Harsh Thakor Posted July 26, 2015 Posted July 26, 2015 There have been eras in cricket when arguably a joint India-Pakistan cricket team could have been the best in the world or en challenged a world xi.In this piece I am assessing the best all-time joint Indo-Pak teams of different eras . Recently there was an article on cricinfo choosing a team from late 1970's-early 1980's by Sankaran Krishna.I am re-producing it below.After that I have given my personal analysis and selections. Just the other day, as I watched the Pakistan Test captain hoist his team across his broad shoulders and calmly carry them over the victory line for the umpteenth time, I commented on a popular social media site, "Every time I see Misbah-ul-Haq play I think to myself: now there's another reason why Partition was a bad idea." It raised a few chuckles and some friendly eye-rolling from Pakistani friends about Indian imperialism. The comment may have seemed baffling to younger generations of subcontinentals, who take the attitude of "anyone but Pakistan" if they are Indian and vice versa across the border. Yet I remember a time in the 1970s when some of us used to fantasise about a joint Indo-Pak XI that could have taken on the best in the world and possibly triumphed. It was an era in which it was common to put our support behind Pakistan once India crashed out of international field hockey tournaments: let the gold medal stay in the region, we thought, rather than have it go to the Germans or Dutch or other rising hockey powers. Here I would like to put my dream India-Pakistan XI down on paper. For starters, let us limit the period of selection to 1977-1983, as matters get too complicated with a longer time span. I would open with Majid Khan and Sunil Gavaskar. They were both tremendous players of the best fast bowlers of their time, and Majid's attacking instincts would be a perfect foil to Gavaskar's more solid approach. I flirted with the idea of a left-right opening combination, but the sole left-hand possibility from that era, Sadiq Mohammad, just doesn't have a record that displaces Gavaskar or Majid. With "characters" like Javed, Sarfraz and Qadir in the side, the man in charge has to be adept at herding cats - of the wild variety. The choice is obvious: Imran The crucial No. 3 position presents a real headache for at least two reasons: first, there is a lot of talent to pick from, and second, during this period quite a few batsmen rotated through that spot. It came down to choosing among Zaheer Abbas, Mohinder Amarnath and Dilip Vengsarkar. All three averaged in the low-to-mid-40s, a respectable figure for that era, especially given the quality of fast bowling. Both Vengsarkar and Abbas had a less than stellar record when travelling to Australia and the West Indies. Amarnath, on the other hand, seemed to thrive against the best fast bowling and his performance in the West Indies and against a rampaging Imran Khan in Pakistan stand among the all-time great displays of fighting fire with fire. So with some regret at having to leave out two of the most stylish and elegant batsmen in Abbas and Vengsarkar, I am going with the doughty Amarnath at one-drop. Two completely contrasting characters - GR Viswanath and Javed Miandad - anchor my middle order. While Vishy was a purist's delight - all wrists and timing encased in copybook technique - Javed, with his open stance and stump-covering shuffle was more of a pugnacious and relentless accumulator. If Vishy was the sportsman who invariably walked if he nicked one, Javed was the street-smart rogue who often played with - rather than by - the rules. For No. 6, I am going with that swashbuckling left-hand libero Wasim Raja. His statistics may not hold up as well as those of some others but Raja was brilliant when it mattered. Just have a look at his numbers - including the number of sixes he hit - on that brutal tour to the West Indies in 1977, when the home team's pace attack was at its relentless best. Raja's electric fielding and his brilliant ability to turn a match with his spin bowling add to an already strong case. Abdul Qadir pushes out other candidates for the spinner's place © Getty Images The next two spots belong to two of the greatest allrounders the game has ever seen: Imran Khan and Kapil Dev. The prospect of them in their pomp opening the bowling, and then returning to the crease as batsmen when their opponents had struggled through the top order, is just mind-blowing. Their presence elevates this team to genuine world-beaters, no question about that. For the wicketkeeper's spot, Syed Kirmani just edges out Wasim Bari. They were both brilliant but Kiri's slightly superior batting (all too often his runs were made after the top order had collapsed) wins the day. Picking the