Indian All Time XI - By cricinfo experts

[Roshanrocks]

If the all-time XI is any indication, this is the golden age of Indian cricket. Four players in the list - Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Virender Sehwag, MS Dhoni - are currently in the national side and two others, Anil Kumble and Javagal Srinath, retired fairly recently. The trouble with golden ages is that they are seldom recognised as such by those living through them. In sport especially, greatness is usually bestowed retrospectively. Perhaps it is no coincidence that India are currently the No. 1 side in the world. That six of the XI made their debuts after November 1989, when Tendulkar first announced himself to the world, is a tribute to the Mumbai man's impact. Golden Ages must have their iconic figure and Tendulkar is clearly the one here, both for what he has accomplished himself and for his qualities that inspired the others. The XI, so heavily tipped in favour of the modern players, has only two cricketers who appeared before independence. Vijay Hazare and Vinoo Mankad both made their debuts at Lord's in 1946. Mankad was 29 and opened the batting with Vijay Merchant; Hazare was 31 and opened the bowling with Lala Amarnath, although each was to become better known for his other skill. Erapalli Prasanna alone of the spin quartet of the 60s and 70s makes the cut. Srinivas Venkatraghavan might have been the offspinner of choice towards the end of Prasanna's career, but in an all-time XI, Prasanna's greater variety and classicism were bound to make the difference. The presence of Mankad with his dual skills kept Bishan Bedi out, while Bhagwath Chandrasekhar had to make way for Anil Kumble with his superior record and aggressive outlook. Four players - Sunil Gavaskar, Tendulkar, Kapil Dev and Mankad - were unanimous choices, while Sehwag, Dravid and Kumble were nearly so. The bowling attack is well balanced, with three different types of spinners and two fast-medium men. There is no left-hand batsman, and that speaks of a lack of variety in the middle order. Syed Kirmani might have run Dhoni close for the wicketkeeper's slot, and with a re-jigging of the batting order it might have been possible to include Zaheer Khan (again, for variety). Perhaps he might have been in the 12. Nine of the 11 have captained India, so who should get the vote here? A case can be made for Hazare. Or Gavaskar. But for the dignity he brought to the job, his commitment to the team and the game itself, and his demonstration through the 14 Tests he led in that you can be aggressive without being boorish, my vote would go to Anil Kumble. Tendulkar might have set up the golden age and been its most obvious representative, but it was Kumble whose bowling secured the victories that made the difference in that period. The XI Sunil Gavaskar "My view is that Sunny Gavaskar is the greatest batsman I have come across. He has opened the innings against genuine fast bowlers like Michael Holding, Roberts, Croft and Garner. He has made more runs away from India - in the West Indies, Australia and England." Garry Sobers Virender Sehwag "Virender destroys all strategies. He brings the excitement and drama from the first ball. If Test cricket is still alive, it is because of players like him." Matthew Hayden Rahul Dravid "Once Dravid was set, you needed the bowling equivalent of a dozen cannon firing all at once to blast him down." Shane Warne "He has the technique and his record proves his ability on all surfaces." Ian Botham Sachin Tendulkar "If I had a son I would have wanted him to play like Sachin." Brian Lara "Tendulkar is one of that narrow stratum of elite sports stars whom people will clamour and even make great sacrifices to watch, regardless of their national identity. If you care for cricket, you must love Sachin. In this regard, his peers are few - and mostly found in other sports, and certainly in other lands." Mike Marqusee "He is No. 1 in my book - the best player I have ever had the privilege of bowling to. There's Steve Waugh and there's Brian Lara, but Tendulkar is a class above, consistently special." Allan Donald Vijay Hazare "Hazare was one of the most graceful batsmen it was my pleasure to see and perhaps the best compliment I can pay him is to say that his batting more closely resembled that of the great West Indian star Sir Frank Worrell, than anyone I can remember." Don Bradman Vinoo Mankad "Vinoo was unorthodox - more bent on getting on the offensive than defensive but he also had tremendous powers of concentration." Nari Contractor "Although called upon to bowl so often on all types of wickets Mankad rarely departed from a perfect length and, even if not carrying all before him on a wet wicket he was rarely mastered. Indeed but for the shortcomings of some of his fieldsmen, his number of wickets [on the 1946 tour of England] might have been increased by as many as 40 to 50." Wisden Cricketers' Almanack Kapil Dev "Kapil Dev, whether batting, bowling or fielding, is a spectators' delight." Fred Trueman "He was a fantastic cricketer and he was a great asset for Indian cricket during his time at the helm. He set the pace for them early on and he came to the fore and did wonderfully well - he played like a true champion and was a brilliant leader." Clive Lloyd MS Dhoni "He is exceptional. He can play purely as a batsman or as a wicketkeeper. He doesn't jump at the ball while keeping and collects cleanly, moves well. He is a fine leader and has forged the team aggressively. He reads the game well… it helps that he is a wicketkeeper." Wasim Bari "Dhoni is the kind of guy who will create something and win matches." Kiran More Anil Kumble "Anil Kumble became the best cricketer he could be and to me that is worthy of the highest honour. He redefined spin bowling in India, he was a game changer, and he soared above people's initial expectations of him to become a giant in the game. He was one of the most aggressive cricketers India has produced and carried that aggression with unfailing dignity and class." Harsha Bhogle Javagal Srinath "As one who has been privileged to watch and comment upon his best bowling displays at home, in England in 1996 and in South Africa in 1996-97, I can say that he made me feel proud to be an Indian." Rajan Bala "Srinath, by far the quickest Indian bowler of our era, could unsettle the best with the steep bounce he could produce even on unhelpful tracks. Though an underachiever, given the quality of his bowling, he is a perfect foil to Kapil Dev's control and incisive swing." Pradeep Magazine Erapalli Prasanna "He could drift the ball either way, and then there was the sharp spin coming off the smoothest use of the wrist. Much as Bradman rated Bill O'Reilly the best bowler he saw, Ian Chappell, who batted in an era rich with spin bowling talent, held a similar opinion of Pras. It's all in the wrist, said Muttiah Muralitharan about his success. Pras had that wonderful wrist that gave him his great range in the air." R Mohan

