Overrated and Underrated Test XI

[King Pietersen]

Over-Rated XI

1. Phillip Hughes
2. Tilakaratne Dilshan
3. Mahela Jayawardene
4. Kevin Pietersen
5. Dwayne Bravo
6. Andrew Flintoff
7. Brad Haddin
8. Shakib Al-Hasan
9. Mitchell Johnson
10. Ajantha Mendis
11. Kemar Roach

Under-Rated XI

1. Andrew Strauss
2. Gautam Gambhir
3. Rahul Dravid
4. Hashim Amla
5. Paul Collingwood
6. Ian Bell
7. Mark Boucher
8. Daniel Vettori
9. Amit Mishra
10. Graham Onions
11. Doug Bollinger

As much as I love KP and Big Fred, they're over-rated Test cricketers. Always rated on what they should be doing with their talent, which is scoring heaps of runs and in Fred's case taking heaps of wickets. Never seems/ed to happen with either of them though. KP has under-performed with the bat considering his talent and Fred (mainly due to injuries and bowling the wrong length) didn't get as many wickets as he should have.

A few Englishmen in the under-rated side too. Collingwood and Bell are hugely under-rated as middle order players. Bell's record at 5 + 6 is exceptional, yet he's never rated highly by anyone, so how anyone could have him in an over-rated team is beyond me. Collingwood is always under-rated because of his ugly technique, which looks even worse when in poor form. His head always seems to be close to the chopping block, but he consistently puts in world class performances to save and win England games. Both perennially under-rated I believe.

 

[Dabi]

My Over-rated Test XI

1. Gayle
2. Dilshan
3. Yuvraj Singh (vc)
4. Umar Akmal
5. McCullum (wk)
6. Afridi (c)
7. Flintoff
8. S. Broad / Bravo
9. Aamer / Gul
10. Ishant
11. Roach

Underrated Test XI:

1. Strauss
2. Gambhir
3. Hashim Amla
4.Samaraweera
5.Collingwood
6. Chanderpaul (c)
7. Fawad Alam
8. Chris Read (wk) / Boucher (current)
9. Swann
10. Benn
11. Asif

Overrated ODI XI:
1. Jayasuriya
2. Sehwag
3. Younis Khan (vc)
4. Yuvraj Singh
5. S. Raina
6. Rohit Sharma
7. McCullum (wk)
8. Afridi (c)
9. Asif / Broad
10. Ishant Sharma
11. Gul / Roach

Underrated ODI XI:

1. Gambhir
2. Graeme Smith
3. Dravid (c)
4. Chanderpaul (vc)
5. Kallis
6. M. Yousuf
7. Collingwood
8. Boucher (wk)
9. Fawad Alam
10. Ajmal
11. Kulasekera

 

[StinkyBoHoon]

one more for the gayle camp, I knew picking him wouldn't go down well, but come on. 12 test tons in an 88 match career, only 5 of them on result wickets and one of those against zimbabwe. weekness against left arm fast bowling AND spin. pretty average for me, and the west indies is a batting paradise.

KP, I think a lot of english players get under-rated because the english press/public seem a bit over-besotted with the idea of potential talent, rather than results. I notice a lot of the time on BBC boards they are always calling for anyone in their late 20s to be dropped and for someone younger to be brought in. Calls, a year back, to select Rashid are a good example when Swann was proving effective and has gone from strength to strength.

 

[King Pietersen]

8. Chris Read (wk)

Chris Read? He's hugely over-rated if anything. Absolutely dire with the bat, and not anywhere near as good with the gloves as many claim. James Foster is the best gloveman in England, not Read, and Fos proved that in the few games he played for England in the last T20 WC. Read probably should have been playing ahead of Jones in 06/07, but that's not saying much, Jones was in horrible form; but of the 2 looks far more likely to get himself back into England contention, strange how things work out.

 

[pcfan123]

Underrated...

Dravid, Gambhir, Vettori, Ajmal, Bollinger, Mushfiqur Rahim, Shakib...

Thanks for taking the time out to make a proper XI :sarcasm

 

[Dare]

one more for the gayle camp, I knew picking him wouldn't go down well, but come on. 12 test tons in an 88 match career, only 5 of them on result wickets and one of those against zimbabwe. weekness against left arm fast bowling AND spin. pretty average for me, and the west indies is a batting paradise.

But who actually rates Gayle as a great test opener? I have never seen anyone say that. At this moment Katich, Strauss, Sehwag, Gambhir, Smith, Watson (maybe) are all better openers then he is.
Since 2007 he averages 46 in 21 tests with 5 centuries and 5 fifties. He is rated fine.

 

[pcfan123]

Siddle is another name that is popping up on both teams. I reckon he is way overrated, can't get movement if his life depended on it and his accuracy is nothing to write home about.

