All time best ODI team

[midge]

Pisses me off the lack of love for Gilchrist around here, the Indian press nicknamed him the destroyer during an Indian tour FFS, such nicknames aren't handed out that often. He was the most feared batsan in the world for near on a decade in ODIs, and he distributed pain like no other as a test batsman.

He was a tormentor for bowlers like no other. Whatever the format, he would always come out all guns blazing. There was no respite for the opposition when Gilly was at the crease. Whether it was a run chase or batting first, he had the upper hand over opposition in most of the contests. Even greats like Akram found it difficult to bowl at him.

[Muloghonto]

He was a tormentor for bowlers like no other. Whatever the format' date=' he would always come out all guns blazing. There was no respite for the opposition when Gilly was at the crease. Whether it was a run chase or batting first, he had the upper hand over opposition in most of the contests. Even greats like Akram found it difficult to bowl at him.[/quote'] He was pretty much Sehwag lite, with the opposite weakness: spin on spinning wickets. But then again, Gilly was not a very technically correct batsman (like Sehwag) and a top hand player with a high grip. That does not work in India or SL against quality spinners because if you are a top handed high grip player, you need to be technically perfect. Eg: Greg Chappell.

[midge]

Well his avg. in Asia is a tad better than his overall avg, in fact it's almost the same everywhere. He was probably one of the few best cutters and pullers that the game has ever seen, on the other hand, Sehwag had a great hand eye co-ordination, but lacked in footwork. His performances in SA, Australia and England are below avg. even by his one day record. Gilly, on the other hand has been consistent all the way.

[thongale]

Nah. He was a bit of a minnow basher. Not nearly effective away from sub-cont.

Are you imagining things?

[thongale]

Sehwag was a far more impactful test batsman than Gilchrist. Its one thing to come and smash a 50 off of 50 balls when the score is 350/4. Its a totally different planet to smash a 50 off of 50 opening the batting and putting the team at 100/1 after 20 overs on day1 of a test. The latter is far' date=' far more impactful and you know it. Just your 'aussie-ness' prevents you from appreciating the realities of test cricket.[/quote']Once again talking bull ****. This is ODI XI, not test XI. What Shewag did in tests doesn't come in to equation. Pfft!:finger:

[thongale]

Sehwag has several high pressure monster knocks too. Between Sehwag and Jayasurya the batsman' date=' its Sehwag and its not very close.Sehwag averages 35+ with 104 strike rate, Jayasurya has 32 at 91. [/quote']Once that SR standardized, it becomes less than 10 because Jayasuriya debuted in 1989. And it's a massive lol that you have not even looked up at Jayasuirya's stats. He averages 35 with the bat with the bat of SR of 92, which is extremely close to Shewag's stats. Not true. Only difference of 1.5 runs away from home. The moot point is that Shewag will be no where close to slip in a team with Ponting, Viv, ABDV or Klusener in the side. Shewag is light years behind above names at slip. Actually Shewag is so bad in the field he should be replace by a permenant 12th man on the field. On other hand Jayasuriya is one of the best backward square leg and cover fielder in early 90s, which makes him doubly valuable in an ATG XI team. Sachin and Viv are plain part timers. Jayasuriya is a proper bowler. He even bowled at death ion 96WC with great success. Viv and Sachin could only have wet dreams on bowling at the death like Jayasuriya. In ODI game Jayasuriya is an All time great. Shewag was only a swashbuckling opener. Massive Lol. You have not seen any cricket. He was a league ahead of Azhar, and better than Chris HArris, outfielding him in '91/92 series in SL. Err, Viv was not playing for AUS. 70s is moot, because Imran became a force only in 80s, and addition of Qadir and Wasim happened only during 80s. I am struggling to even remember great ODI bowlers from Australia in 80s apart from McDermott, who was possibly as good as Aaqib Javed with the ball.

[CricketBuffOne]

Gilly (wk)' date=' Sachin, Viv , Ponting, Lara, Lloyd ©, Abbas, Akram, Warne, McGrath, Holding.[/quote'] Looks like a terrific team. One change though, would like to see Zulu in place of Abbas. He is a great finisher and a more than decent bowler.

