World Cup Dream XI

[bagapath]

In the "best ODI batsman" thread too much stress has been laid on one world cup final to argue against sachin tendulkar. this thread is to choose a dream world cup xi that will hopefully be a platform for choosing the players who have performed the best in world cup. please stick to stats pertaining to world cup games alone. we've had 9 tournaments so far with 5 different winners. and that should be enough to choose a solid team.

here are the nominees.

openers:

greenidge
haynes
gooch
boon
gary kirsten
mark waugh
sachin
saeed anwar
jayasuriya
ganguly
gilchrist
hayden
gibbs
fleming

middle order:

viv richards
ponting
de silva
lara
miandad
steve waugh
ranatunga
dravid
kallis
martin crowe
andy flower
inzamam
jayawardane
allan lamb
alan border
richardson
zaheer abbas
dean jones
michael bevan
jonty rhodes

all rounders:

imran khan
kapil dev
richard hadlee
chris cairns
lance klusener
andrew flintoff


wicket keepers:

gilchrist
sangakkara
boucher
moin khan
mccullum
healy
dujon
rod marsh
andy flower


bowlers:
McGrath
Akram
Muralitharan
Vaas
Srinath
Donald
Warne
Kumble
Pollock
Kapil Dev
McDermott
Shoaib Akhtar
Jayasuriya
Ambrose
Abdul Qadir
Saqlain Mushtaq
Lee
Waqar
Holding
Garner

[aussie tragic]

Originally Posted by bagapath

here are the nominees.

openers:

greenidge
haynes
gooch
boon
gary kirsten
mark waugh
sachin - 36 games, 1796 runs @ 57.93 (SR 88)
saeed anwar - 21 games, 915 runs @ 53.82 (SR 79)
jayasuriya
ganguly
gilchrist
hayden - 22 games, 987 runs @ 51.94 (SR 93)
gibbs - 25 games, 1067 runs @ 56.15 (SR 87)
fleming

middle order:

viv richards - 23 games, 1013 runs @ 63.31 (SR 85)
ponting
de silva
lara
miandad
steve waugh
ranatunga
dravid - 22 games, 860 runs @ 61.42 (SR 75)
kallis - 29 games, 923 runs @ 51.27 (SR 75)
martin crowe - 21 games, 880 runs @ 55.00 (SR 84)
andy flower
inzamam
jayawardane
allan lamb - 19 games, 656 runs @ 50.46 (SR 84)
alan border
richardson
zaheer abbas
dean jones
michael bevan
jonty rhodes

A few > 50 WC averages omissions:

Turner: 14 games, 612 runs @ 61.20 (SR 64)

Symonds: 18 games, 515 runs @ 103.00 (SR 93)
Clarke: 11 games, 436 runs @ 87.20 (SR 95)
Styris: 18 games, 767 runs @ 69.72 (SR 89)
Sarwin: 14 games, 584 runs @ 58.40 (SR 84)
Ganguly: 21 games, 1006 runs @ 55.88 (SR 78)
Pietersen: 9 games, 444 runs @ 55.50 (SR 81)
Gower: 12 games, 434 runs @ 54.25 (SR 82)
Thorpe: 11 games, 379 runs @ 54.14 (SR 74)
Martyn: 12 games, 352 runs @ 50.28 (SR 80)

[bagapath]

so what is the minimum criteria?

300 runs at 30 + average for batters and
20 wickets at 30 - average for bowlers is a good start?

[andruid]

Steve Tikolo anyone?

23 games 724 runs @ 34.14

[SJS]

Since its a "dream" XI anyway, why not include me as wicket-keeper batsman

[BhupinderSingh]

Adam Gilchrist (WK)
Sachin Tendulkar
Viv Richards
Ricky Ponting
Michael Bevan
Lance Klusener
Imran Khan (C)
Richard Hadlee
Wasim Akram
Saqlain Mushtaq
Glenn McGrath

[Richard]

Go for dream XIs from the Cups of '75, '79, '83 and '87/88 combined IMO.

Then another for those of '91/92, '95/96, '99, '02/03 and '07.

Far more interesting.

[Richard]

Here's some stats to get us going.

1970s\80s WCs - batting.
1970s\80s WCs - bowling.

1990s\2000s WCs - batting.
1990s\2000s WCs - bowling.

Serious teams only included, plus Zimbabwe in 2007, as there was no way to knock them out - fortunately only 2 games are affected.

[Richard]

Looking at some of the basic records, I'd be leaning towards this for the 1970s and 1980s:
Turner
Greenidge
Richards
Zaheer Abbas
Lamb
Kapil Dev
Imran Khan
Deryck Murray
Richard Hadlee
Holding
Willis

Can't see that combo being beaten, but there's 1 or 2 I suppose some might tweak if they thought they could make it even better.

[Richard]

Originally Posted by bagapath

here are the nominees.
wicket keepers:

dujon

I nominate this West Indian be taken down and replaced by his almost-immediate predecessor. Dujon averaged 18 in World Cups; Deryck Murray 40.

[ret]

my X1

- Tendulkar
- Gilchrist [wk]
- M Crowe
- Richards
- Pieterson
- Klusener
- Imran [C]
- Warne
- Wasim
- Hadlee
- Garner

[SJS]

What no Bond ?

• He has one of the finest world cup records amongst all bowlers.
  
• He has 30 wickets in 16 matches
  
• Only Brett Lee with 22 in 10 has more wickets per test than him amongst fast bowlers (minimum ten matches)
  
• His bowling average of 17.27 per wicket is second only to Holding's (17.07) amongst fast bowlers
  
• His strike rate of 29.5 is fabulous

Surely he should be on that short list.

[SJS]

Originally Posted by SJS

What no Bond ?

• He has one of the finest world cup records amongst all bowlers.
  
• He has 30 wickets in 16 matches
  
• Only Brett Lee with 22 in 10 has more wickets per test than him amongst fast bowlers (minimum ten matches)
  
• His bowling average of 17.27 per wicket is second only to Holding's (17.07) amongst fast bowlers
  
• His strike rate of 29.5 is fabulous

Surely he should be on that short list.

And his 6 for 23 in that match against eventual champions Australia in 2003, has to be amongst the finest spells of fast bowling seen in the world cup.

Having reduced Australia to 84 for 7, he had to watch Bevan and Bichel lead a recovery while he watched from the outfield his less competent colleagues unable to complete the job.

[SJS]

Off the cuff

1. Tendulkar
2. Mark Waugh
3. Viv Richards
4. Ricky Ponting
5. Zaheer Abbas
6. Gilchrist
7. Kapil Dev
8. Imran Khan
9. Shane Warne
10. Muralitharan
11. McGrath

[bagapath]

I intend to do polls for openers and fast bowlers first. i will first post the stats of openers who have scored in excess of 300 runs in world cup games. i will leave the minnows, bangladesh included, out of the opponents. the players themselves could be from any team though.

I am starting with the assumption that it will be 2 openers + 4 middle order bats + 1 all rounder + 4 bowlers with at least one being a spinner

If gilly doesnt get selected as opener then we will add the WK category.

Let us keep the specific arguments to those polls and use this thread for overall arguments