India.

Gavaskar in his 1986 interview recalled the time when he specially went to see a young Sachin Tendulkar batting in the nets for the first time.

Gavaskar retired in 1987, same year he gave his ultra light pads to Sachin and consoled him to not get disheartened for not getting the Bombay Cricket Association's "Best junior cricket award" (Sachin was 14 years that time). Sachin scored his first Test 100 wearing those same pair of pads in 1990 at Old Trafford.

Viv retired in August 1991, by that time Sachin was playing professional sport for 4 years.

So it's possible he watched Gavaskar for 3-4 years and Viv for 7-8 years and played against him as well.

So much of Sachin's technique is based on Gavaskar's technique.

 

[Mainul]

Harbhajan was not even near to an ATG. He was a good off spinner that's all. I shall say the same about Ganguly. Saeed Anwar was better than Ganguly. Sachin didn't think deep in choosing this 11.

I loved the playing eleven picked by Waqar

 

[Joseph Gomes]

Joke of an XI. Harbhajan is the worst bowler in history to take over 300 wickets.

 

[NishanKonar]

Harbhajan is Sachin's best friend in Indian team. That's why Harbhajan chose Mumbai Indians over Punjab in IPL in 2008

 

[octavian]

This shows why Sachin was such a terrible captain.

 

[oatmeal]

Sehwag's inclusion can be argued for because he was a transformative test batsman.

But bhajji and ganguly are totally undeserving. Contributed a lot to Indian cricket but not enough to make an All Time World XI

 

[Zaz]

Wasims gonna make most all time elevens

There may have been better bowlers with better stats but like someone said your arent gonna get a leftie quick who offers that variation better than him

 

[zacattakk]

He picked Kallis instead of Robin Singh? Bizarre

 

[Afzal_K]

Ganguly, Harbajhan, and Sehwag are in only because they are Indians, they no where close to ATG material. Anyway its his choice so good luck to him.

Sehwag is a ATG for sure, what world are you living in

 

[Afzal_K]

Bhajan is his best friend

 

[Bhaag Viru Bhaag]

He picked Kallis instead of Robin Singh? Bizarre

He also picked Mcgrath and Gilly instead of Kuruvilla and Sameer Dighe.

 

[Ab Fan]

Why is Kumble not there? He is his teammate for longest( since 1990).

 

[pratiktc]

Bit of an interesting insight into SRT's mindset.

It is known from journalists and people close to team during 2000s that all three of SRT, Dravid and Laxman - who were India's best players of spin in late 90s-00s - rated Harbhajan highly because of the disconcerting bounce he would get. This opinion and Ganguly's backing because of 2001 series heroics has carried Harbhajan for a long time in his career through his numerous fallow periods.

These three in domestic Indian cricket are literally Bradman level batters (all averaging 75-85 range throughout career) and literally no spinner could out them. Several domestic stalwarts like Powar, Kanwaljit, Raju, Ananta were never really rated highly by them. They could play them all day in domestic and if they decided not to get out, that was that. But Harbhajan with his sometimes belly to chest level bounce when in peak form was the only thing that troubled them.

Its a reminder of how opinions of great players can play big role in elevation of careers. The fast tracking of players like Zaheer, Umesh, Munaf who originated from smaller cricketing states into big league is literally off a net session or one good domestic inns where the big boys found him hard to face.

 

[DeadlyVenom]

We know why Tendulkar has a legacy as a complete failure of a captain

 

[Bewal Express]

Legendary cricketer Sachin Tendulkar is considered to be one of the best batters if not the best to have played the gentleman’s game. The Master Blaster’s records speak for themselves. Tendulkar has scored 15,921 runs in ODIs and 18,426 runs in Tests during his international career. Including all the formats, Sachin has a total of 100 international centuries and 201 wickets to his name.

However, despite all the facts and stats, Tendulkar didn’t pick himself in his all-time best playing-XI.

Recently, the Master Blaster picked up his best Playing-XI in a list of some of the most celebrated cricketers which caught many off guards as he not only missed out on his name but missed out on many big names too.