[Muloghonto]

Once that SR standardized' date=' it becomes less than 10 because Jayasuriya debuted in 1989. And it's a massive lol that you have not even looked up at Jayasuirya's stats. He averages 35 with the bat with the bat of SR of 92, which is extremely close to Shewag's stats. [/quote'] He averaged 32.36 with the bat at 91.20 strike rate. As i said, its close but there is a distinct advantage with Sehwag, as Sehwag is at 35 average with 104 strike rate. False. Jayasurya home average: 33.73, Jayasurya away average: 28.78. Ponting is not in my team. Viv and ABDV are excellent ground fielders inside the circle. When Viv affected five run outs to win the 75 world cup, he was fielding in the covers/extra-covers region. In my team the slip position goes to Veeru. Jayasurya was an above average fielder, not one of the best- the Lankan team had some very good fielders but nowhere as good as the Aussies, Saffers and the Kiwis of the 90s. My team has five ATG bowlers, Jayasurya is a superior bowler than Viv or Sachin but both Viv and Sachin have bowled in the death, have bowled at set batsmen and have done well for a 5th bowler's job. Viv and Sachin are more than competent to bowl 4-5 overs, which is what is expected of them in a team with 5 full time bowlers. Thus, Jayasurya's sixth bowling skills are largely redundant in my lineup. Err no. Just, no. Mahanama was a good fielder but not as good as Azhar,Kaif, Yuvraj, Kohli, Raina, etc. So what ? You said Viv didn't face the best aussie bowlers because they were in the Packer series. I said that Viv was in the Packer series too, which means whenever he played in the 70s and early 80s, barring injuries, he too faced the best Aussie bowlers and when the Aussie bowlers were unavailable for national duties due to Packer, so was Viv. Viv declined from 83/84 onwards, as he was in his 30s by then. Viv's peak came from 74 to 83/84 period and during this period, Australia had the best bowling attack that he faced.

[Ranjha]

Dhoni>>>>gilly and bevan in odis.Even rate sangakkara above gilly. Don't know why people bringing in yuvraj name. He wont even make into Asia All Time XI.

Yuvraj will make Asia all time odi xi everytime for his batting position and match winning abilities. For world teams, he doesn't often because of so many great players.

[thongale]

He averaged 32.36 with the bat at 91.20 strike rate. As i said' date=' its close but there is a distinct advantage with Sehwag, as Sehwag is at 35 average with 104 strike rate.[/quote']You are making non sense. We are playing them as openers, so average as openers will be taken in to account. Away means not at home. Oppositions home + neutral venues. Once again as an opener stats are close. You can keep your rose tinted views for you. There are umpteen number of playes who could make the opening position instead of Shewag. And I am pretty sure you have not watched SL in late 90s. They often outfielded Aussies, Saffies and Kiwis. But cannot expect much from an armchair critic like you who never sees games. Shewag is not ATG opening in an ODI. Fullstop. If any one needs to get to the team with Shewag's batting prowess, he should be a useful bowler, a good fieldsman and a good captain. Shewag has none of these qualities. I would select Watson over him every day of the week. Do you know what Packer series is to start with? :omg: Viv's best period was 76-85. Last four years he has declined. Even then scored heavily against other teams while wilting against Pakistanis. Why don't you check your stats?

[Muloghonto]

You are making non sense. We are playing them as openers' date=' so average as openers will be taken in to account. [/quote'] Okay, fair enough. no, away means in opposition's home. Neutral venues are neutral venues. The opening position in ODIs is a choice between several players. Only Sachin is a lock. But players like Jayasurya, Sehwag, Gilchrist, Gibbs, Greenidge, Ganguly, etc. are all in competition for the slot. Typical lankan pride. In the late 90s your side was the best Asian side in fielding. Still miles worse than the Saffers or Aussies and Kiwis. Being a useful bowler and a good captain in a team that has five full-time bowlers and 3 captains is redundant. Sachin and Viv were useful bowlers and they satisfy the job of part time 6th bowler pretty comprehensively. You don't get five-fors in ODIs against the best sides by being crap. Good fielding is an obvious but as i said, Sehwag is a good slipper and a side with an ATG attack needs a full-time slipper. That is where Sehwag is more useful than Jayasurya. Don't beat around the bush. Packer series is when players left their national sides to play cricket for Kerry Packer ( i do not mean the later tours of AUS/ENG to RSA). Viv was also a part of that, so was Lillee and Thompson. So Viv's record against Australia is not because of those players missing out, Viv was playing against them when he was not playing for Kerry Packer either. And between 76 and 85, Australia was the best bowling attack except West Indies. Not Pakistan. So Viv not doing well against Pakistan is largely irrelevant. Its like saying Pakistan was the best attack in the 90s and 2000s because Tendulkar's record against them was the lowest in comparison to his career averages. Not true. Just because a great batsman didn't do well against a certain good attack doesn't make it the best attack ever PS: Top 5 fielders from Asia (not slip catchers) are: 1. Kaif 2. Raina 3. Yuvraj 4. Azharuddin 5. Robin Singh/Mahanama.

[Marut]

Indeed Mahanama was, at one point considered one of the best fielders from the SC.

[CricketBuffOne]

Some other good fielders from the subcontinent include Azhar, Jadeja, Robin Singh, Jaisurya, Murali.

