All time dream XIs- India vs Saffies

[Sooda]

To celebrate our slaughtering-to-be Sachin Ganguly © Sidhu Dravid Azhar R Shastri M S Dhoni Kapil Dev A Kumble J Srinath H Singh vs H Gibbs G Kirsten G Smith J Kallis H Cronje © L Klusener M Boucher S Pollock P Symcox A Donald M Ntini ------- you just know this match is gonna be fixed

[Predator_05]

Re: All time dream XIs- India vs Saffies Interesting thread. How on earth could you leave out Jadeja in the all-time Indian XI ? Sacrilege !! Shastri out, Jadeja in. I'd also drop Kumble for Manoj Prabhakar. I'd reckon the Saffies would happily drop fat-ass Symcox for Fanny (LOL) de Villiers. SA's bowling attack vs India's batting lineup would be a very good contest. Although Tendulkar's average record vs SA and the White Lightning fear-factor would probably tilt the balance in favour of South Africa.

[Sooda]

Re: All time dream XIs- India vs Saffies Hmm. Nice suggestions- both The Punani man and Jaddu especially just missed out The India team need a 5th bowler and Shastri was very handy. Plus hes a versatile bat- a lefty who can hold an end up with MSD and Kapil go for the slog, and can rescue possible collapses. Jadeja was a top ODI bat for sure, especially coming late in, but that leaves SRT/SCG to share the 5th bowling- im not too sure about that Re: Prabhakar- well he was a bit rubbish really. No way am I dropping Kumble if were playing in India. If theyre playing in SAf id play Pathan (his current form notwithstanding- his ODI record is excellent-plus he can bat) instead of Bhajji. As for Fanny. Again, top top ODI cricketer. The number of times I watched him gain that vice tight hold on our openers in the mid-late 90s...man. But the SAfs need a spinner in the side- and Symcox was also pretty good ODI bowler..not to mention his batting ability. Maybe Ntini could be dropped for Fanny??

[King]

Re: All time dream XIs- India vs Saffies My thoughts are similar to Predator's. Jadeja was a far better ODI player than Sidhu and Ravi Shastri. Jadeja and Robin Singh partnership was one of the best late middle order for India ever. These two guys have won plenty of ODIs (including against Australia) more often than any pair. Also as it is a ODI Jadeja is one of the best fielders India has ever had and cannot be left out. Sidhu and Ravi Shastri cannot hold candle to Jadeja's value in the team. :shrug: India will have a horrid time in the fielding department with the above team. Kumble, Sidhu, Ganguly, Srinath were/are all terrible fielders. :eew:

[Sooda]

Re: All time dream XIs- India vs Saffies Ok..I guess. True say about the fielding!! How about... Sachin Ganguly © Dravid Azhar Yuvraj A Jadeja M S Dhoni Kapil Dev A Kumble J Srinath H Singh Has Yuvraj proved himself enough to get in there...

[King]

Re: All time dream XIs- India vs Saffies That is a fantastic team indeed, I don't reckon the all time South Africa xi will be able to beat this line up consistently. Sachin, Azhar, Yuvraj, Jadeja and Kapil Dev are top class fielders. They can keep about 20 runs down easily with this fielding line up. There is no need to say much about batting it looks great. Some will have a problem having Yuvraj there but I won't mind having him there. Kaif should be 12th man BTW.

[Predator_05]

Re: All time dream XIs- India vs Saffies I am really going to beat this point 'til death - i just feel like i have to. There is absolutely no way you can pick Shastri ahead of JADEJA. Ajay was a top class slogger and accumulator lower down the order, lightning quick runner between the wickets and arguably the best fielder India have ever produced. He was a fantastic ODI cricketer and is simply MADE for that #5 position. His name is up there in the highest partnerships ever seen for the 5th wicket in the history of ODI cricket. Not to mention the havoc he wreaked on Pakistani bowlers, and i am not just referring to that 45 in the '96 World Cup final !! Not known for his bowling abilities, he did chip in with his skiddy medium pace and even won a match against England at Sharjah - taking 3 wickets in 1 over, and then running out the last man. He was a genuine matchwinner, and truly a legend in every sense of the word. Shastri was a good batsman, versatile maybe, but no ODI star. He was primarily known as an opener anyway, so that rules him out as a middle order batsman. Who cares if he was left handed. On lower order batting ability, I'd even take Robin Singh, Yuvraj, heck even Mohammad Kaif ahead of Shastri, who finished with a poor batting average of 29. Compare that to Jadeja, who averaged 37+ for his 5000+ runs !! He was just a bits and pieces cricketer. What was so great about his bowling anyway ? His spin would be a non-factor anywhere outside India...not like he was a great spinner anyway - same class as Tendulkar, only he played in an era when 300+ totals on flat-tracks weren't the norm, thus his average is below 40. Versatility is nice, but players need to have 1 strong suit to their game, ie; a great batsman who can bowl a bit (ie; Jadeja). Shastri isn't good enough to secure a place in the XI on either his batting or his bowling. Like i said before - sacrilege. Prabhakar was anything but rubbish. Selfish b@stard who played for himself ? Yes. Rubbish ? Definately not. You can definately debate his inclusion, but i'd say he is one of the best ODI bowlers India has ever produced. Get yourself some tapes of his performances in the early 90's - when he was taking sh*tloads of wickets. World series cricket, in Australia during the World Cup in '92, in South Africa. He could swing and cut the ball both ways, and had a brilliant slower ball which knocked over the best of them. A good batsman too. I'd wouldn't think twice before picking him ahead of Kumble, especially if the match is being played in SA. Kumble was never a wicket-taking bowler in ODI's and only played so many matches because there were no good seamers around. ...and oh sh*t, amidst all the commotion, i forgot about Agarkar. How silly of me. Agarkar in there for Kumble. So here is the XI; Tendulkar, Ganguly, Dravid, Azharuddin, Jadeja, Dhoni, Kapil, Prabhakar, Harbhajan, Agarkar, Srinath. I'd go with this team on any surface. Maybe swap Harbhajan for Kumble on occasion. It's a LENGTHY batting lineup and a balanced bowling attack suited to all conditions, with lots of variety.

