The best starting XI we have ever fielded

[maniac]

Also don't go by the result---Obviously 83 World cup or 2011 Worldcup may have not been our best line up ever... Also try to avoid sarcastic Somasundars and Kanitkars I will look up some lists to come up with because we have always carried some extra baggage in terms of bowling or middle order but would love to see what people here come up with

[maniac]

^This could be ODI or Test and I am tlking in terms of how the line up looked on paper For eg;I mean despite the drubbing we took in Aus and depending on how Ashwin,Umesh or even Kohli evolve in the future(in tests) the line up in Aus could have been our best ever on paper....Just hypothetical and giving an example not stating it.

[maniac]

SM Gavaskar K Srikkanth NS Sidhu DB Vengsarkar M Azharuddin N Kapil Dev* RJ Shastri KS More† RMH Binny M Prabhakar Maninder Singh

[maniac]

This looks one of the best Indian teams on paper in relation to the times they have played in....This was a line up from 87 WC...Looks very strong on paper

[maniac]

Just Look at the batting,bowling and all-round strength here

[Lurker]

You are thinking about 1987 Reliance WC team I beleive. I do concur it was one of the strongest team we have ever fielded, if not the strongest. We should have won the 1987 WC :((

[Number]

In ODIs 2003 world cup side. Zak , Srinath and Nehra (in prime form) with Bhajji/Kumble. SRT , the greatest ever ODI bat in full flow with RD , Ganguly , Yuvi and Sehwag. But they had to compete with all time great Aussies .

[maniac]

You are thinking about 1987 Reliance WC team I beleive. I do concur it was one of the strongest team we have ever fielded, if not the strongest. We should have won the 1987 WC :((

That is correct...because 2001 onwards even if we played our star studded lineup of the big 5+Viru and Harbhajan,there was always a two or more of a Parthiv Patel,Munaf Patel,RP Singh,Dinesh Mongia,Sanjay Bangar,SS Das etc who have made it to the line up. That line-up I just showed was from the famous 1 run defeat to Australia,there is another one where Binny is replaced by Chetan Sharma and going by our standards then,that was not a bad line up either

[Lurker]

That is correct...because 2001 onwards even if we played our star studded lineup of the big 5+Viru and Harbhajan,there was always a two or more of a Parthiv Patel,Munaf Patel,RP Singh,Dinesh Mongia,Sanjay Bangar,SS Das etc who have made it to the line up. That line-up I just showed was from the famous 1 run defeat to Australia,there is another one where Binny is replaced by Chetan Sharma and going by our standards then,that was not a bad line up either

Not at all. In fact on domestic tracks I would prefer Sharma who was more nippier and less dependent on swinging conditions like Binny did. On the other hand we also switched Vengsarkar (who was injured) with Pandit in the semis. :doh:

[Swing_n_Speed]

May sound funny to some But I think we recently fielded out best starting XI in the CB games I think it went like this, Shewag Tendulkar Gambhir Kohli Raina Dhoni Jadeja Ashwin Kumar ZK Yadav This team has firepower. And should this team perform as a unit they wld be blo*dy unbeatable. A few changes though, I.Pathan for P.Kumar and maybe R.Sharma for Jadeja. On paper I cannot imagine anyone beating this team.

[Ultimate_Game]

The 1983-87 side was one of the best Indian odi team ever. They won the WC, won Benson & Hedges World Championship which was like a World Cup with all the top teams and were strong contenders for 1987 WC. That team had wks (Kirmani, More or Vishwanath) batting at 8, 9 or 10 and had all-rounders like Binny, Madan Lal, Kapil Dev, Amarnath etc. which for a change were seam oriented all-rounders enabling India to win away from home.

[Lurker]

The 1983-87 side was one of the best Indian odi team ever. They won the WC' date=' won Benson & Hedges World Championship which was like a World Cup with all the top teams and were strong contenders for 1987 WC. That team had wks (Kirmani, More or Vishwanath) batting at 8, 9 or 10 and [b']had all-rounders like Binny, Madan Lal, Kapil Dev, Amarnath etc. which for a change were seam oriented all-rounders enabling India to win away from home.

Thats one of India's contribution to world cricket. The advent of using all-rounders in LOI. We were lucky to have all-rounders who could be called all-rounders. Not a bit and bob like Jadeja or Pathans or Rainas. Madan Lal could bowl 10 overs and make a decent 15-20 atleast. Same with Binny. Of course Kapil was different. Mohinder could bowl a few overs. Even Kirti Azad may have been better than Jadejas of today. Soon these were followed by Shastri, Prabhakar, Chetan Sharma etc. Again nothing spectacular but those who could contribute handily in one area and then some decent show in another.

