Andy Flower
The greatest batsman ever produced by Zimbabwe till date, Andy Flower was the primary reason behind them punching so well above their weight in the 1990s and early 2000s to the point where they recorded victories against Pakistan (both home and away), India in 1998 and then again in 2001, and were at one point ranked higher than England on the official Test rankings in 1999. He scored 4794 runs at a very impressive average of 51.54 over a 10-year Test career between 1992 and 2002, but what makes this statistic even more remarkable is the fact that he averaged an astonishing 53.70 with 12 centuries as wicket-keeper - a far more impressive record than even Adam Gilchrist (5570 runs at 47.60), Kumar Sangakkara (3117 runs at 40.48 as keeper) and MS Dhoni (4876 runs at 38.09), who are by general consent regarded as the best wicket-keeper batsmen to have played during the last 20 years.
He was considered among the greatest players of spin bowling in the world in his day, scoring a very impressive 1614 runs at 53.80 from 21 matches in Asia, which included an awe-inspiring 820 runs at an average of 117.14 in India - the highest batting average recorded by a touring batsman with more than 600 runs in the country and rivalled only by the great Sir Everton Weekes (779 runs at 111.28). It was indeed a shame that he was lost to Test cricket at a time when he was arguably at his peak as a batsman - he aggregated 2214 runs at 63.26 during the last two years of his Test career between 2000 and 2002.
VC's XI
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6) Andy Flower
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Flower will most likely bat at No 6 in my lineup (unless I change my mind at the last possible moment), a position where he averaged 58.40 as a batsman and will of course don the wicket-keeping gloves.[DOUBLEPOST=1542294434][/DOUBLEPOST]Over to you, @Manish.
The greatest batsman ever produced by Zimbabwe till date, Andy Flower was the primary reason behind them punching so well above their weight in the 1990s and early 2000s to the point where they recorded victories against Pakistan (both home and away), India in 1998 and then again in 2001, and were at one point ranked higher than England on the official Test rankings in 1999. He scored 4794 runs at a very impressive average of 51.54 over a 10-year Test career between 1992 and 2002, but what makes this statistic even more remarkable is the fact that he averaged an astonishing 53.70 with 12 centuries as wicket-keeper - a far more impressive record than even Adam Gilchrist (5570 runs at 47.60), Kumar Sangakkara (3117 runs at 40.48 as keeper) and MS Dhoni (4876 runs at 38.09), who are by general consent regarded as the best wicket-keeper batsmen to have played during the last 20 years.
He was considered among the greatest players of spin bowling in the world in his day, scoring a very impressive 1614 runs at 53.80 from 21 matches in Asia, which included an awe-inspiring 820 runs at an average of 117.14 in India - the highest batting average recorded by a touring batsman with more than 600 runs in the country and rivalled only by the great Sir Everton Weekes (779 runs at 111.28). It was indeed a shame that he was lost to Test cricket at a time when he was arguably at his peak as a batsman - he aggregated 2214 runs at 63.26 during the last two years of his Test career between 2000 and 2002.
VC's XI
1) -
2) -
3) -
4) -
5) -
6) Andy Flower
7) -
8) -
9) -
10) -
11) -
Flower will most likely bat at No 6 in my lineup (unless I change my mind at the last possible moment), a position where he averaged 58.40 as a batsman and will of course don the wicket-keeping gloves.[DOUBLEPOST=1542294434][/DOUBLEPOST]Over to you, @Manish.