Eleven XIs

There isn’t a cricket lover who hasn’t made his own teams: the best, the worst, the all-time greats… We gave in to the temptation. Gladly.

There isn’t a cricket lover who hasn’t made his own teams: the best, the worst, the all-time greats… We gave in to the temptation. Gladly.

No game lends itself to more argument and analysis than cricket. And there is no cricket lover who has not made his own teams: the best, the worst, the all-time greats. So Open’s in-house cricket fanatics decided to succumb to their passion and provoke you. More than 100 manhours have gone into making these teams, and, well, some of the exchanges were more than heated. The assumptions we worked with were the following: one, these are ODI teams, not Test; two, each team has to be a balanced, strong team; three, only players who have represented their countries in ODIs have been looked at. So only cricketers who played in the first World Cup in 1975 and after have been considered. Have fun. And do play selector and write in with your own teams.

 

Best World XI (all time)

Best India XI (all time)

Most Elegant XI

Captains XI

Giants & Shorties XI

Most Boring XI

Ace Fielders XI

Most Fearsome XI

Most Handsome XI

Left-handers XI

Best Averages XI

 

You’d travel the world to watch this team, for the skills they possess are breathtaking. Even on an off-day, we believe this combination can annihilate all opposition.

No man has terrorised opponents as consistently as he has since that 82 off 49 balls in Auckland 15 years ago

(W) We like seeing a cricket ball pummelled out of shape right from the start. And it’s refreshing to see a walker

Here’s a man who looks like he smashes heads for a hobby. And what kind of man would walk down the pitch to fast bowlers?

The cricketing version of the Incredible Hulk. He sapped the confidence of bowlers like few others could

Not many can guide a waist-high Waqar delivery outside off-stump over fine leg for six. Fewer can make a massacre look beautiful

He’s vulnerable at the start, sure, but who isn’t? There’s no one who turns it on in finals the way he does

A master of the dark art of swing and seam. The left-armer was the last practitioner of a certain kind of magic

He’s miserly, he’s deadly, and he keeps coming at you. Plus he makes the sightscreen redundant. It’s like the ball’s coming out of the clouds

No bowler makes batsmen more doubtful of their judgement. He wrecks confidence in inches. He knows that two inches are all you really need

Off-spin is boring. Murali, eyes bulging, wrist whirling, and ball going who-knows-which-way, makes it a spectacle

(C) If he could make the rookies in Rajasthan Royals walk on water, imagine what Mr Hollywood could do with this team

Who wouldn’t pay to watch the short-arm jab or pull that usually results in a new ball being requested?

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Drawing up this list was tougher than we expected. Despite boasting a team that won a World Cup, the choices for an all-time great India ODI team are remarkably narrow.

The Don Bradman of ODI cricket deserves to pick his place in the batting order. If he likes to open, open he will

(C) The other half of the most successful opening combination in the world is an automatic choice

Not his favoured slot, but who’ll dare to keep him out? Easily the most destructive Indian batsman at his best

In the mid 80s, the middle order meant Azhar. Most watchable strokemaker, outstanding fielder

He wasn’t called The Wall for nothing. Over 10,000 runs and success against the best teams of his generation

Among the best power hitters in the modern era and a great finisher. Brilliant fielder to boot

The first world class ODI player from India. An all-rounder in the truest sense of the term

(W) Amazing consistency, nerves of steel and a great head for the game

From choking the runs in the first 15 overs to taking wickets to tightening the screws again in the slog overs to the odd cameos as pinch-hitter, he did it all.

Mr Reliable was like an insurance policy on the field

Started off as an express bowler but sacrificed pace to become the most consistent seamer in the world today. He’s also India’s finest at the art of reverse swing

The vegetarian Mysore Express is the only Indian to have consistently bowled at over 140 kmph. Would have ended with at least 50 more scalps had Indian slip fielders been kinder

The man who taught Indian batsmen how to score fast

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These men bring grace to a hard sport. They won’t always score the most or take the most wickets. Yet, when you leave the ground, it is imprints of their art you’ll carry in your head. They take cricket beyond the win-loss binary and make the journey worthier than the destination.

