Top 10 of the 21st Century by Country

[CerealKiller]

On we move to a very topsy, turvy team in this century. At times, they have looked like world beaters, put together a great t20 side and a very consistent test side. At other times, they have lost to the likes of Ireland and Bangladesh and have yet to produce a world class opener post Anwar.

Pakistan 21st Century XI
1. Saeed Anwar
2. Kamran Akmal (wk)
3. Younis Khan
4. Mohammad Yousuf
5. Inzamam Ul-Haq
6. Misbah Ul-Haq (c)
7. Shahid Afridi
8. Wasim Akram
9. Saeed Ajmal
10. Shoaib Akhtar
11. Waqar Younis
​

I feel like the opening is flimsy, as I picked Akmal simply because there was no one else, or if I had picked an out and out opener, then that would limit the batting, menaing no all rounder and I just couldn't have that. Afridi gets the nod above fan favourite Razzak simply because the bowling line up would have become too one paced. With Afridi and Ajmal, there's two legitimate spin bowling options, freeing up space for the pace of Akram, Younis and AKhtar.

I'd take Saqlain ahead of Ajmal any day of the week.

 

[Markkkkk]

For me (keeping my mind my limited knowledge of early 2000s)

1. Smith
2. Kirsten
3. Amla
4. Kallis
5. AB
6 Morkel/Klusner(butchered that)
7. Boucher
8. Pollock
9. Steyn
10. Donald
11. Tahir (aslong he is used properly)

Imagine this vs the Aussies...

 

[PokerAce]

For me (keeping my mind my limited knowledge of early 2000s)

1. Smith
2. Kirsten
3. Amla
4. Kallis
5. AB
6 Morkel/Klusner(butchered that)
7. Boucher
8. Pollock
9. Steyn
10. Donald
11. Tahir (aslong he is used properly)

Imagine this vs the Aussies...

Hayden
Langer
Ponting
Clarke
Michael Hussey
Gilchrist
Mitchell Johnson
Warne
Brett Lee
Gillespie
McGrath

Easy win for Aus. Thats how fking good they were.

 

[cricket_icon]

I'd take Saqlain ahead of Ajmal any day of the week.

Yeah it's pretty close between those two but I feel Ajmal has the edge in being a better bowler when the times got tough. Heck, eh was used as a death bowler so many times and pulled through, when the same was done for Saqlain, he didn't quite make it.

 

[cricket_icon]

For me (keeping my mind my limited knowledge of early 2000s)

1. Smith
2. Kirsten
3. Amla
4. Kallis
5. AB
6 Morkel/Klusner(butchered that)
7. Boucher
8. Pollock
9. Steyn
10. Donald
11. Tahir (aslong he is used properly)

Imagine this vs the Aussies...

I'm not sure if I'd have Tahir in the team but Donald, Steyn and Pollock is a terrific bowling line up and you can't really go wrong with Kallis. My team would probably be slightly different:

South Africa 21st Century XI
1. Graeme Smith (c)
2. Gary Kirsten
3. Hashim Amla
4. AB de Villiers
5. Jacques Kallis
6. JP Duminy
7. Lance Klusener
8. Mark Boucher (wk)
9. Shaun Pollock
10. Makhaya Ntini
11. Dale Steyn
​

Now, I know the big omission is Donald but I felt the attack would get too one paced with all those fast-mediums, so I decided to add in Duminy, who is a very handy bowler and drop Donald in favour or Ntini, who had a longer time in the side this century. Plus, we manage to get batting all the way down to 9, which would be so essential considering Faf and Duminy may not be the most consistent guys around. Donald or not, a very well made side and just goes to show the strength that they've had over the years.

 

[cricket_icon]

Indian 21st Century XI
1. Sachin Tendulkar
2. Virender Sehwag
3. Sourav Ganguly (c)
4. Rahul Dravid
5. VVS Laxman
6. MS Dhoni (wk)
7. Yuvraj Singh
8. Irfan Pathan
9. Harbhajan Singh
10. Zaheer Khan
11. Anil Kumble
​

As many would expect, this is a batting team, with Tendulkar, Sehwag and Dravid always in the runs and with varying styles, I think they'd work very well. There's the shrewd captaincy of Ganguly and then someone like Yuvraj and Irfan can add with the bat and ball...in fact, the bowling is where this team weakens. No real pace threat although the spin options are good, if not always consistent (looking at you Harbhajan). All in all, a terrific side for slow, flat conditions, once again reflecting the Indian teams of this century.

​

 

[Player2011]

INDIA 21ST CENTURY Odi Eleven

1.Sachin Tendulkar
2.Virender Sehwag
3.Rahul David
4.Virat Kohli
5.Saurav Ganguly (C)
6.Yuvraj Singh (All Rounder)
7.M.S. Dhoni (WK)
8. Anil Kumble
9.Harbhajan Singh / Ashish Nehra
10.Zaheer Khan
11.Javagal Srinath

Ashish Nehra & Bhajji according to pitch conditions.

