Cricket fans select their greatest test team of all time

[Sehwag1830]

Kapil Dev has a similar record to Freddie Flintoff who is called "over rated" on this website, Meanwhile nobody has even mentioned Jacques Kallis who like Sobers has a record which makes Kapil look like a school boy. Imran Khan and Botham both have better bowling and batting averages than Kapil.

Well Sehwag has better record than Hobbs. Then why didn't Wisden award him the 5 players of century award? :hysterical: Meanwhile nobody has mentioned Kapil's record against Serani's fake team WI. Keep trolling.

[Serani]

Well Sehwag has better record than Hobbs. Then why didn't Wisden award him the 5 players of century award? :hysterical: Meanwhile nobody has mentioned Kapil's record against Serani's fake team WI. Keep trolling.

Yes why didnt Wisden award Sehwag one of the 5 players of the century before he had even made his test debut? I often have sleepless nights thinking about this. Keep being mentally challenged.

[Sehwag1830]

Yes why didnt Wisden award Sehwag one of the 5 players of the century before he had even made his test debut? I often have sleepless nights thinking about this. Keep being mentally challenged.

Well Tendulkar had better record than him then. Then why did Hobbs get that award ?

[Ultimate_Game]

I am stumped and hope someone can let me know the answer... which team does Serani support? I was under the impression he was a west indian when India played WI and now suddenly he's an English fan before the India series!!! Is he one of those India haters/baiters who backs any team which plays India?

[Ultimate_Game]

imran khan used to tamper with the ball he himself has claimed that with some pride.

That proud tradition has been carried on over the years by the likes of Safraz Nawaz, Wasim Akram, Waqar Younus, Shoaib Akhtar, Md Asif etc.

[Gotham Cronie]

By the way no pakistani player in the best test eleven.

Was Wasim Akram from Nepal?

[The Outsider]

ICC should have waited for Dhoni to smash a few more centuries from 300/5, then he could have easily supplanted Gilchrist and Bhajji to dart his way to 700 wickets to replace Warne, so we could have an all time cricket XI with majority being from a country which has been the best side for 2 years in 120+ years of it's existence. These exercises run by cricinfo every few months keep it's jingoistic Indian fan base alive and kicking - that's about it.

[Lurker]

These exercises run by cricinfo every few months keep it's jingoistic Indian fan base alive and kicking - that's about it.

Right on. It also makes me so happy that I witnessed cricket in 80s so I can claim to have seen the 4 great all-rounders in flesh and blood rather than meandering towards CricInfo statsguru. If I had a penny every time someone opened his/her mouth with a "Look at Imran's stats, he was the best", I would be a rich man. Oddly enough not even Imran's best fan remember his exploits, specially with bat. As for Kapil woohooo his stuff was for legend. We need to get a Kapil Natraj shot as icon

[kabira]

Kapil was no doubt best of all 4 simply because he was pioneer for the country where Sunil Gavaskar used to open the bowling attack. I did not watch him at his peak. But I still remmeber that 100 against SA when we were 29/6 at PE. He would have achieved more present day because during those days, he was repeatedly told not to play his natural game or be more responsible. Just imagine him coming at number 6 or 7 during power play.

[zen]

Kapil Dev has a similar record to Freddie Flintoff who is called "over rated" on this website, Meanwhile nobody has even mentioned Jacques Kallis who like Sobers has a record which makes Kapil look like a school boy. Imran Khan and Botham both have better bowling and batting averages than Kapil.

I don't know why you are harping over records as if either flintoff or kallis, if they were playing for Ind, would be crowned as India's greatest cricketer over the likes of a Gavaskar or Tendulkar .... FYI, Kapil was voted the greatest Indian cricketer Kapil was the most talented batsman amongst his peers, i.e. the group of 4 great all- rounders Sobers should have been picked, IMO, not for his all round abilities but also batting as he is amongst the top 5 batsmen of AT and probably the best after Don. But leaving him aside, Kapil as an all- rounder is a great package. Whether it is hitting that 175 in the world cup game or smashing 4 sixes in a row to help Ind avoid a follow on is legendary stuff. His bowling in Australia and against WI has been pretty good.