[Roshanrocks]

MS Dhoni has made it to ESPNcricinfo's India all-time XI, beating record-holding wicketkeepers Syed Kirmani and Kiran More, by virtue of his superior batting. Dhoni was picked by seven members of the 11-person jury, which was unanimous in voting Sachin Tendulkar, Sunil Gavaskar, Kapil Dev and Vinoo Mankad into the XI. The No. 5 spot divided the jury the most, and Vijay Hazare, who played only eight innings in that position (one of them in the Adelaide Test of 1948, where he made two centuries), was preferred over the likes of Gundappa Viswanath, MAK Pataudi, Dilip Vengsarkar, Mohinder Amarnath and VVS Laxman. The opening positions are taken by Virender Sehwag (10 votes) and Gavaskar, a blend of attack and defence, while the presence of Rahul Dravid (nine votes) and Tendulkar at Nos. 3 and 4 makes India's the only batting line-up among the eight leading countries, for which ESPNcricinfo has picked all-time XIs, to have over 42,000 Test runs between the top four. Only one bowler from India's legendary spin quartet of the 70s makes it to the XI. Offspinner Erapalli Prasanna, with 189 wickets in 49 Tests, joins Anil Kumble (nine votes), Javagal Srinath and Kapil to form the bowling line-up. Allrounder Mankad, who took 162 wickets at 32.32 with his slow left-armers, completes the spin-dominated attack. India's XI is the only one to feature just two fast bowlers. Australia had fast-bowling allrounder Keith Miller to back Dennis Lillee and Glenn McGrath, and South Africa had Mike Procter to help Shaun Pollock and Allan Donald. Among the notable omissions, who did not make it to the XIs of any of the jury members, were former captain Mohammad Azharuddin; Bishan Bedi, perhaps the most highly rated of the spin quartet; and wicketkeeper Farokh Engineer. ESPNcricinfo readers were invited to vote on the shortlists and their XI matched the jury's in all but one: Laxman was the readers' choice for No. 5 instead of Hazare. The jury included former Test players Sanjay Manjrekar and Arun Lal, former Mumbai player and coach Vasu Paranjape, sports journalists Pradeep Magazine, Ayaz Memon, R Mohan and Suresh Menon, cricket historian Ramachandra Guha and television commentator Harsha Bhogle. The XI: Sunil Gavaskar, Virender Sehwag, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Vijay Hazare, Vinoo Mankad, Kapil Dev, MS Dhoni, Anil Kumble, Javagal Srinath, Erapalli Prasanna. Readers' XI: Sunil Gavaskar, Virender Sehwag, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman, Vinoo Mankad, Kapil Dev, MS Dhoni, Anil Kumble, Javagal Srinath, Erapalli Prasanna. Nominees Openers: Sunil Gavaskar, Vijay Merchant, Virender Sehwag, Navjot Sidhu. Middle order: Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman, Gundappa Viswanath, Vijay Hazare, MAK Pataudi, Mohinder Amarnath, Polly Umrigar, Sourav Ganguly, CK Nayudu, Mohammad Azharuddin, Dilip Vengsarkar. Allrounders: Kapil Dev, Dattu Phadkar, Vinoo Mankad, Manoj Prabhakar. Wicketkeepers: Naren Tamhane, Kiran More, Syed Kirmani, Nayan Mongia, MS Dhoni. Fast bowlers: Javagal Srinath, Kapil Dev, Zaheer Khan, Mohammad Nissar, Amar Singh. Spinners: Anil Kumble, Bishan Bedi, Erapalli Prasanna, Subhash Gupte, Bhagwath Chandrasekhar, Harbhajan Singh, Dilip Doshi, S Venkataraghavan, Vinoo Mankad