Mark did not look like his twin brother Steve. Fortunately, he did not bat like him either

Close your eyes and imagine a Tendulkar straight drive. Need we say more?

The coaching manual would rate his back-lift too high, but Brian Lara scripted his own

The Nizam batted like one. We must display his wrists in the Salarjung Museum (after he departs, of course)

(C) If Michelangelo were alive, he would have sculpted this David, in cover drive position

(W) To keep wickets to Holding and Marshall is no walk on the promenade. But Dujon made it look like one

There was so much dignity in him and in the way he moved, it was hard to believe he was from one of the weakest cricketing nations then

The stealth bomber of cricket. Had a languid run-up but frightening pace. Even the would-be-vanquished had to admire him

Had one of the best actions of all time, especially the delivery stride. Dennis was a beautiful menace

He was to the yorker what Federer is to the backhand

Sent the ball on a beautiful loop, which, long after the batsman had departed, left a rainbow on the pitch

One of the few batsmen in the world who can make hardened cricket hacks in the press box let out sounds of pure shock and awe

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What if there were only captains in a team? Our criterion: they were also to be good captains besides being great players. So, Tendulkar, whose captaincy record is patchy, and the reluctant Dravid are out. But this is one of the best teams on show: great bowlers and batting depth right down to no. 10.

One of the most murderous batsmen of all time, he selects himself. Plus, he can twirl his arm around

India’s best captain ever. Jayasuriya’s brutal power at one end, Sourav’s silken touch at the other—what a treat!

Picture the swagger, the nonchalant gum-chewing. Can one even dream of a team of captains without The King?

(C) Great batsman, brilliant tactician. He gets the nod over other captain contenders because he is the seniormost

The man you look to when disaster strikes, he must have ice flowing in his veins. Even his last Test knock was a match-saver

With famously hunched shoulders and schoolmasterly glasses, Supercat walks in, Big Bertha in hand. Opposition goes into a nervous huddle to contemplate disaster

(W) The concept ‘technique’ may never have been properly explained to him, but ‘fast and furious’, he knows. And, on top of it, he’s bloody lucky

The venerable Wisden named him ‘Indian Cricketer of the Century’. We don’t want to argue

In his youth, the third fastest bowler in the world. At his peak, among the most dreaded. And that reverse swing, whether or not conjured legally, was a killer

Arguably the greatest fast bowler ever

The studious-looking Vettori is the second-best spin bowler in the trade these days. The lone spinner’s slot would easily be Murali’s or Warne’s, but then, neither has captained the national side

The former New Zealand captain was possibly second only to Steve Waugh in grit and ice-cool nerves

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Here’s a team that can’t possibly see eye-to-eye. Some of them can’t reach the top shelf, others walk into door frames. Even then, it’s a top-class team with only one problem: a confounding susceptibility to neck injuries. More seriously, every man in this team is a giant in his own right. They have all inspired countless others in their countries.

Height: 5’4" He brought great dignity to the short frame, and made it look like it was a rare gift to be short

Height: 5’5" Hard to imagine him any taller. His stature coaxes the belief that batting elegance is the preserve of the short guy

Height: 5’4" He was the short man in a team of giants, but in the elegance stakes he loomed large

Height: 5’4" Another one to lend credence to the faith that batting gods have to be short

(C) Height: 6’4" Lloyd’s height added to his aura as captain. He needed it for the team he led

Height: 6’7" Greig didn’t just play cricket, he changed it. Although someone should tell him it’s not a good idea to keep calling Kaluwitharana ‘little Kalu’

Height: 6’4" When his bones are in order, Flintoff adds big mean hands to any side

(W) Height: 5’5" The other half of the great Lankan opening partnership, he will be remembered as one of the most useful keeper-batsmen of a generation

Height: 6’8" In full flight, Big Bird was miserly, deadly, and utterly incapable of letting anything go. And he had that yorker that made Waqar’s look like fruit loops