[jairamesh]

and yet we will be here back in a few months after the ind-eng series, with new list from cricinfo with the new additions of Gambhir and Raina displacing the current incumbents. :winky:

[The Outsider]

Right on. It also makes me so happy that I witnessed cricket in 80s so I can claim to have seen the 4 great all-rounders in flesh and blood rather than meandering towards CricInfo statsguru. If I had a penny every time someone opened his/her mouth with a "Look at Imran's stats, he was the best", I would be a rich man. Oddly enough not even Imran's best fan remember his exploits, specially with bat. As for Kapil woohooo his stuff was for legend. We need to get a Kapil Natraj shot as icon

There is a certain rule of the thumb here - the only people who rate Imran as a batsman are stats guru junkies - one never to be taken seriously in cricketing matters. Many more instances abound like this where the player was never really rated when he was playing but 20 years later the stats fit in, so push the notion through. Here is an earlier post of mine regarding Imran's batting and his stats : http://www.indiancricketfans.com/showpost.php?p=828231&postcount=34

As someone who would bat at number 6 or 7, Imran's approach to batting was very unlike Kapil or Botham and that shows in the number of innings of impact one can remember Imran playing - hardly any. He would regularly come in, play the percentages and score a 40-50 unbeaten with the tail around him - a more measured approach, but ideally you want your number 6/7 allrounder to be able to turn matches around for you, an ability which was missing in Imran's batting. This is also reflected in the number of not outs he had in his career - 25 in 126 innings as opposed to 6 in 161 innings for Botham and 15 in 184 innings for Kapil. Kapil and Botham would never let the game stagnate, specially with a tail like India used to carry at times in those days it would have been criminal for Kapil to play percentage cricket around the tail. In Fact his 89 off 55 deliveries included many instances where he denied singles to avoid Doshi from coming on strike. Such things will never be captured in statistics. Imran played a few obdurate innings where he would block for hours on end and was successful with the approach on a few occasions, like in the 2nd innings of the Bangalore test where he made a crucial 40 odd blocking the ***** out of Maninder Singh. Batting wise, Imran was quite similar to Shastri I would say - straight and dead bat technique, scoring through flicks and nudges with the occasional ability for some pyrotechnics by skipping down the track and hitting big over long on. But as a lower order batsman there is no doubt I would pick Kapil or Botham. It's not just about numbers - in my choice of World XI, I would pick Steve Waugh at number 5 between Tendulkar at one end and Sobers and Gilchrist at the other. Now, I don't consider Waugh to be a better batsman than Richards or Lara for example, but given the composition of the rest of the batting order, he would be the logical choice to hold the innings together if needed between some stroke players. Imran might have the better average but at the position these guys batted at, his impact just isn't in the league of Kapil or Botham. Another comparison can be drawn between Pollock and Flintoff as batsmen - Pollock averages as much if not more than Flintoff as far as I remember, but Flintoff has had more impactful innings.

[Serani]

In years to come I bet people will say the same about Shahid Afridi despite the fact we all know he cant bat. "oh yes that Shahid when he was just a sprightly 16 year old he smashed the quickest ton ever, he was so talented just look past his record" :giggle: The numbers dont lie. And if they do they dont lie to the extent that Kapil Dev is a better batsman than Imran Khan.

[Rajiv]

Kapil Nataraj - :beer_yum:

[Sehwag1830]

In years to come I bet people will say the same about Shahid Afridi despite the fact we all know he cant bat. "oh yes that Shahid when he was just a sprightly 16 year old he smashed the quickest ton ever, he was so talented just look past his record" :giggle: The numbers dont lie. And if they do they dont lie to the extent that Kapil Dev is a better batsman than Imran Khan.

WC 1983 still hurts. :giggle: Champions trophy 1985 still hurts. :giggle:

[Rajiv]

...forgive me, deja vu - these kinda threads have been done with x 100 times in the past

[Serani]

WC 1983 still hurts. :giggle: Champions trophy 1985 still hurts. :giggle:

Again, would you like to try and add any point of view or just post random bull?

[Sehwag1830]

Again' date=' would you like to try and add any point of view or just post random bull?[/quote'] Because Kapil Dev stopped your almighty WI team from winning those trophies.B->B->

[Crookbond]

There is a certain rule of the thumb here - the only people who rate Imran as a batsman are stats guru junkies - one never to be taken seriously in cricketing matters. Many more instances abound like this where the player was never really rated when he was playing but 20 years later the stats fit in, so push the notion through.

While you have a right to your opinion, probably you can accomodate this one as well : http://es.pn/oYGa08 Overall, he was a better batsman towards the end of his career. Imran was to Pakistan was Kapil was to India and we should probably leave it that.

[The Outsider]

The numbers dont lie. And if they do they dont lie to the extent that Kapil Dev is a better batsman than Imran Khan.

You are right - Imran was in the same league was a batsman as Atherton, Stewart, Hussain, Vaughan.