[The Outsider]

WTF is Dhoni doing in there? :dontknow: I would also play Nissar ahead of Srinath, but the selection of Dhoni defies all logic. He is not half the keeper that Kirmani, Mongia or More were.

[Chandan]

Dhoni , an All time great?? Looks like CI panelists are completely out of their minds. Out of the following nominees: Naren Tamhane, Kiran More, Syed Kirmani, Nayan Mongia, MS Dhoni. I'll choose Kirmani above Dhoni even with my eyes closed!

WTF is Dhoni doing in there? :dontknow: I would also play Nissar ahead of Srinath, but the selection of Dhoni defies all logic. He is not half the keeper that Kirmani, Mongia or More were.

I think CI sponsors are trying to lure the sponsors of Dhoni. There can be no other reason.

[fineleg]

I was wondering the same thing. Kiri should be the keeper. While not that good a batsman like MSD, he was no mug with the bat. Gutsy, plucky batsman. And keeping - India's best prolly. BTW - Engineer a keeper right, and was he better batsman too than MSD, I'd think so? (though opener) I understand kiri > eng in keeping.

[Sir john]

poor selecton by crcinfo.what is dhoni doing there. poor poor poor selection of team poor poor poor poor:((

[vamos_rafa]

I don't think selecting Dhoni should be such a moot topic. I think he has done failry well as a keeper. He has improved tremendously as a safe WK. And I think they were considering a #7 batter as well. So his batting gives him that edge. The only one who could have come closer was Engineer but he was an opener so maybe he wasn't considered. I think Dhoni is a better all round option than SK and hence selected.

[Shane]

MSD is a more complete player when it comes to him being selected, an efficient batsman, a shrewd leader plus not that bad a keeper, so on an overall basis, I guess Dhoni would be my pick. But purely on a wicketkeeping angle, there are a few who could get picked ahead of MSD.

[Guest BossBhai]

-- Removed on request of the user --

[Roshanrocks]

MSD is decent keeper ... rarely drops a catch ... and as far as batting is concerned there is simply no comparison between him and the other contenders. Wont even get into the captaincy part ... ( Iam assuming MSD is the captain of this side).

Its Anil Kumble

[Guest BossBhai]

-- Removed on request of the user --

[Roshanrocks]

But for the dignity he brought to the job, his commitment to the team and the game itself, and his demonstration through the 14 Tests he led in that you can be aggressive without being boorish, my vote would go to Anil Kumble.

this was the author's reason for picking Kumble.... not his captaincy :D

[riwi999]

Am happy with this XI. Only possible question mark for me is Javagal Srinath. Would probably have gone with Nissar but his very short career probably went against him. I think MSD deserves to be in. His keeping has improved tremendously - I don't think he gets enough credit for it. Am only not sure about Kumble being made captain. So, he "brings dignity to the job" but he was not tested long enough in his captaincy to be captain of the all-time XI. I think Dhoni, though he has taken a bit of a beating recently, could be the captain of this side. Vinoo Mankad, btw, totally deserves to be in. Just because he is seen as an allrounder, people underestimate his bowling. He was easily one of the world's best spinners in his time. Good to have Hazare in there too. Rock-solid.