Height: 6’3.5" He was a sight that is today the mark of a whole age. A tall handsome boy, running down beautifully (menacingly for one man) as if there is gel in his joints. And then there is this thin red line

Height: 6’7" Because no one stares like he can. It’s a brutal, murderous look that says he would like nothing better than to eat your children. And there’s his bowling, too

Height: 6’5" When McGrath bowls, you’re not witnessing a sport but an examination of the soul. He quickly dissects heart, liver and guts. And when he bowls from that height, it feels like he’s delivering judgement

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Look, we have nothing against these guys; they are all great players, but are you going to wake up early in the morning to watch them? We suspect not. Yet, this team could, on a good day, beat any other team in the world. We present a team of talented cricketers whose game lacks any flair, has little visual appeal and zero exciting moments.

(C) One of the greatest ever, sure, but will he ever be allowed to forget the 36 n.o. against England in 60 overs in the 1975 World Cup?

Effective, courageous, solid. But watching Mudassar Nazar bat was like watching paint drying on the wall

(W) Really hard-working cricketer, but looked like Edward Fox in The Day of the Jackal

Truly great batsman, truly great captain. But has there ever been such an inelegant left-hander?

Border has company. Think of the little jiggle of his bottom as he faces up to a delivery

Your best crisis man, but why can’t you remember a single one of his great knocks?

One of the most useful players to have in an ODI side. What else?

The mystery that will now never be solved: why on earth couldn’t he turn the ball?

He is the best Sri Lankan pace bowler ever. And that’s the only exciting thing about him

What a great bowler! And with just that one delivery: the ball swinging away a wee bit from the off-stump

The prosecution rests its case

(12th man) That this man once hit six sixes in an over in a Ranji match makes us believe in miracles

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No aspect of cricket has evolved as much as fielding. Batting and bowling have progressed but they have been helped by technology and even history. Fielding, on the other hand, has reinvented itself. The new athleticism in cricket is largely owed to the significance of fielding in the modern-day game. Fielders today are highly valued cogs in the wheel. The discipline has its own legends.

You can see why the springbok was the symbol of Cricket South Africa in some of its cricketers. Like the lightning-quick De Villiers

(C) Age, captaincy and Andrew Symonds-related headaches have not dulled the sharpness of his reflexes

One of the first Indians who could throw on the pick-up, with torso still bent. The ball would be with the keeper before you could say ‘Sangeeta’

His bulk compromised his alacrity, but he made up for that with his big, beefy palms

Do we need to explain? Was the first superstar of fielding. He redefined the art. He did to fielding what the Wright brothers did to transport

(W) He was at his best in front of the stumps and not behind them. But his batting ability and team spirit still make him the ideal man for the wicket-keeping position

‘That’ running catch ensures his place in the all-time fielding XI. If you ask ‘which’ you should give this special issue a miss

A four-dimensional all rounder who at times made it to the power-packed Australian team purely on the basis of his phenomenal fielding skills

When you are a Pollock, you can do everything, including fielding. Put him in the outfield or in the slips, Shaun Pollock will do the job

Is quick on his feet, can slide and dive and has a great caught-and-bowled record. A day may come when Murali will put prodigious spin on his throws. It will head towards one end, but after landing will take spin and shoot to the other

Despite the fervent text messaging, his fingers were always up to the responsibilities of fielding

After Jonty Rhodes retired, it was Gibbs who got the honour of taking his position—backward point. He has not shamed the great Rhodes

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They trigger a physical fear among rivals. The word ‘defence’ is not in their lexicon. Sometimes, you suspect they are primitive, ruthless hunters. One-day games can drag sometimes, but the moment this breed steps in, your boredom disappears, the air crackles with excitement.