final two bowlers to complete the XI was tougher than I thought. Sarfraz Nawaz eventually emerged as the best of the available options to come on as first change after Imran and Kapil had made the early inroads. Which leaves the spinner (in my fantasy this team is playing outside the subcontinent, so three pacers and one spinner is the way to go). While someone like Bishan Bedi would have been an obvious choice, he was on the wane and by 1979 his career ended, as had BS Chandrasekhar's. Iqbal Qasim had his moments but not enough of them to pip the other obvious contender: Abdul Qadir. While like many a spinner Qadir's numbers on the road are not as impressive as those at home, he was a match-winner and could be a real handful when his team put runs on the board. Six Pakistanis and five Indians - not an unfair distribution if you take into account Pakistan have the better record in bilateral matches and outdistance India in winning abroad. Which brings us to the final question: who will be the captain? With "characters" like Javed, Sarfraz and Qadir and at least four former captains in the side, the man in charge has to have a commanding personality, and be adept at herding cats - of the wild variety. To me the choice is obvious: Imran. If there was anyone who could meld this extraordinary wealth of talent and personalities into a world-beating team, it would have to be him. So there you have my fantasy India-Pakistan team. What's yours? Sankaran Krishna is a professor of political science at the University of Hawaii, in Honolulu My personal selection and analysis of joint Indo-Pak team from 1977-83 and how it would fare against the best teams of that era. I asked myself whether the selection was correct in excluding the great Zaheer Abbas or even Asif Iqbal.I would still have preferred Zaheer Abbas to Mohinder Amarnath because of his flowing style and greater talent.True Amarnath was more tenacious and gritty but Zaheer could keep the scoreboard ticking better.Amarnath was the better battler,Zaheer Abba the better match-winner.I may have put Mudassar Nazar or Mohsin Khan instead of Majid Khan who was hardly at his best after 1977 and was a make-shift opener.Before 1976 Majid batted at one or tow down like in Australia in 1972-73 or England in 1974.Against great pace I would still choose Asif Iqbal in place of Wasim Raja.Asif dealt with Lillee in 1976-77 better than any Pakistan batsmen averaging above 78 and scoring 2 centuries.Also remember his 135 at Kingston in 1977 against a top Carribean pace attack.To me the best joint Indo-Pak taem of 1977-1983 would have come close to topling the mighty West Indian taem of Clive Lloyd.Imagine Imran Khan,Kapil Dev ,Abdul Qadir,Sunil Gavaskar,Gundappa Vishwanath,Javed Miandad and Zaheer Abbas playing in one team.The West Indies did not have a spinner like Abdul Qadir or a single great all-rounder.Imran Khan and Kapil Dev were 2 truly great all-rounders ,unlike Malcolm Marshall.West Indies had an edge with a superior pace attack with Marshall,Holding,Roberts and Garner who would outclass the quartet of Imran,Kapil,Sarafraz and Qadir.The Calypso pace attack was like 4 Imran's bowling together.The Carribean batsmen like Gordon Greenidge,Viv Richards,Clive Lloyd,Alvin Kalicharan and Jeff Dujon would marginally edge the strength of Sunil Gavaskar,Gundappa Vishwanath,Javed Miandad,Kapil Dev and Imran Khan batting together.Greenidge,Richards.LLoyd and Kalicharan were a match-wining quartet but on their day Gavaskar.Miandad,Vishwanath and Zaheer Abbas could well match them.The batting abilities of Jeff Dujon and Malcom Marshal together would match that of Imran Khan and Kapil Dev .In the end I would have backed the Calypsos to win by a margin of 2 wickets or 25 runs.On a turning track the Indo Pak team to me would have nosed the West Indies.Another interesting game would have been Indo-Pak v Rest of the World but here the Rest of the World would have been 50-75 runs or 4-5 wickets to the better.Imagine Chapel Brothers,Dennis Lille,Richard Hadlee or Ian Botham joining the great Calypos cricketers. My 1977-83 Indo-pak xi 1.Sunil Gavaskar 2.Mohsin Khan 3.Zaheer Abbas 4.Javed Miandad 5.Gundapa Vishwanath 6.Wasim Raja 7.Kapil Dev 8.Imran Khan 9.Syed Kirmani 10Sarafraz Nawaz 11 Abdul Qadir. The above team would have been 2nd to West Indies in their era by a small margin.Vengsarkar and Amarnath miss out by a whisker.
thongale Posted July 27, 2015 Posted July 27, 2015 Will be steam rolled by Windies and Aussies. Pakistani batting were much better than Indian batting in 1980s, especially against Windies, but could not win a series against them. Having Indian batsman instead of Pakistanis only will make it worse. Pakis back in 80s were very tough nuts, especially facing up to the quartret.
