A different kind of Test XI

[Morphed]

1. Kraigg Braithwaite(Windies).
2. Dean Elgar(SA).

To win a Test Match, you need 20 wickets, right? Well good luck getting 1, with these two stump-guarders holding things up.

3. Kane Williamson(NZ) -
The single greatest exponent in the world currently, of picking gaps for 1's and 2's. You got one of the openers out? Sucks to be you.

4. Kevin Pietersen(Eng) -
Just amazing to watch. The flair, the style, the arrogance.. Not to mention he's more than capable of catching the run rate up after the opening partnership of 18 runs in 3 sessions.

5. Mahela Jarawardene(SL) -
Very similar to KP's explanation, except you can add the adjective "silky".

6. Hazratullah Zazai(Afg) -
Not seen an awful lot of him, and I know he hasn't played Test cricket, but when your no.6 can walk out and smack 100 of 7 balls... Who cares?

7. Adam Gilchrist(Aus) -
Have seen an awful lot of him, and as a Kiwi I wish I could forget it. Hence him being in my team. Now YOU have to deal with the mental trauma of bowling to him. (Wicket Keeper and Captain (Captain because I think he performed even better under pressure.))

8. Harbhajan Singh(Ind) -
The Turbanator. Tormented some of the best batsmen in the world on his day. (Who else can even come close to claiming Ricky Ponting as their bunny?) Handy with the bat every now and then too.

9. Mohammed Rafique(Bangla) -
Possibly the only thing giving Bangladesh hope until Shakib became a thing. In the team because I never once saw Rafique give up. "We are 900 behind and still have 7 wickets to take? Gimme the ball Cap'n!"

10. Boyd Rankin(Ire) -
Pace? Check. Bounce? Check. Fiery-almost-ginger? Probably. Quite capable of making a real nuisance of himself if there's any unpredictable bounce. Plus, I needed two seamers in the XI...

11. Mohammed Asif(Pak) -
Was (In my opinion) the single most difficult bowler in the world to score at more than 1/over off. Not to mention that if you started just trying to block everything, he was MORE likely to get you out. Subtle variations of pace, seam, swing, line, length... An absolute nightmare when you were trying to bat on anything other than a 22 yard concrete slab.

12th man. Henry Olonga(Zim) -
Perhaps not the most consistent of bowlers going around in the 90's - 00's, but on his day the man was definitely better than his stats showed. Also in the team hoping I can bring back the ol' super-sub rule and sneak him on to do some bowling. (Also, the haircut. He could be in the team purely for that.)

That's a really different kind of xi.
I have never seen such a xi before

 

[qpeedore]

1. Kraigg Braithwaite(Windies).
2. Dean Elgar(SA).

To win a Test Match, you need 20 wickets, right? Well good luck getting 1, with these two stump-guarders holding things up.

3. Kane Williamson(NZ) -
The single greatest exponent in the world currently, of picking gaps for 1's and 2's. You got one of the openers out? Sucks to be you.

4. Kevin Pietersen(Eng) -
Just amazing to watch. The flair, the style, the arrogance.. Not to mention he's more than capable of catching the run rate up after the opening partnership of 18 runs in 3 sessions.

5. Mahela Jarawardene(SL) -
Very similar to KP's explanation, except you can add the adjective "silky".

6. Hazratullah Zazai(Afg) -
Not seen an awful lot of him, and I know he hasn't played Test cricket, but when your no.6 can walk out and smack 100 of 7 balls... Who cares?

7. Adam Gilchrist(Aus) -
Have seen an awful lot of him, and as a Kiwi I wish I could forget it. Hence him being in my team. Now YOU have to deal with the mental trauma of bowling to him. (Wicket Keeper and Captain (Captain because I think he performed even better under pressure.))

8. Harbhajan Singh(Ind) -
The Turbanator. Tormented some of the best batsmen in the world on his day. (Who else can even come close to claiming Ricky Ponting as their bunny?) Handy with the bat every now and then too.

9. Mohammed Rafique(Bangla) -
Possibly the only thing giving Bangladesh hope until Shakib became a thing. In the team because I never once saw Rafique give up. "We are 900 behind and still have 7 wickets to take? Gimme the ball Cap'n!"

10. Boyd Rankin(Ire) -
Pace? Check. Bounce? Check. Fiery-almost-ginger? Probably. Quite capable of making a real nuisance of himself if there's any unpredictable bounce. Plus, I needed two seamers in the XI...

11. Mohammed Asif(Pak) -
Was (In my opinion) the single most difficult bowler in the world to score at more than 1/over off. Not to mention that if you started just trying to block everything, he was MORE likely to get you out. Subtle variations of pace, seam, swing, line, length... An absolute nightmare when you were trying to bat on anything other than a 22 yard concrete slab.

12th man. Henry Olonga(Zim) -
Perhaps not the most consistent of bowlers going around in the 90's - 00's, but on his day the man was definitely better than his stats showed. Also in the team hoping I can bring back the ol' super-sub rule and sneak him on to do some bowling. (Also, the haircut. He could be in the team purely for that.)

Actually to analyse, it's a decent team. I agree with the openers a lot. I do prefer one aggressive, one defensive in an opening pair but there is something to be said for two careful players at the start.

Williamson is a great batsman.

Not that sure I agree with Pieterson, maybe a bit too aggressive if he's batting with the top, but can seriously take the control of the middle.

Jayawardene is batting one too low. Would put him above Pieterson.

We don't see much of the Afghan players but yes I've seen Zazai before and I'd play him.

Not a big Gilchrist fan however he does well.

I like Rafique. I like Singh. I like Asif. But your team needs more than 2 specialist quicks...I'd drop Singh for Olonga.