Arjun
Cricketer Of The Year
Whom would you play in a Test match? And only for the more instant forms of the game? Is Test cricket Best cricket, that they play well anywhere? Let's look at every national team, whom we'd specialise in a format, and whom we can keep away.
In general, it's more or less a token rule to play the specialists and a single, quality, multi-purpose player, who will last the distance. In ODIs, you'll need more multi-purpose players and a very athletic team to stay on top. In T20, you'll need a good mix of specialists and all-rounders, with every one a capable athlete. However, the way the Aussies have played for most of the 2000s, as well as changing pitch conditions, will bridge the gap.
Australia can have Peter Siddle and Jason Krezja specialising in Tests, and keep away Nathan Bracken. For T20s, they pick David Warner and Luke Pommersbach as specialists, and keep away Mark Cosgrove and possibly Stuart Clark. For ODIs it's a tough one, and we'd settle with what's left.
For England, a common suggestion is to pick eleven players in the Test team and eleven totally different players for the ODI team. It's a difficult one to settle on, as Cook and Strauss are the best batsmen to open, but there's a concern of their Test game, their regular game, getting affected by limited-overs cricket. The ODI specialists have often been terrible, and it's common since that time when we saw several bits-and-pieces limited-overs players for quite some time.
As an India supporter, I'd settle on this one a lot more easily. I'd settle with Dravid, Laxman and Munaf as Test specialists and keep Uthappa, Suresh Raina and Irfan Pathan out of Tests for a while. For ODIs, I'd have Mohammed Kaif as the specialist. In T20s, we'd specially select RP Singh, and keep away Piyush Chawla.
With New Zealand, it's difficult again. We may see the same team in T20 and ODI. We may have McIntosh/How and Franklin playing only Tests, while Mills and Elliott only play ODIs- Styris has retired from Tests anyway.
With Pakistan, it's as simple as keeping Kaneria only in Test cricket and Malik only in ODIs.
The South Africans may keep the same team for all three formats of the game, though Dale Steyn may stay out of ODIs, Kallis away from T20 and Albie Morkel, Vernon Philander and the likes from Tests. Paul Harris can stick to Test cricket.
With Sri Lanka, it's possibly the toughest. You can, at best, keep Prasanna only for Tests, and Kulasekara, out of Tests. Someone like Indika de Saram or Dilhara Lokuhettige may only play T20s.
The West Indians may play more or less the same team in all formats of the game, except that the weaker fielders may only play Tests.
In general, it's more or less a token rule to play the specialists and a single, quality, multi-purpose player, who will last the distance. In ODIs, you'll need more multi-purpose players and a very athletic team to stay on top. In T20, you'll need a good mix of specialists and all-rounders, with every one a capable athlete. However, the way the Aussies have played for most of the 2000s, as well as changing pitch conditions, will bridge the gap.
Australia can have Peter Siddle and Jason Krezja specialising in Tests, and keep away Nathan Bracken. For T20s, they pick David Warner and Luke Pommersbach as specialists, and keep away Mark Cosgrove and possibly Stuart Clark. For ODIs it's a tough one, and we'd settle with what's left.
For England, a common suggestion is to pick eleven players in the Test team and eleven totally different players for the ODI team. It's a difficult one to settle on, as Cook and Strauss are the best batsmen to open, but there's a concern of their Test game, their regular game, getting affected by limited-overs cricket. The ODI specialists have often been terrible, and it's common since that time when we saw several bits-and-pieces limited-overs players for quite some time.
As an India supporter, I'd settle on this one a lot more easily. I'd settle with Dravid, Laxman and Munaf as Test specialists and keep Uthappa, Suresh Raina and Irfan Pathan out of Tests for a while. For ODIs, I'd have Mohammed Kaif as the specialist. In T20s, we'd specially select RP Singh, and keep away Piyush Chawla.
With New Zealand, it's difficult again. We may see the same team in T20 and ODI. We may have McIntosh/How and Franklin playing only Tests, while Mills and Elliott only play ODIs- Styris has retired from Tests anyway.
With Pakistan, it's as simple as keeping Kaneria only in Test cricket and Malik only in ODIs.
The South Africans may keep the same team for all three formats of the game, though Dale Steyn may stay out of ODIs, Kallis away from T20 and Albie Morkel, Vernon Philander and the likes from Tests. Paul Harris can stick to Test cricket.
With Sri Lanka, it's possibly the toughest. You can, at best, keep Prasanna only for Tests, and Kulasekara, out of Tests. Someone like Indika de Saram or Dilhara Lokuhettige may only play T20s.
The West Indians may play more or less the same team in all formats of the game, except that the weaker fielders may only play Tests.