 

[Dare]

Lots of people calling Bravo overrated and I got to agree. He has been a big let down over the last few years. Yea injuries did get the better of him but he hasn't done much but his last test series against Australia was good, scored a century and picked up 11 wickets at 29. Maybe a sign of better things.

 

[irottev]

Under-rated

1. Cook
2. Gambhir
3. Amla (By people more than the rankings)
4. Taylor (Most people only rate him in the one day formats)
5. Samererrera
6. Collingwood
7. Prior
8. Vettori (Mainly for batting, but even with the ball has to bowl as part of a pretty incompetent attack)
9. Zaheer Khan
10. Hilfenhaus
11. Jerome Taylor (Has been out injured lately though)

 

[Dabi]

Chris Read? He's hugely over-rated if anything. Absolutely dire with the bat, and not anywhere near as good with the gloves as many claim. James Foster is the best gloveman in England, not Read, and Fos proved that in the few games he played for England in the last T20 WC. Read probably should have been playing ahead of Jones in 06/07, but that's not saying much, Jones was in horrible form; but of the 2 looks far more likely to get himself back into England contention, strange how things work out.

I agree, Foster is the better keeper of those 3 (probably among the best these days) but I always felt that Reid was never given his due with the gloves. I'm not talking about his batting ability, just his keeping which at Test level has always been excellent. His byes per match (around 3 if I remember correctly) just lend to the fact that he has been an excellent gloveman for England at Test level. (I admit haven't watched him keep wicket recently).

 

[shravi]

Underrated XI

Alastair Cook
Simon Katich
Rahul Dravid
Ross Taylor
Thilan Samaraweera
Paul Collingwood
Brendon McCullum (in tests that is. He has come a long way imo and has improved a lot and has really taken on a lot of responsibility of late)
Nathan Hauritz
Zaheer Khan
Mohammad Asif
James Anderson

Near misses: Michael Clarke, VVS Laxman, Andrew Strauss, Mark Boucher, Morne Morkel, Ian Bell

 

[kirby]

Overrated XI
1. Chris Gayle
2. Tillakaratne Dilshan
3. Kevin Pietersen - hasn't produced since about 06/07 in Australia
4. Ian Bell - even though no-one really rates him in the first place :laugh
5. Yuvraj Singh
6. Shahid Afridi
7. MS Dhoni - not a natural gloveman, and touted as the best hitter of a ball since Gilchrist when he started, yet we haven't seen any of it. Made to look good by his batting order.
8. Mitchell Johnson
9. Stuart Broad
10. Umar Gul
11. Ishant Sharma

Underrated XI
1. Simon Katich
2. Hashim Amla
3. VVS Laxman - I reckon he's India's second best bat of the modern era, after Tendulkar
4. Ross Taylor
5. AB de Villiers - so often forgotten behind Kallis and Smith, but a top batsman and the best fielder in the world
6. Daniel Vettori - people forget about his bowling
7. Mark Boucher - serially left out of "best keeper in the world" debates, despite holding the record for most Test dismissals
8. Nathan Hauritz
9. Zaheer Khan - India's best seamer since Kapil Dev
10. Mohammad Asif - so often ignored because he's not fast
11. Graham Onions

 

[TumTum]

Over-rated XI
1. Virender Sehwag - He is not Vivian Richards
2. Chris Gayle - Such a crap defense, makes me wonder how he survives out there.
3. Kevin Pietersen
4. Sachin Tendulkar - He should average 80+ to live up to the hype, lol
5. VVS Laxman - Has had his moments (especially against us), otherwise very very ordinary.
6. JP Duminy - Continues to fail
7. MS Dhoni
8. Daniel Vettori - Boasted for his bowling so much, but his performances are very average
9. Stuard Broad - A crap bowler, yet people still rate him
10. Tim Southee - Given a lot of hype recently, doesn't deserve it
11. Kemar Roach - Highest paid in IPL, enough said

Under-rated XI
1. Simon Katich
2. Tamim Iqbal - One of the better opening batsmen of today
3. Rahul Dravid
4. Mahela Jayawardene
5. Thilan Samaraweera
6. Dwayne Bravo - Love his bowling action
7. Brad Haddin - Great technique
8. Mohammed Asif - Of the Glenn McGrath mould
9. Dinesh Kaneria - A very good career, hardly gets any mention
10. Ben Hilfenhause - Shame he got injured
11. Mohammed Aamer - A wonderful bowler

 

[pcfan123]

Over-rated XI
4. Sachin Tendulkar - He should average 80+ to live up to the hype, lol

Stop being a troll

Over-rated XI
8. Daniel Vettori - Boasted for his bowling so much, but his performances are very average

Yea he only leads the team in batting and bowling, what an overrated fool :sarcasm

Over-rated XI
11. Kemar Roach - Highest paid in IPL, enough said

Because IPL salaries are indicative of a players skill level :sarcasm

 

[shravi]

Because IPL salaries are indicative of a players skill level :sarcasm

They are indicative of how much a player is rated, which is what this thread is about.