Favourite Test Players XI

[Shri]

This is another one of those team threads that we see in the discussion forum frequently these days. The difference is you can pick your favourite players in this line-up who need not necessarily be statistically great. Just post a line-up of your favourite players in each department with one condition: They should have played one test match for their respective national teams. The format: 5 batsmen, 1 WK, 1 all-rounder, 4 bowlers. Will be good to see and know what players the members of the forum support. Cheers guys.

V. Sehwag
V. Richards
D. Bradman
S. Tendulkar
B. Lara
K. Sangakarra (WK)
A. Flintoff
S. Warne (C)
W. Akram (1)
A. Kumble
C. Walsh (2)

 

[Dare]

This might get merged with the other ones but here is mine.

Gayle
Gordon Greenidge
Sir Viv
Lara
Shivnarine Chanderpaul
Mahela Jayawardene *
Kumar Sangakkara +
Dwayne Bravo
Makhaya Ntini
Andy Roberts
Courtney Walsh 1

My favorite spinner is Murli but I got no place for him.

 

[stereotype]

Interesting one but a team to represent me would be

Matthew Hayden- The big guy who takes the attack to the opposition in the WAY he plays his shots moreso than what shots he plays, stepping down the pitch and launching quicks over the long on boundary.
Virender Sehwag- The guy who can score a 100 in a session, a bit of a flat track specialist but i love watching him in full flight
Kumar Sangakarra- Rather him as a pure batsman than worry about keeping, type of guy who converts starts into massive scores.
Mark Waugh- My favourite to watch when at his peak, plays every shot like its out of the textbook and loved watching his cover drives and on drives. Was a panther in the field too.
Michael Clarke- Starting to fill his potential and isnt it huge, not only is he great to watch when going after the opposition but knows how to build an innings and rebuild.
Jacques Kallis- Having this guy is like having two players in one, although his batting is a little one paced. I would have him ahead of any allrounder at the moment for sure.
Adam Gilchrist (wk) (vc)- Another that can score a 100 in a session but he does it when he comes in at 5-not much and ends up steering his side to big leads. Great player and a great person.
Shane Warne (c)- He has been the image of Australian cricket for the last 15 years, retired as number 1 wicket taker and is as feared if not moreso than pure quicks like Donald and Lee.
Dennis Lillee- The image of Australian cricket prior to Warne, also very feared, despite bowling different and being from different times Lillee and Warne are cut from the same cloth.
Stuart MacGill- Probably one of the unluckiest bowlers of legspin in the history of the game, great wickettaker and a massive legbreak worked in with a massive wrong un, wasnt the type to bowl maidens as his only concern is trying to spin his leggie as far as possible.
Glenn McGrath- Lots of people talk about the line and length and the accuracy but that is just the start, Glenn MacGrath found pace bowling so easy he used to make it harder for himself by signalling batsman bunnies at the beginning of series. Some of these batsmen were world class like Lara and he would usually win the battle. Amazing cricketer

 

[aussie_ben91]

Michael Slater
Matthew Hayden (c)
Younis Khan
Jacques Kallis
Kevin Pietersen
Brad Haddin (wk)
Dwayne Bravo
Saqlain Mushtaq
Dale Steyn
Curtly Ambrose
Mohammad Asif

 

[Howsie]

1.Virender Sehwag
2.Marcus Trescothick
3.Michael Vaughn
4.Brian Lara
5.Sachin Tendulkar
6.Jacob Oram
7.Adam Gilchrist
8.Shane Warne
9.Dale Steyn
10.Shane Bond
11.Ishant Sharma

12.Brendon McCullum(Him or Gilchrist, but I have always liked Gilchrist.)

 

[smssia0112]

1. Justin Langer (a real fighter and seemed like a nice guy too)
2. Chris Gayle (exciting, can bowl and a cool guy)
3. Ricky Ponting (arrogant but a great batsman and deserves to be in the team)
4. Brian Lara (incredible player, I have so much respect for him)
5. Steve Waugh (c) (the ice man, a great batsman, captain and competitor)
6. Dean Jones (gotta put him in, one of my favourite Victorians ever, played through vomit and dehydration to score a double century against India, a real Aussie and just exciting and talented)
7. Adam Gilchrist (wk) (The best wicketkeeper/batsman ever, a nice guy and exciting to watch)
8. Shaun Pollock (always loved to watch Pollock bowl, a real legend of South African cricket, and as an all rounder too was great)
9. Shane Warne (what can I say, the greatest spinner ever IMO and also the most interesting. Say what you want about Murali but the way Warney went about his business was always great, and his mind games fascinating)
10. Denis Lillee (one of the best fast bowlers of all time, exciting and a great character too)
11. Glenn McGrath (just a gun through and through, loved him almost as much as Warne. I remember looking up at the bowling card and seeing McGrath had bowled 20 overs for about 12 maidens and 15 runs)
12th Man: Brett Lee - because I always loved him most when he was carrying the drinks.

