World Test Team

[McLOVIN]

ASIA Test XI

Virender Sehwag 5
Tamim Iqbal
Kumar Sangakara*
Sachin Tendulkar 6
Mahela Jayawardene
Thilan Samaraweera
Shakib al Hasan 4
Ms Dhoni + vc
Md Aamer 1
Md Asif 2
Lasith Malinga 3

ROW Test XI

Chris Gayle
Graeme Smith*
Hasim Amla
Jacques Kallis 3
Michael Clarke
Paul Collingwood 6
Mark Boucher+
Daniel Vettori vc 5
Graeme Swann 4
Dale Steyn 1
Morne Morkel 2

Depending on the location, a seamer bowler should come in, in place of Vettori/Swann. Could be who? Mitch? Bollinger? We are short of some good fast bowlers these days.

 

[King Pietersen]

Shane Watson and Ian Bell > Chris Gayle and Paul Collingwood TBH.

 

[Themer]

Tamim Iqbal

Why on earth you'd want Iqbal ahead of Gambhir I do not know.

And some of your other choices are questionable.

 

[McLOVIN]

Umm because, GG is out of form, Tamim is in form of his life. :sarcasm

McLOVIN added 2 Minutes and 52 Seconds later...

Shane Watson and Ian Bell > Chris Gayle and Paul Collingwood TBH.

True, Watson > Gayle. But Watson isn't doing it with the bat recently. And you never know when Gayle will click.

Don't agree with Bell > Collingwood. Bell just likes to score against Bdesh.

 

[Themer]

I'd have an out of form GG over Tamim Iqbal.

 

[McLOVIN]

That's your problem. You can not question my picks with that kinda logic.

 

[Dr. Pepper]

Shane Watson and Ian Bell > Chris Gayle and Paul Collingwood TBH.

I dunno about Bell over Collingwood. Collingwood brings grit and solidity into the team. You can rely on him to grind out runs when the chips are down. Bell is too hit and miss. He's more flamboyant and more talented but isn't there enough mentally in my opinion. You can't rely on him but you know he's capable of runs.

 

[pcfan123]

:laugh Umar Akmal's done nothing to deserve being picked in a World XI. Could name a whole heap of players that would deservedly be ahead of him. To name a few; Michael Clarke, Hashim Amla, Ian Bell, Mahela Jayawardene, Ross Taylor and AB De Villiers.

Mark, did you consider playing Daniel Vettori as one of your many bowling options in place of say Morne Morkel? Vettori's made 742 runs at 49.46 in the last 12 months, and proved that his wickets and bowling average really increase when he's playing alongside a world class bowler. His record when playing in the same team as Shane Bond is very impressive, taking 62 wickets at 24.74 with 3 5 wicket hauls, so I would imagine his record as part of a bowling unit that included the likes of Steyn, Aamer, Asif, Swann and Kallis would be very good. It also wouldn't have much of an impact on the batting either, as he's proven in the last few years that he's a more than capable Test batsman.

Taking that into consideration, and moving Sanga down the order if he actually has to keep.

Virender Sehwag
Graeme Smith
Sachin Tendulkar
Jacques Kallis
Michael Clarke
Kumar Sangakkara (wk)
Daniel Vettori
Graeme Swann
Mohammad Aamer
Dale Steyn
Mohammad Asif

^That revised team seems a bit better.

Don't know how much longer Asif will say this effective though, his pace is getting slower everyday. That being said his accuracy and movement right now are unparalleled.

 

[Aoun13]

Simon Katich
Hashim Amla
Sachin Tendulkar
Jacques Kallis
Mike Hussey
Kumar Sangakkara (wk)(c)
Daniel Vettori
Graeme Swann
Mohammad Aamer
Dale Steyn
Mohammad Asif

• Strong openers
• Rock solid middle order
• Top class spinners
• penetrating seemers

 

[-D-S-B-]

Simon Katich
Hashim Amla
Sachin Tendulkar
Jacques Kallis
Mike Hussey
Kumar Sangakkara (wk)(c)
Daniel Vettori
Graeme Swann
Mohammad Aamer
Dale Steyn
Mohammad Asif

What? Hashim Amla has only opened once in his test career!

 

[ali_ed2001]

Virender Sehwag
Graeme Smith
Sachin Tendulkar
Jacques Kallis
Michael Clarke
Kumar Sangakkara (wk)
Daniel Vettori
Graeme Swann
Mohammad Aamer
Dale Steyn
Mohammad Asif

.

Excellent team. I might want to bring in Katich for Smith though..

 

[Aoun13]

What? Hashim Amla has only opened once in his test career!

yeah but in last few series he mostly came to bat when bowl was still very new and batted perfectly so why not have him as a opener.

 

[banjo6]

1. Strauss
2. Watson
3. Sachin
4. Kallis
5. Clarke
6. Collingwood
7. Sangakarra
8. Daniel Vettori
9. Mohammed Aamer
10. Jimmy Anderson
11. Dale Steyn

Ideas behind this team are simple. Openers you have a solid traditional opener teamed with the more agressive more flamboyant opener. Number 3, well that goes without saying, 4, Kallis is a great player, 5, Clarke can get big scores. 6, will be a controversial one, I put him in because he can ground out and dig in in case of a collapse, although he isnt one of the best 6 batsman in the world, there is no better at grounding out an innings in a crisis, Sanga is just an awesome batsman and keeper, Vettori is the best spinner around atm, and a good batting option. Aamer is just a great bowler, Anderson is the best swing bowler around along with Aamer, and Steyn is a great pace bowler.

Also Kallis, Clarke and Colly along with Watsn can bowl overs when needed.

 

[sifter132]

Yeah not bad, but I don't agree that Vettori is the best spinner at present. He tries hard, he's economical and his batting is good, but his bowling ain't gonna scare too many batsmen. And for those picking him as the 2nd spinner and batting at 7, I'd personally take Shakib right now. Swann, Harbhajan and even Hauritz would also be more potent spinners than Vettori right now IMHO.

And #3 goes without saying? Hmm, Sachin's NEVER batted at #3. I'm sure he could, but it's hardly as obvious a move as you're making it out to be.

Here's my XI:
1 Gambhir - one bad Test and he's OUT of everyone's XI...harsh
2 Katich
3 Sangakkara (wk)
4 Tendulkar/Kallis (if you want more bowling)
5 Clarke
6 De Villiers
7 Shakib
8 Swann
9 Morkel
10 Steyn
11 Asif

If you don't like Sanga keeping, then I'd probably drop both Shakib and Sanga and put Amla at #3 and Dhoni at #7.

 

[Num]

Yeah not bad, but I don't agree that Vettori is the best spinner at present. He tries hard, he's economical and his batting is good, but his bowling ain't gonna scare too many batsmen. And for those picking him as the 2nd spinner and batting at 7, I'd personally take Shakib right now. Swann, Harbhajan and even Hauritz would also be more potent spinners than Vettori right now IMHO.

And #3 goes without saying? Hmm, Sachin's NEVER batted at #3. I'm sure he could, but it's hardly as obvious a move as you're making it out to be.

Here's my XI:
1 Gambhir - one bad Test and he's OUT of everyone's XI...harsh
2 Katich
3 Sangakkara (wk)
4 Tendulkar/Kallis (if you want more bowling)
5 Clarke
6 De Villiers
7 Shakib
8 Swann
9 Morkel
10 Steyn
11 Asif

If you don't like Sanga keeping, then I'd probably drop both Shakib and Sanga and put Amla at #3 and Dhoni at #7.

Thing is, Swann and Hauritz have better pace bowling attacks supporting them.

His record when playing in the same team as Shane Bond is very impressive, taking 62 wickets at 24.74 with 3 5 wicket hauls,

Vettori's strike rate also improves significantly when playing in the same team as Bond, from 76.9 to 54.5.

World Test XI:

1. V.Sehwag
2. S.Katich
3. H.Amla
4. S.Tendulkar
5. M.Clarke (c)
6. K.Sangakkara (wk)
7. S.Watson
8. G.Swann
9. M.Aamer
10. D.Steyn
11. B.Hilfenhaus

Tried to create a bowling attack that could perform in both bowler-friendly conditions and on flat tracks.

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