[Yoda-esque]

The 1983-87 side was one of the best Indian odi team ever. They won the WC' date=' won Benson & Hedges World Championship which was like a World Cup with all the top teams and were strong contenders for 1987 WC. That team had wks (Kirmani, More or Vishwanath) batting at 8, 9 or 10 and had all-rounders like Binny, Madan Lal, Kapil Dev, Amarnath etc. which for a change were seam oriented all-rounders enabling India to win away from home.[/quote'] Agree

[Lurker]

May sound funny to some But I think we recently fielded out best starting XI in the CB games I think it went like this, Shewag Tendulkar Gambhir Kohli Raina Dhoni Jadeja Ashwin Kumar ZK Yadav This team has firepower. And should this team perform as a unit they wld be blo*dy unbeatable. A few changes though, I.Pathan for P.Kumar and maybe R.Sharma for Jadeja. On paper I cannot imagine anyone beating this team.

Not trying to pick on you, as every person has his/her favorite team but dude that team would struggle to pick 10 wickets in a game, let alone consistently in a tournament. Will routinely go for 300 plus and wish batsmen were able to chase it down. Maniac and UG's team were able to knock off opposition rather routinely.

[maniac]

Also not to forget the contribution of our openers Cheeka and Sunil perfectly complimented each other...Though SRT-Dada probably are the best ODI openers we or infact Word cricket ever had....After Srikanth-Gavaskar Openining partnership split we never had stable openers across all formats till Gambhir-Sehwag.

[Yoda-esque]

I think the team that toured Pakistan where Dhoni and UV dominated them was a pretty good one as well.Blistering Firepower with Sehwag,UV,MSD,Tendlya,Raina,Pathan

[maniac]

Raci Shastri for all the flak he gets or got post 85 victory was also a forgettern cog in the wheel of that team.... Kapil , Shastri and Prabhakar where 3 players good enough to make it to the side as a bowler or batsman... Amarnath was an allrounder more say in a Kohli or Raina mould in terms of bowling ability and Chetan Sharma more in the Irfan Pathan mould primarily a bowler who had some special talent with the bat. Infact his 100 is one of the most random things that is etched in my memory watching it as a kid.

[Lurker]

Also not to forget the contribution of our openers Cheeka and Sunil perfectly complimented each other...Though SRT-Dada probably are the best ODI openers we or infact Word cricket ever had....After Srikanth-Gavaskar Openining partnership split we never had stable openers across all formats till Gambhir-Sehwag.

Well Sunil Gavaskar was a misfit in LOI. Plus his performance in crunch games, specially under Kapil as skipper, was truckload of cr2p. In 1983 WC tournament he was the weakest link, performance wise, and it is amazing to see how often he shows up at all the 1983 celebration and shares stories :beee::beee: Cheeka on the other hand was a cavalier. The one who actually took to the opposition. Dont forget that he was a brilliant fielder too. He and Kapil inside circle would make for a great combination. Plus Cheeka also managed to take a few wickets in LOI. Not sure of his record but I would bet his bowling average would be better than likes of Yuvraj, Raina, Sehwag, Pathans, Jadeja and all the others who show up as "all-rounders" :beee:

[vvvslaxman]

The team that toured Australia in 1985/86 was very good. It also depends on form. http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/match/64004.html This line up is a good line up. Apart from Bangar/Parthiv.. it is a very good side Zaheer/Srinath/Kumble/Bhajji

[maniac]

I think the team that toured Pakistan where Dhoni and UV dominated them was a pretty good one as well.Blistering Firepower with Sehwag' date='UV,MSD,Tendlya,Raina,Pathan[/quote'] Looked at that team but we did have some luggage there too...I guess Zaheer was missing and the bowling had some mediocre names there. Also as I said don't remember if our big 5+Bhajji,Yuvi,Zak,Srinath,Sehwag and even Sir Aggy/Prasad playing at once.That would have been a pretty strong line up for us....or even a samilar combo say with replacing Dhoni in the line up...Obviously Srinath/Prasad wouldn't be there but some combo of big5+yuvi,zak,Bhajji,Sir Aggy,Sehwag and Dhoni . I don't remember us having either of these combos ever.