[Sooda]

Re: All time dream XIs- India vs Saffies SAMAJHGAYA !!! >>he is one of the best ODI bowlers India has ever produced. hmmm. Well he was a bit before my time (as was Shastri)...so ill take your word for it. I know Shastri was an opener in ODIs esp- him/Srikkanth was quality (WHAT ABOUT SRIKKANTH BTW??) but he could play lower down. Aggy ...well... Id still pick Pathan over him. Left arm, arguably a better batsman, and if they were both at their best- i.e in the first couple of years of their respective careers- I think IKP just shades it. And Id never drop Kumble... Especially not vs Saffies..ESP not if were in India 300+ wkts in ODIs- thats class.

[Predator_05]

Re: All time dream XIs- India vs Saffies Interesting call on Pathan. I'd give him a few more years though, but i have no doubt that he will be in that XI sometime in the future. Agarkar has 250 wickets at an average of 27, and with an excellent strike rate as well. That is a good record by any standard, and he has won India countless matches. Only Srinath and Kumble have taken more wickets, and they had higher averages as well. Never watched Srikkanth play, but there is no point in discussing him because Tendulkar and Ganguly are the openers.

[King Tendulkar]

Re: All time dream XIs- India vs Saffies

Interesting call on Pathan. I'd give him a few more years though' date= but i have no doubt that he will be in that XI sometime in the future. Agarkar has 250 wickets at an average of 27, and with an excellent strike rate as well. That is a good record by any standard, and he has won India countless matches. Only Srinath and Kumble have taken more wickets, and they had higher averages as well. Never watched Srikkanth play, but there is no point in discussing him because Tendulkar and Ganguly are the openers.

In a few years he won't be in the indian team, let alone an all time great india 11.

[SachDan]

BUMP Assuming this was an ODI XI, nothing has changed for SAF (since Steyn isn't that good in the limited overs format!)..but Team India? hmmm....

[SachDan]

In a few years he won't be in the indian team' date=' let alone an all time great india 11.[/quote'] Again called it right ! Although one would have liked to see Irfan among the thick of things :(

[Sooda]

Aww.. whattabump Dont even remember posting this Will change a little, my OP was when Yuv was very much in the infancy of his career So now itd look like Sachin Ganguly © Sehwag Dravid Azhar Yuvraj MSD Kapil Dev Srinath Kumble Zaheer The best ODI opening pair ever, freestroking no 3, expert accumulators at 4 and 5 explosive 6 and 7. And only a great allrounder at 8. Fine pace attack, good part time spinners to support Kumble. Good fielding side too. Predator was pretty keen on Jadeja but im not so sure. and Only one change to this team IMO H Gibbs G Kirsten G Smith J Kallis A B DeVilliers ?? L Klusener M Boucher S Pollock P Symcox A Donald M Ntini

[Texan]

Shastri should not have a place in any ODI team IMO.... too slow for ODI cricket! Indian team should be: 1. Sachin 2. Sehwag 3. Ganguly 4. Yuvraj 5. MS Dhoni 6. Azhar 7. A Jadeja 8. Kapil Dev 9. Harbhajan 10. Srinath 11. Kumble

[Texan]

In SAF team, people are forgetting the contributions of Fannie DeVilliers - a very accurate bowler who gave nothing away. I would pick a SAf team as: 1. Gibbs 2. G Kirsten 3. G Smith 4. Kallis 5. Cronje (capt) 6. Boucher 7. Klusener 8. S Pollock 9. N Boje 10. Fannie DeVilliers 11. Donald

[Sooda]

Ganguly Sachin Smith Kallis Dravid Yuvraj MSD Kapil Pollock Donald Kumble Klusener...? In Dravids place mayhaps

[King Tendulkar]

In a few years he won't be in the indian team' date=' let alone an all time great india 11.[/quote'] :--D

[Sooda]

Sehwag Gavaskar Dravid Tendulkar Kallis G Pollock Boucher Kapil Pollock Kumble Donald

[Dravid]

no1 has jonty in rsa dream XI? :WTF:

[Texan]

no1 has jonty in rsa dream XI? :WTF:

Jonty should be 12th man in all XIs and team must injure or fake injury to one player :winky: