I was browsing the pages of Cricinfo yesterday and saw a shortlist of Pakistan's greatest batsmen. This gave me the idea to put out my greatest test team currently still playing. I have based this on the past ten years - not just the current form; the makeup of the team (e.g. not having the five best bowling averages in there and being all right arm quicks); performances in important games; and finally, the ability to take the game away from the opposition.
1: Virender Sehwag (India)
2: Graeme Smith (C) (South Africa)
3: Ricky Ponting (Australia)
4: Sachin Tendulkar (India)
5: V.V.S. Laxman (India)
6: Jacques Kallis (South Africa)
7: Brendan McCullum (New Zealand)
8: Daniel Vettori (New Zealand)
9: Mitchell Johnson (Australia)
10: Dale Steyn (South Africa)
11: Muttiah Muralitharan (Sri Lanka)
Openers: Virender Sehwag, Graeme Smith.
How could you argue against Sehwag? A test average of 53 (with a strike rate of 80!), 21 fifties, 19 hundreds, and a high score of 319. Just five days ago, Sehwag was named the sixth player to be named Wisden's Leading Cricketer of the year. His ability to take the game away from a team in a single session cements his spot as an opener in this team.
Graeme Smith may be the greatest captain of this generation. Taking over from Shaun Pollock, he was selected in dubious circumstances with other experienced players such as Mark Boucher and Jacques Kallis being tipped for the role. He has turned South Africa into the best test team in the world with an insatiable hunger to win. With an average of 50, 26 hundreds to his name and over 11,000 international runs, Smith is the captain of this team.
No 3: Ricky Ponting
'Punter' as known by his teammates is ranked as Australia's No 2 cricketer of all time. When you think about the other players who have donned the green and gold, that is quite an achievement. Averaging 55 and with 12,000 runs, and 39 international hundreds, Ponting is the best batsment of the past decade which gets him in this team. He loses out on the captaincy due to being a wanker and losing two ashes series as captain.
No 4: Sachin Tendulkar.
Do I need to justify his inclusion? How about this. 'The Little Master' is one of the greatest of all time. I would rank him the 2nd greatest of all time. 13,447 test runs, 47 hundreds, 54 fifties, 166 matches, in his 21st season. These stats are just stupidly good. The reason he is at No 4, is because he spent the majority of his career playing here, even though he has spent time at 3 and opener.
No 5: V.V.S. Laxman.
This was a very difficult decision with AB de Villiers the other candidate. Laxman gets the nod on experience and the ability to perform in big test matches. With an average of 46 and 7,000 test runs, he has had a distinguished career. It is not his stats though that gets him his place. It is the torture he has supplied the Australians. Check the 2001 series in India and the 03/04 series in Australia and you can see why I have included him at 5.
No 6: Jacques Kallis.
The greatest all rounder of the past ten years (Flintoff would have been considered for this place had he not retired last year, Paul Collingwood was also considered), Kallis is a lock in this team. Although he has batted at No 3 for most of his career, No 6 is the spot he must occupy in this team if his place is to be warranted. Averaging 55 with the bat and 31 with the ball having taken 261 test wickets, he, along with Laxman, provide the backbone for this batting lineup.
No 7: Brendon McCullum.
This was another hard decision with no real stand out in this position since Gilchrist retired. With MS Dhoni and Boucher also worthy of this position, McCullum gets the nod over Boucher due to his ability to take over the game with the bat, and gets the nod over Dhoni thanks to his athleticism and versatility behind the stumps and in the field (check out New Zealand's ODI's vs Australia). McCullum can be a devestating batsmen at times, and with the batting prowess above him, he will likely be coming in with a platform laid).
No 8: Daniel Vettori.
A great spin bowler (the 2nd best NZ bowler off all time after Sir Richard Hadlee) and an unorthodox batsmen, any team would be greatful to have a Vettori to call upon. Having just played his 100th test vs Australia in March, Vettori has 361 wickets to his credit and has developed into the current No 1 ranked, test match bowler. He has turned into a fine batsmen, one that is a pain in the arse for opposition captains to set fields to due to his unorthodoxy.
No 9: Mitchell Johnson
Although having only made his debut at the back end of 2007, Johnson is a proven wicket taker. Taking 155 wickets in 34 tests with an average of 28 is almost unheard of these days, and with a batting average of 25, is a handy lower order batter. Johnson gets the nod here due to the lack of world class strike bowlers around at the moment.
No 10: Dale Steyn.
A devestating quick bowler, and the No 1 strike bowler for this team. A brilliant average of 23 with the ball, and 196 wickets in 38 tests makes him a genuine match winner. He has produced some memorable performances in the past three years but who can forget the Boxing Day test in Melbourne where he took 10 wickets and made 76 with the bat to help South Africa to their first ever test series win in Australia.
No 11: Muttiah Muralitharan.
How could we leave this man out? Perhaps the most controversial cricketer of all time with his unusual bowling style, 'Murali' has taken 792 wickets at 22. Yes that was 792 wickets!!! Such a great character of the game, and the amusement we get when he has a cricket bat in his hand (he can whack a good six though!), he and Vettori make up a devestating spin combo.
Obviously there are some notable absentees from this list and i'd like to know who you think should make it. The batting makeup is definitely the harder one to pick with the quality this generation has produced. The bowlers were hard to pick with a number of very good bowlers retiring in the last few years. Let me know your thoughts.