[thongale]

Mahanama and Upul Chandana are easily the best fielders from SC. FFS, even Dilshan is better than any from the current lot. Mahanama and Chandana in their hayday were a league ahead of Dilshan, and par with Ponting, Harris and Rhodes. They simply didn't have the media hype as above three. Kaif / Yuvraj / Raina / Robin Singh, who are these blokes? Azar was brilliant, so is Kohli. But comparison ends right there with Sri Lankan and Indian fielding. Sri Lanka have been fielding the best fielding teams even from pre-Test era.

[thongale]

Good fielding is an obvious but as i said, Sehwag is a good slipper and a side with an ATG attack needs a full-time slipper. That is where Sehwag is more useful than Jayasurya.

Even at slip, Jayasuriya is a league ahead of Shewag. He was not at slip just because we had better slippers like Jayawardane, Mahanama and Tillekaratne. Once again argument fall flat on face. On otherhand, Watson has better batting stats, proper 5th bowler, and better slipper than Shewag. In ATG XI, Shewag is a non-contender. All his contempories are much superior to him. Ganguly was a better bat. Jayasuriya all round package. So are Gayle and Watson. Greenidge was a proper player of fast bowling, but was apalling against spin, and a quick silver fielder. Gilly can bat and is a top class keeper. I don't rate Gibbs. I would rate Anwar better than him. Compared to above names, Shewag is the least suitable name for a ODI opener. Mark Waugh, enough said.

[Muloghonto]

Even at slip' date=' Jayasuriya is a league ahead of Shewag.[/quote'] False. he was never a regular slipper, for a reason. He was not at slip because he was not a good slipper. If he was even decent as a slipper, he'd be in the slips because he was also a bowler with a medium workload, the slips are the best position to conserve your energy and still be useful. This is the reason Warne was at the slips. Watson is NOT an opener worth note. If Sehwag is a non-contender at ODI opening slot, so is Jayasurya as the primary role is to be a batsman. Jayasurya's all-round package is not strong enough to play him in the ODI XI as an allrounder, therefore, his all-round package is irrelevant. Gayle is not in the same league as Sehwag, his strike rate is a whole 20+ points lower. Gilly and Sehwag are identical in ODI batting impact as well. Sehwag's case for opening in ODIs is as strong as anyone not named Tendulkar.

[Muloghonto]

Mahanama and Upul Chandana are easily the best fielders from SC. FFS' date=' even Dilshan is better than any from the current lot. Mahanama and Chandana in their hayday were a league ahead of Dilshan, and par with Ponting, Harris and Rhodes. They simply didn't have the media hype as above three. Kaif / Yuvraj / Raina / Robin Singh, who are these blokes? Azar was brilliant, so is Kohli. But comparison ends right there with Sri Lankan and Indian fielding. Sri Lanka have been fielding the best fielding teams even from pre-Test era.[/quote'] Neither Mahanama or Upul Chandana are anywhere close to Jadeja or Kaif in fielding capacity. Those two were only bettered by Jonty & Gibbs in their fielding prowess inside the circle. You simply have a SL bias and if you don't know who are the links of Kaif, Raina,Yuvraj or Robin Singh in terms of fielding, you are not qualified to talk about fielders. Your SL team was a pathetic fielding outfit in the early & mid 90s. Kaluwithrana was a drop machine, Ranatunga couldn't chase anything to the boundary fence without giving up half way, the likes of Gurusinha, de Mel, Hathurasinghe...these guys were worse fielders than my mother.

[CricketBuffOne]

As a fielding outfit in late 90s and early 2000s Sri Lanka were the best team in the SC. India had the likes of Kaif, Yuvraj who were brilliant, but Sri Lanka also had very good fielders like Jaisurya, Chandana, Murali, Mahanama.

[Muloghonto]

As a fielding outfit in late 90s and early 2000s Sri Lanka were the best team in the SC. India had the likes of Kaif' date=' Yuvraj who were brilliant, but Sri Lanka also had very good fielders like Jaisurya, Chandana, Murali, Mahanama.[/quote'] Yes. No question that Sri Lanka from 95 to 2005 or so was the best subcontinental fielding side. That is because everyone in the SL outfit was at the very least, above average. They did not have the likes of Aashish Nehra/Javagal Srinath/Venkatesh Prasad/VVS Laxman/Ganguly who were pretty horrible fielders. At the same time, the best Indian fielders, such as Azhar, Robin Singh, Jadeja, Kaif, Yuvraj are easily better than any fielder Sri Lanka has produced.

[CricketBuffOne]

To love our national sides is normal, but as a cricket fan, we should be unbiased in our praise/ criticism/comparison:)