 

[Ohm]

India ODI XI:

Ganguly (c)
Tendulkar
Kohli
Dravid
Yuvraj Singh
Raina
Dhoni (wk)
Agarkar
Kumble
Harbhajan
Zak

India Test XI:

Sehwag
Vijay
Dravid
Tendulkar
Ganguly (c)
VVS
Dhoni (wk)
Kumble
Ashwin/Irfan
Harbhajan
Zak

Bowling unit would not work overseas, but they're all who actually deserve the place. I thought I'd add Srinath but he has played least cricket after 2000s.

Combined XI would look like:

Sehwag
Ganguly (c)
Dravid
Tendulkar (wk)
VVS
Yuvraj
Dhoni
Agarkar/Ashwin/Irfan (overseas/sub-continent/genuine pace all-rounder, depends on situation)
Kumble
Harbhajan
Zak

 

[cricket_icon]

I was very close to having Nehra in my team, he quickly became a cult hero in my eyes, the awkward run, the weird, gangly physique and throwing up in the middle of the cricket pitch lol

So, let me give West Indies a go:

West Indies 21st Century XI
1. Chris Gayle
2. Shivnarine Chanderpaul (c)
3. Ramnerash Sarwan
4. Brian Lara
5. Marlon Samuels
6. Carl Hooper
7. Dwayne Bravo
8. Denesh Ramdin (wk)
9. Sunil Narine
10. Jerome Taylor
11. Courtney Walsh
​

This is probably the weakest team I have fielded so far. A hodge podge of ok players and a few genuinely great ones, namely Walsh, Chanderpaul and of course Lara but no true leader in the pack, no consistent batsman outside of the two I mentioned and so world class bowler. Can you imagine making this team for the 20th century and imagining how bad the next few years would be?

 

[bigred]

I was very close to having Nehra in my team, he quickly became a cult hero in my eyes, the awkward run, the weird, gangly physique and throwing up in the middle of the cricket pitch lol

So, let me give West Indies a go:

West Indies 21st Century XI
1. Chris Gayle
2. Shivnarine Chanderpaul (c)
3. Ramnerash Sarwan
4. Brian Lara
5. Marlon Samuels
6. Carl Hooper
7. Dwayne Bravo
8. Denesh Ramdin (wk)
9. Sunil Narine
10. Jerome Taylor
11. Courtney Walsh
​

This is probably the weakest team I have fielded so far. A hodge podge of ok players and a few genuinely great ones, namely Walsh, Chanderpaul and of course Lara but no true leader in the pack, no consistent batsman outside of the two I mentioned and so world class bowler. Can you imagine making this team for the 20th century and imagining how bad the next few years would be?

I know Ambrose didn't play for too long post millennium, he still did more than Jerome Taylor ever has.

 

[cricket_icon]

I know Ambrose didn't play for too long post millennium, he still did more than Jerome Taylor ever has.

I put a limit in my criteria, a player to be eligible has to have played at least 50 international matches, I believe Ambrose falls far short of that.

 

[bigred]

I put a limit in my criteria, a player to be eligible has to have played at least 50 international matches, I believe Ambrose falls far short of that.

Fair enough. I think he'd stopped playing one day cricket by then so you're probably right.

 

[ugbata]

Australian 21st Century XI
1. Matthew Hayden
2. Justin Langer
3. Ricky Ponting (c)
4. Michael Clarke
5. Mike Hussey
6. Adam Gilchrist (wk)
7. Mitchell Johnson
8. Shane Warne
9. Brett Lee
10. Jason Gillespie
11. Glenn McGrath
​

Good call @PokerAce literally the same as my team. It's such a strong side, McGrath, Warne, Gillespie, Johnson (even if he has his off day, the others can pick up the slack) and of course Lee. I'm not sure many batsmen will be able to handle this bowling line up and that batting. It finishes a bit earlier than England but how many times are Hayden, Langer, Ponting AND Clarke likely to fail all at once? Terrific team.

@stefan I gotta agree with the other poster, you can't keep out Ntini. Yes Philander averages better but he has only played a FRACTION of the matches and is nowhere near the bowler Ntini was across all formats and multiple years of hard international cricket.

Gilchrist must be promoted to top Else is brilliant lineup

 

[cricket_icon]

Gilchrist must be promoted to top Else is brilliant lineup

I just wanted to go with a more balanced side and Gilchrist is perfect for bridging the gap between batsmen and tailenders. Australia just have such an abundance of batting riches I was spoiled for choice lol

 

[cricket_icon]

So, I'm going to start doing the hard work now and try to put together a Bangladesh XI. Wish me luck!

Bangladesh 21st Century XI
1. Tamim Iqbal
2. Imrul Kayes
3. Shahriar Nafees
4. Mohammad Ashraful
5. Shakib Al hassan (c)
6. Mushfiqur Rahim (wk)
7. Habibul Bashar
8. Mohammad Mahmudullah
9. Mashrafe Murtaza
10. Rubel Hossain
11. Abdur Razzak​