Notably, the likes of MS Dhoni, who is considered as the greatest captain to have led the Indian cricket team, Virat Kohli – who is hailed as run machine, legendary spinner Muttiah Muralitharan, wall of Indian cricket team- Rahul Dravid, and many more were missing from the all-time playing XI of Sachin.

Interestingly, Tendulkar picked legendary Brian Lara, Viv Richards, Jacques Kallis, and Sourav Ganguly for the middle-order of his playing XI. For the wicket-keeper role, Sachin picked Australian great Adam Gilchrist. In the bowling department, the little master picked some of the greats - Harbhajan Singh, Shane Warne, Wasim Akram, and Glenn McGrath.

Sachin Tendulkar’s Playing XI:

Virender Sehwag, Sunil Gavaskar, Brian Lara, Viv Richards, Jacques Kallis, Sourav Ganguly, Adam Gilchrist, Shane Warne, Wasim Akram, Harbhajan Singh, and Glenn McGrath.

https://zeenews.india.com/cricket/n...ime-best-xi-check-full-list-here-2425654.html

Ganguly and Bhajji? Good players but not ATG.

 

[Devadwal]

Sehwag is first person in any world test eleven.

Has Anyone seen the match between world 11 against ATG Australian team?

 

[Cric_lover4487]

My X1 would have Dale Steyn because he is my favorite cricketer of all time. However, most people pick Mcgrath over him because of his stats and deservedly so. But that's the whole point of choosing YOUR team. Maybe, Sachin rates Harbhajan over Murli because of friendship or he found him difficult to face in nets over Multi in matches.

 

[oatmeal]

Sehwag has a case because of tests. But no way Ganguly and Bhajji make a all time xi

 

[Croma]

Is there any Ashwin Vs BHajji thread? WOuld be interesting to know whom PP'ers rate higher..

I dont like Ganguly and BHajji in Sachin's team though. Weird selections

 

[mominsaigol]

Sachin naming Wasim Akram isn't a suprise. He's the greatest Left arm pacer the world has ever seen.

 

[U$ofA]

To me the below seven players are set in stone in an all time eleven. I am open to the remaining four.

Bradman
Sobers
Tendulkar
Viv Richards
Warne
Akram
Marshall

 

[BouncerGuy]

Sachin is not a fool when he named Wasim in his all-time 11 but harbhajan sounds a bit shocking. Murali will easily be there in place of him for me, also ganguly sounds a bit off. Better players out there.

 

[The lone Ranger]

I'd Replace Ganguly and Singh with Dravid and Murali

 

[Red-Indian]

To me the below seven players are set in stone in an all time eleven. I am open to the remaining four.

Bradman
Sobers
Tendulkar
Viv Richards
Warne
Akram
Marshall

I've lost interest in discussing all time XIs because of the range of players who can be considered. How do you compare Bradman with Tendulkar or Sydney Barnes with Warne?

Because of how much things change - opponents, playing conditions, styles etc I now feel we should break XIs into 25 year segments.
1950 - 1975 (you can stretch this one a bit backwards)
1975 - 2000
Post 2000

You have to have played a fair bit of cricket - say 7 to 8 years in that 25 year block to be considered for that XI. This I feel would be a more fun exercise and a better quality of discussion.

 

[DeadlyVenom]

To me the below seven players are set in stone in an all time eleven. I am open to the remaining four.

Bradman
Sobers
Tendulkar
Viv Richards
Warne
Akram
Marshall

I revisited by classification of the classic WINDies bowlers now Perhaps I have gone soft as I am older but charging in and launching the ball the bodies at people with no protection was cruel and not a fair contest.

I therefore don't rate them as highly as they are rated by most.

Can you imagine Shoaib and Lee in that era? It would have been terrifying.

I rate the batsmen like Gavaskar and others who excelled against them.

That's why I would remove Marshall from your list. There is one other name I would remove too but that would end up derailing the thread further and summoning the candy man of Indian posters who arrives when that person is discussed.

 

[Mainul]

I don't rate Tendulkar the man talking about cricket at all.