 

[King Pietersen]

I'm going to do a current favourite players XI, far easier:

1. Virender Sehwag- Explosive. Fantastic to watch.
2. Andrew Strauss- Not sure why I picked him, I just like the guy, he's a class batsman when on form, and seems to be a really nice guy.
3. Sachin Tendulkar- Top class, one of the greatest players to ever play the game. No one better currently playing the game for me.
4. Kevin Pietersen- No explanation needed.
5. Shivnarine Chanderpaul- Unique technique, great batsman, West Indies shining light.
6. Andrew Flintoff- It's Freddie. Has to be picked.
7. Brendan McCullum- Currently my favourite batsman to watch after Pietersen. Awesome player. His 160odd in the NZ State Cup Final was one of the most amazing innings I've ever seen, awesome player.
8. Daniel Vettori- Seems like a really nice guy, and he's a class player.
9. Dale Steyn- Takes wickets, bowls fast, and scores runs against Australia
10. Zaheer Khan- Awesome bowler, reverse swing, genuine swing, accuracy, changes of pace, love watching him bowl.
11. Jimmy Anderson- Legend.

 

[Leggie]

1) Virender Sehwag - Awesome player, Makes Test Cricket really exciting and can take the game away from the opposition in no time.

2) Matthew Hayden - When in form, he is unstoppable. Similair player to Sehwag. These two at the top of the order would be deadly.

3) Kumar Sangakarra + - Fantastic guy on and off the field. Not to mention he is super with the bat and gets really bug scores.

4) Sachin Tendulkar - Super. Not as dominant as he was before but you can't leave a guy who averages 54 out.

5) Kevin Pietersen - Wow. This guy is going to be one of the all time greats at the end of his Carreer. Amazing guy.

6) Brian Lara C - Legend. one of the guys who really revived West Indian batting and an awesome guy off the field.

7) Andrew Flintoff - Deadly with the ball, But can chip in with the bat as well.

8) Shane Warne - This was guy who inspired me to take up Leg Spin bowling. this was the guy who I used to watch endlessly throughout the Ashes '05 jaw-dropped.

9) Zaheer Khan (OB2) - Cool guy. Excellent bowlers, If not one of the best right now, the best.

10) Ishant Sharma - Super prospect. Finally India has found someone that can do a Batsmen for pace.

11) Glenn McGrath (OB1) - Bowled that same line day in day ouy for Australia, His accuracy was incredible.

 

[.Mob]

1. Shane Warne X11.

I would take that, with 10 substitute fielders.

 

[mattfb]

I did mine on modern players, only a few have retired but that wasn't long ago.

Langer
Katich (vc)
Ponting
Sangakarra
Clarke (c)
AB Devilliers
Haddin (wk)
Bravo
Broad
Warne
McGrath

12th man - Cook

Cook was the unlucky one to miss out. I quite like him.

 

[sohum]

1. Virender Sehwag - The Monk's one of my favorite batsmen of all time--fantastic entertainer
2. Saeed Anwar - Hard second choice but one of the greatest timers of the ball I've watched
3. VVS Laxman - Simply pleasurable to watch
4. Sachin Tendulkar - As an Indian, it would be strange not to pick him!
5. Kumara Sangakkara - Smooth player and a great left-hander
6. Andrew Flintoff - Batting-wise I like to see him teeing off, and bowling-wise he is incisive
7. MS Dhoni+* - Can turn on the fireworks and leads from the front
8. Shane Warne - Best leg-spinner of all time, turns it a mile
9. Wasim Akram - Great to watch in action with the new ball and the old
10. Muttiah Muralitharan - Best off-spinner of all time, turns it a mile
11. Ishant Sharma - Hits the deck hard and is awesome to watch when in rhythm

 

[IloveGilly]

1. Chris Gayle
2. Graeme Smith (vc)
3. Ricky Ponting (c)
4. Michael Clarke
5. Simon Katich
6. Jacob Oram / Jaque Kallis
7. Kumar Sangakarra (Wk)
8. Brett Lee
9. Shane Warne
10. Stuart Clark
11. Dale Steyn

12. Andrew Symonds

 

[King Cricket]

1. WG Grace
2. Don Bradman
3. Brian Lara
4. Ricky Ponting (C)
5. Sourav Ganguly
6. Shaun Pollock
7. Adam Gilchrist (wk)
8. Imran Khan
9. Ajantha Mendis
10. Javagal Srinath
11. Harold Larwood

 

[Leicester Fox]

Cook. Quality batsmen. Sexy body.
Vaughan. the only man who could ever make a cover drive worthy of masterbation.
Lara. Awesome.
Hodge. Legend.
Waugh. Mentally disintegrates any softys.
Flintoff. Unstoppable at his best, either drinking or cricketing.
Stewart. Great wicket kepper and batsmen, just a shame he's a football pundit now (wtf) and he's incredibly biased towards Chelsea. Fans=not pundits.
Broad. I had to pick him.
Jeremy Snape. Lives about 30 seconds away and is great at going out getting pissed with England team mates in the world cup even when he's a coach.
Steve Harmison. Unstoppable at his best. Which isn't very often.
Charlie Dagnall. Took an awesome hat-trick, best player in the list.

 

[manee]

1. Chris Gayle
2. Virender Sehwag
3. Ricky Ponting
4. Sachin Tendulkar
5. Sourav Ganguly
6. Adam Gilchrist (wk)
7. Andrew Flintoff
8. Brett Lee
9. Shoaib Akhtar
10. Dale Steyn
11. Waqar Younis

I'd like to see any side take that bowling attack on.