Hello Everyone,
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This is my first blog on the 22 Yards community, so, a big Hi to all the embers of this community.
I am writing this blog in response to the contest on this community with link to blog as below:
As its rightly mentioned Test Cricket is the best Cricket and although the people and players are more inclined towards the hit and miss kind of T20 Cricket, there are classic players who started solely as Test cricketers and here I am writing about those as part of this Best Test XI contest.
The team I have selected is a team of past players, so, no current players included.
Here I go with the team I feel will be good for all conditions with a mix of all-rounders, fast bowlers and spinners along with some of the finest batsmen of the Test Cricket.
1: Matthew Hayden:
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Matthew Hayden, the Australian giant Cricketer is someone who is know for aggressive batting whether it's Test Cricket or a T20 and was one of the mainstay of Australian batting along with Justin Langer for a long long time.
I selected this left hand batsman as one of the openers for his aggressive batting besides being a left handed and his 8500+ runs scored with an average above 50 including 30 centuries speaks a lot about his aggressive batting and shows he is a reliable batsman and suits well for the opener's position.
2. Virender Sehwag:
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The other opener I selected is even more aggressive than Haydos and Virender Sehwag was someone who never used to bother about who is the bowler, his only business was to hit the ball as strong as possible.
I don' think India had any other opening batsman prior to Sehwag who played this much aggressive Cricket.
He has stats almost similar to Haydos, he too scored 8500+ runs with average slightly lesser than 50 but with better Strike rate because of his aggressive batting.
Both these openers are aggressive cricketers, so, just think how many runs Haydos and Sehwag could have scored in a day if they would have carried their bat thru the day in test Cricket.
3. Rahul Dravid:
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If the openers are aggressive, this guy is known for his clasical batting and he was someone who can't be intimidated and is rightly known as The Wall.
Rahul Dravid is someone who is tailor made for Test cricket, but he did play ODI and T20's to score over 10K runs in ODI's as well!!!!
He was the designated mainstay of India's number 3 in tests for almost 16 years and the 13000+ runs he scored in tests have come at an average of 52+ and had 36 centuries in all.
His strike rate of 42 shows how he use to grind the bowlers and make them tired to score the runs at will there after.
Who will forget his mammoth innings with VVS Laxman at Eden Gardens to score a comeback victory over visiting Australia after being followed on!!!!!
4. Ricky Ponting
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Ricky Ponting, The former Australian batsman and captain was someone who is known for the aggressive yet calculated innings building and he is someone who is compared with other greats like Brian Lara and Sachin Tendulkar, but this guy over scores both of them in terms of winning the matches for his country and also as a leader who led Australia to more victories than the other 2.
He is nest only to Sachin Tendulkar in all time highest run scorers list in test Cricket with over 13000 runs while maintaining an average close to 52 although that average got reduced due to his poor batting towards his retirement from Test cricket.
He is rated over Sachin Tendulkar for is contributions in Fourth innings which resulted in more wins than the other batsman.
5. Kumar Sangakkara
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Wicket Keepers were known for wicket keeping duties only from the start of the test Cricket, but that changed significantly when players like Ian Healy, Ale Stewart, Adam Gilchrist and mark Bocher, but Kumar Sangakkara is someone who took it to the next level with his elegant classy batting in all the formats he played.
He is probably one of the only few wicket keepers who will be fitting into a side as a pure batsman and he is the one with best average among the top 10 run scorers in test Cricket with an average over 57 including 38 centuries and he stands at Seventh position in all time highest run scorers in test Cricket with over 12000 runs.
His 14000+ runs in ODI also makes him the one for all formats.
He is my wicket keeper batsman in my side.
6. Jacques Kallis
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Jacques Kallis is my first allounder who is a batting allrounder with over 10K runs in test Cricket and like Kumar Sangakkara, he can probably fit in a side based alone on his batting itself.
His 13K+ runs in tests have come with better average of above 55 with 45 centuries for someone who is an allrounder and his 292 wickets adds more weight-age to those runs.
He scored over 11K runs even in ODI's as well and took 273 wickets.
7. Garry Sobers:
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Garry Sobers is probably the finest allrounders the Cricket has seen as he was known for his aggressive batting and controlled wrist spin bowling.
His highest score of 365 runs in an innings stood as a record for a long long time until another great, Brian Lara broke it.
As an allrounder, he scored over 8K test runs and took 235 wickets which included 26 centuries and best bowling of 6 for 73 runs.
8. Wasim Akram:
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It is said that, Wasim Akram can bowl 6 different deliveries in an over and that's something not many can do.
He is one of the greats of the Cricket with his swing bowling and his contribution with the bat lower down the order and he formed one of the fearsome bowling combo with Waqar Younis.
414 wickets is his wickets tally in test cricket and he was no mug with the bat and scored a double century to show his batting skills.
He fits into this 8th position with his allround play.
9. Richard Hadlee:
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One of the architects of fast bowling, Sir Richard Hadlee is known for his wicket taking abilities and was the first to reach 400 wickets milestone.
He is also probably a bowling allrounder with over 3K test runs from all of 86 matches he played and took 431 wickets in that process.
His best bowling of 9 for 92 is something speaks of his wicket taking abilities.
I play him in this XI as an opening bowling bowler along with Wasim Akram.
10. Glenn McGrath:
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Another greats of modern day fast bowling, he is arguably the best swing bowler along with Wasim Akram and his 563 wickets in tests makes him the Fifth highest wicket taker in tests.
His off stump line and length is something not many can simulate and he is the greatest Australian bowler of all time and fits good for another bowler's position in my team.
11. Muttiah Muralitharan:
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This smiling assassin is the one to occupy the last position in my lineup and he doesn't needs much introduction right?
Well, he is someone who is the highest wicket taker in test Cricket with 800 wickets, a feat which may not be surpassed by someone in near future as the nearest current player close to that tally is with 617 wickets and is at the closing of his career, yes, it's James Anderson.
Murali had his ups and downs in his illustrious career because of being reported for suspect bowling, but that didn't prevent him to achieve the feat of highest wicket taker.
That completes the Best XI according to me and I thank 22 Yards community for this opportunity and I welcome you all to provide your feedback about this lineup.
Thank you.