Laidback enough to look uninterested, but capable of sudden, explosive assaults with the bat

Intimidating was his middle name. Few could walk into a fast bowler’s delivery and bludgeon it like Big Matt

He has got himself a chin cleft now, but his batting remains untampered. Hit the ball, footwork be damned

(C) Someone said, ‘If I glare at Viv, he’ll just hit harder.’ In his era, Wrigley’s flourished, bowlers did not

Belligerence from ball one. You looked at his forearms and thought no wonder he got a divorce

(W) A gentleman and a brute. On his day, the bowlers are guaranteed public humiliation

Not the ideal man to become, say, the foreign minister, but is perfect for the one-day game. Little he can’t do

He once knocked off Gavaskar’s bat. Lesser mortals have succumbed at the sight of him running in to bowl

He liked blood. Not many could handle his pace, especially when he was accurate

He owns the Yorker

At six feet eight, he was scary in every way possible. His deliveries usually confirmed the fears

If he and Viv were in adjoining nets, the sound coming off Greenidge’s bat would be louder

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This one is for the ladies and for the average Joe to burn in envy. These men are Adonises, in addition to being very good cricketers. Very very good. Open involved its women employees to prepare this list. They should know better than us men.

Soft black hair, twinkling eyes and a strong jawline had South African women drooling over Fleming during the 2003 World Cup in South Africa

(W) Brylcreem paid him an endorsement fee of £2,000 back in 1962 Not for nothing

Exuded animal magnetism. A chiselled Roman face on the torso of a heavyweight boxer. And, oh, that swagger!

If Richards isn’t the guy you can take home to your parents, try Kallis. Has one of the hottest model wags in the game

Curly blonde hair, sparkling eyes, genteel manner and grace just about matched by his lyrical batting

In a team full of hunks and dashers, we felt there’s room for some good old boyish charm as well. And with Rhodes, you’ll be in safe hands

(C) Try finding a woman who wouldn’t put him on that list or put someone ahead of him. Had to captain this XI

A rustic charm, a toothy smile and a devil-may-care attitude to English makes him cricket’s equivalent of Dharmendra

All languid grace, Michael Holding was a sprinter before he took up fast bowling. Another hot favourite with the ladies

If you have a thing for nerds, look no further than Vettori. We’re glad the spectacles have stayed

Bad boys have their charm, and bad boys don’t come better than Lillee. With the trademark moustache, macho Lillee was a Nimrod from the Australian outback

A chinless wonder remains the pin-up boy-next- door for a great number of Indian women

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They say left-handers are furry creatures with oodles of grace and nary a hint of violence. But encounters with these men are not furry, they’re hairy. They have timing and strength, mixed with invention and a stubborn refusal to concede.

He might have issues with Australians and people in general, but all’s forgiven with one of those godly cover drives

Proof that people can grow more violent with age. Good for us that he’s now added experience to his violent tendencies

Like Mithun-da, he turns an incoming projectile into an outgoing missile. The man who made silly point look really foolish

Bowling to Lara is like trying to stop rain. Futile, and gorgeous to watch the utter dominance of one man’s talent over the attempts of many

When Yuvraj’s feet move to a fast bowler, there’s blood. When they don’t, it’s embarrassing. Thankfully it doesn’t happen often

(C&W) Because he believes violence is the only answer. And when it isn’t, more violence does it

The best finisher, he perfected finding gaps into a science. He perfected batting with men who couldn’t bat to save their lives

Because we swear we saw him bowl an inswinging outswinger. And because he planned—and succeeded at—a dismissal involving a set batsman and a full-toss

He had the talent. Now he has the drive, and he’s fit. The ball swings both ways for him. This makes him one tough customer

Poor man’s McGrath. Wonderful for six-seven quick wickets against Bangladesh and Zimbabwe. But honestly, not bad

Even a team of magicians needs someone who looks like Harry Potter. He bowls well enough and is no mug with the bat

Because he isn’t a batsman as much as a butcher brandishing a cleaver. And he isn’t too bad with his mouth either

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If you believe statistics can’t lie, this is the team for you. This XI was the easiest to come up with, though some Open ‘selectors’ did their best to keep out Bevan and Hussey, who were too ‘ugly’ for their refined tastes. We took the best averages among players who’ve played 50 or more games. Zaheer Abbas and Dean Jones have better averages than Tendulkar but the Indian makes the cut as one of the two openers with the best figures. We cheated a bit to get in Saqlain—needed a spinner.

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