HippoSucks Posted July 27, 2015 Posted July 27, 2015 Will be steam rolled by Windies and Aussies. Pakistani batting were much better than Indian batting in 1980s' date= especially against Windies, but could not win a series against them. Having Indian batsman instead of Pakistanis only will make it worse. Pakis back in 80s were very tough nuts, especially facing up to the quartret. This is a combined XI so the best players from both teams would be in the team. If all the batsman from Pakistan were better than their Indian counterparts then all the 7 batsman in this combined XI would be from Pakistan. However that isn't the case. Gavaskar was better than any other batsman in Pakistan's side from 1977-1983 (in fact he was better than any batsman from Pakistan ever). Now the OP chose Zaheer Abbas at #3 but I would actually put Mohinder Amarnath over him because of performance against West Indies and Pakistan. Gundappa Viswanath is a pretty obvious choice at #5. Having these three Indian batsman strengthens the team a lot. Otherwise the batting would be over-reliant on Zaheer Abbas and Miandad.
Deleted_User_1 Posted July 28, 2015 Posted July 28, 2015 Chalo Thakor ke bachche phir thhokne aa gaya!!! :giggle:
Unicorn Posted July 28, 2015 Posted July 28, 2015 Amarnath for Zaheer Bari for Kirmani Majid for Mohsin would make it the strongest possible team. Still not good enough for WI though.
Harsh Thakor Posted August 2, 2015 Author Posted August 2, 2015 Will be steam rolled by Windies and Aussies. Pakistani batting were much better than Indian batting in 1980s' date=' especially against Windies, but could not win a series against them. Having Indian batsman instead of Pakistanis only will make it worse. Pakis back in 80s were very tough nuts, especially facing up to the quartret.[/quote'] In 1988 surely a joint Indo-pak team would have beaten the West Indies in 1988.Dubious umpiring cost Pakistan that series.Infact from 1987-1992 a joint Indo-pak team could have beaten any world xi.Remember the decline of the Calypsos.
Harsh Thakor Posted August 2, 2015 Author Posted August 2, 2015 Amarnath for Zaheer Bari for Kirmani Majid for Mohsin would make it the strongest possible team. Still not good enough for WI though. Majid was never at his best after 1977 while Mohsin was outstanding in 1982 and 83.Rember Mohsin's double-hundred at Lords and 2 centuries in 1983-84 in Australai aginst top quality bowling.Amarnath more durable but Zaheer Abbas had more flair and could win more games.Remember Zaheer's record in England and Australia.Kirmani was better bat than Bari.
Harsh Thakor Posted August 2, 2015 Author Posted August 2, 2015 This is a combined XI so the best players from both teams would be in the team. If all the batsman from Pakistan were better than their Indian counterparts then all the 7 batsman in this combined XI would be from Pakistan. However that isn't the case. Gavaskar was better than any other batsman in Pakistan's side from 1977-1983 (in fact he was better than any batsman from Pakistan ever). Now the OP chose Zaheer Abbas at #3 but I would actually put Mohinder Amarnath over him because of performance against West Indies and Pakistan. Gundappa Viswanath is a pretty obvious choice at #5. Having these three Indian batsman strengthens the team a lot. Otherwise the batting would be over-reliant on Zaheer Abbas and Miandad. Was not Zaheer Abbas a better match-winner than Amarnath and overall a batsmen even marginally ahead of Vishwanath?remember his double-hundreds in England and dominance on slow wickets For sheer class he would nose Amarnath or even Vishy.At his best Zaheer was ahead of Miandad. I mantain it was2nd best to West Indies in it's time.
Harsh Thakor Posted August 2, 2015 Author Posted August 2, 2015 Surely Kapil got to be the captain? Imran was a far superior tactician and leader.Kapil was inspirational but not as astute as a strategist .Imran anyday ,my skipper.
Marut Posted August 2, 2015 Posted August 2, 2015 Zaheer Abbas over Amarnath in Asia. But Amarnath surely pips Zaheer Abbas outside Asia. Even Imran as captain has expressed the opinion that Zaheer mostly made soft runs. Imran openly said that Abbas was weak against pace and even said that Abbas played only for his averages and chickened out against class bowling. He was also a mental midget, averaging 27 and 23 in the third and fourth innings respectively - how is he a match winner over Amarnath? This team would be no match for the best WI XI of the same period, especially on the bowling front, they will be lucky to draw matches. Marshall > Imran Holding > Kapil Roberts >> Sarfraz Garner >> Qadir
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