Skip to main content

Sachin lone Indian in McCullum's all-time XI

London: Batting icon Sachin Tendulkar is the lone Indian to find a place in former New Zealand skipper Brendon McCullum's list of all-time cricketing XI with West Indian legend Vivian Richards as the captain.

McCullum's team comprises four Australians in Ricky Ponting, Adam Gilchrist, Shane Warne and Mitchell Johnson, three West Indians in Vivian Richards, Brian Lara and Chris Gayle, two Kiwis in Tim Southee and Trent Boult, Tendulkar and South Africa's Jacques Kallis.

The Kiwi great, who broke the record for fastest Test ton in his final match, opted for Gayle and Tendulkar to open the batting with former Australia skipper Ponting at first drop.

"I wanted someone destructive at the top of the order. Chris Gayle -- there ain't much better than that," McCullum was quoted as saying by lords.org.

"Obviously Sachin can bat for days. Ponting is another man with phenomenal statistics, he takes the game on and even if you lose two early wickets, he's still going to come on and play his shots and be aggressive."

In the middle order, McCullum went for Lara at No.4 followed by the legendary Richards.

"(Lara) can hopefully take the game away in a session. Sir Viv Richards comes in next and captains the side as well, with his charm, his swagger and his ability to hit the ball out of the park."

Considered as one of the most successful all-rounders in the history of the game, Kallis is next in the batting slot while stumper Gilchrist is McCullum's choice for the No.7 position.

"At number six I've gone for the greatest all-rounder in my opinion of all time, Kallis, he's a bit lower in the batting order than he's used to but I'm sure he'll find his way, he's an adaptable man."

"Gilchrist as wicketkeeper at seven, on the back of that top six I think he can come in and ice it off pretty quickly," he said.

The bowling department is led by Aussie duo of leg-spin legend Warne and pacer Johnson along with Kiwi pace combo of Boult and Southee.

"Johnson terrorised the opposition for years on end, he can also swing the willow as well if need be, (while) Warne speaks for himself," he said.

"Then I've gone for two Kiwis. That's purely because when I was captain of New Zealand, I said I'd never change (Boult and Southee) for the world."

"I saw them change us from an average Test team to a much harder to beat Test team, because of their ability to get 20 wickets," he added.

Team: Chris Gayle, Sachin Tendulknar, Ricky Ponting, Brian Lara, Viv Richards (Captain), Jacques Kallis, Adam Gilchrist (wk), Mitchell Johnson, Shane Warne, Tim Southee, Trent Boult.



via Sify.com http://ift.tt/28XqtIS
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

India withdraw Smith protest as boards make peace in DRS row

India have withdrawn an official protest about the actions of Australia captain Steve Smith in the second test as the governing bodies of both countries moved to bring an end to the acrimony surrounding the ongoing four-match series. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) had earlier registered a complaint to the International Cricket Council (ICC) over Smith looking to the dressing room for guidance on whether to review an lbw decision during the Bengaluru match. Despite the hosts winning the test to level the series at 1-1 on Tuesday, India skipper Virat Kohli alleged the tourists had indulged in the practice throughout the match, sparking a war of words in the media and a robust response from Australia. The boards released a joint statement on Friday saying the chief executives of both bodies had met in Mumbai on Thursday and agreed to try and bring the focus "back to the game" ahead of next week's third test in Ranchi. "India has always cherished a c...
Post a Comment
Read more

Pogba is one of best players when in form: Ole Gunnar Solskjaer

Leeds [UK], Dec 7 (ANI): Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has praised midfielder Paul Pogba, saying that he is one of the best players in the world when he is in good touch. "Paul is going to play when he gets his fitness. He is one of the best players in the world when he's in form and we just need to give him time to be 100 per cent fit," Goal.com quoted Solskjaer as saying. Pogba has endured a frustrating 2019-20 campaign to date, having only managed five Premier League appearances in total due to a string of fitness issues. He is currently recovering from an ankle injury and last played for the club on September 30 against Arsenal. Solskjaer had said that the France international will be out of action till December. "It might be 45 minutes in the first game, it might be half an hour, it might be 90. It depends on what game he comes back in and I'm looking back to get Paul back to where I had him about a year ago," Solskjaer said. ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Virat Kohli and co. leave for West Indies

The Virat Kohli led Indian team left for the West Indies for the four-Test series starting July 21st. The team was accompanied by its newly appointed head coach Anil Kumble and other support staff. The 16-member squad will play a tour game against the West Indies Cricket Board President's XI at Warner Park in Basseterre, St Kitts on July 9 and 10. The journey begins. #TeamIndia leaves for the tour of West Indies. #WIvIND http://pic.twitter.com/ebK1jkoFiN -BCCI (@BCCI) July 5, 2016 That will be followed by a three-day warm-up fixture at the same venue from July 14 to 16. The first Test match will be held at the Vivian Richards Cricket Ground in Antigua from July 21 to 25. The other three Test matches will be held at Sabina Park in Kingston, Jamaica (Jul 30-Aug 3), Darren Sammy National Cricket Stadium in Gros Islet, St Lucia (Aug 9-13) and Queen's Park Oval, Port of Spain, Trinidad (Aug 18-22). When India last toured West Indies in 2011, the visitors won the series 1-0....
Post a Comment
Read more