[ZodiaC]

WTF is Dhoni doing in there? :dontknow: I would also play Nissar ahead of Srinath, but the selection of Dhoni defies all logic. He is not half the keeper that Kirmani, Mongia or More were.

++ Otherwise pretty decent squad. Nor sure about Nissar, he's just played like 7 tests right? Won't it be a bit unfair to Srinath? :dontknow:

[SachDan]

On the whole a good balanced team. Not surprisingly Dhoni's selection raised a few eyebrows but let's not forget he's the best batsman among the WK nominees and he's improving as a keeper all the time..not that bad a selection. One or two controversial picks are always guaranteed while selecting an X1 from plethora of great cricketers. btw India's best cricket expert, Manggy couldn't find a place for Kumble in his X1! What a moron :finger:

[don_corleone840]

Lets see dhoni Credentials before commenting 1 Averaging 51 in odis in 172 matches at strike rate of 88. 2 No 1 in icc rankings for more than 400 days. 3 Two icc odi player of the year 4 Best record among indian captains 5 only Second Cricketer to receive rajiv gandhi khel ratna award i think he definitely deserve to be in indian all time XI

[jaggadaku]

Different between India's all time XI with other nations is that we have got the most number of current players in the list

[jaggadaku]

To all those who are calling bowling line up weak :finger: It may not be great as compare to our awesome batting but it ain't that bad either

[Ram]

Cant comment on Kirmani/More (havent seen them play), but its hilarious to see people complaining the selection of MSD over someone like Nayan Mongia. :hysterical: Mr.Nayan Mongia was the ultimate embodiment of the classic 90s Indian cricketer – Average at best, mediocre at worst, conservative most times, even plain scared the other. A fluke 100 against Australia as an opener notwithstanding, his batting is not good enough to get him even inside India ‘A’ as wicket-keeper batsmen. I don’t recall him playing a single worthwhile innings under pressure EVER. As much as the world is now in 2010, some here still seem to be stuck in the nice 90s, where wicket-keeper is in the team only for his wicket-keeping. That was the case until one Adam Gilchrist came onto scene and changed everything. A plainly mediocre batsmen like Mongia shouldn’t even be in contention for ANY all-time Text XI (and that same yardstick should probably rule out Kiran More as well..) Which brings us to his keeping. He was reliable, without being flashy. He was excellent against spinners, but had the athletic ability of a classic 90s Ambassador Car. I have NEVER seen him get off his feet, EVER, against the pacers. MSD absolutely WHOOPS Nayan Mongia’s ass when it comes to his tactical acumen, his cool/calm presence under pressure (contrast that to Mongia’s deer-in-front-of-headlights approach), his stubborn, if not entirely consistent batting. His keeping is perceptibly inferior to Mongia’s but I will bravely back his keeping in a one-on-one with ANY wicket keeper in the world today. I think his keeping is terribly under-rated. (when was the last he dropped a catch, or a missed a stumping?) And whats with the ‘Well, If you take his keeping alone…’? That’s like saying ‘Well, if you take Yuvraj’s ability to make funny faces when he gets injured on the field alone, he should be in over other batsmen..’. Seriously, WTF is that supposed to mean? I am still laughing at the ‘Nayan Mongia over MSD…’.. what next, Ajay Ratra, MSK Prasad over MSD? :winky:

[Ram]

And yes, how DARE the Cricinfo panelists consider someone like Dhoni, who has been in the Indian side only for the last 5 years, a period during which the Indian team has been SOO mediocre we actually became world’s no.1 test team, as opposed to say Nayan Mongia or Kiran More, who together oversaw the golden era that was the 90s right? For you to be in contention for an all-time test XI, you need to have played for a loooooooooong time. How crap you were individually, or collectively as a team is absolutely in that time period is absolutely immaterial. :winky: