Poll 7: Playing selector: Last selection for AT Subcontinental XI

[bagapath]

Throwing in a few all rounders, bowlers and batsmen for you to complete the AT subcontinental XI

The team as it stands now...

Gavaskar
Sehwag
Dravid
Tendulkar
Miandad
Sangakara +
Imran
Akram
Murali
Waqar

It is up to you to bring in an additional batsman or a spinner or an all rounder or a pacer.

 

[smash84]

The bowling attack is quite decent already. Another bowler/bowling all rounder will not make the team significantly stronger.

Any of Inzy, Younis, VVS, or Yousuf would be a good choice imo

 

[Agent TBY]

It's gotta be Shakib, innit?

Don't need another pacer cause the attack's already awesome and the team will play half its games in the subcontinent, don't need another specialist spinner elongating the tail when there's Murali, don't need another bat cause... just look at that lineup ffs.

Which means it's down to Shakib, Mushtaq, and Mankad.

Yeah, Shakib to represent BD for mine.

 

[Howe_zat]

Kapil the best cricketer left but I'm not particularly interested in adding another new ball bowler when he'd be second change at best. Shakib or Vinoo would make for the best team balance.

 

[bagapath]

I don't want another batsman with sanga at 6, imran at 7 and wasim at 8. can't bear to see sangakara batting at 7. 6 is low enough.

i definitely need a bowler; at least half a bowler. before this exercise started i was certain kapil would be in the team. now i am wondering if another spinner who turns from leg to off would complete the attack, especially with imran and waqar bowling over the wicket and creating footmarks outside the leg for the other end. the best bowler of that kind from the subcontinent was bedi with gupte, chandra and kumble close behind. then come qadir and iqbal qasim. shakib and mankad are genuine all rounders who bowled leg to off line too. still confused....

 

[Prince EWS]

Bit of a cop out answer but I think I'd be going Kapil for away games and Mushtaq Mohammad for home games. I'll have to think about which one I vote for; I'll probably end up voting for Kapil tactically as to not waste my vote on someone unlikely to win.

 

[harsh.ag]

It's gotta be Vinoo

 

[smash84]

Vinoo Mankad or Mushtaq Mohammad probably provide the best balance to this team.

Although I would like to go in with another batsman to make the batting stronger in case it comes up with a side with Bradman and Gilchrist in it

 

[bagapath]

kapil is clearly the best cricketer on that list, with due respect to inzy, gupte and mankad. it would be awesome to have him at no.8, between imran and akram. in fact, if the team is 7 down and kapil and wasim are at the crease, the opposition still has a lot of work to do, especially the fielders at the boundary.

 

[Cruxdude]

I am going for Chandra. Three first class pacers. Two great spinners and 6 brilliant batsmen. Bring on your best ROW!

 

[bagapath]

biting the bullet and going for bishan bedi. best subcontinental spinner until the arrival of murali. fiery, bullish and traditional. Left arm Yin to Murali's right arm Yang.

there is enough fire power to bowl out the opposition with scorching pace. we need spinners to complete the attack. with this batting line up, no 11 can afford to average zero as long as he is a great bowler, which bedi certainly is.

 

[kingkallis]

No love for Kumble?

 

[bagapath]

No love for Kumble?

the day he said "no one can be mahatma gandhi" when questioned about his involvement in a sports management firm while serving as a selector, I lost respect for him. he doesn't need to take gandhi's name to justify his stance. i hate him as much as i hate my ugly neighbour married to a beautiful woman way beyond his league.

 

[harsh.ag]

Very confusing really. The romantic wants to go for one of Gupte and Bedi. The pragmatic wants to go for either Mankad or a batsman.

 

[Lillian Thomson]

First of all we get a poll with Imran in a cunning disguise, now we get one with Bedi in it twice. I smell a rat.

 

[watson]

Even if we consider the West Indies attack of the 1980s there is no precedent to say that 4 fast bowlers do any better than 3 fast bowlers. The 4th is simply a waste.

Therefore, it makes sense to me to add variety to the bowling, and depth to the batting. The left-arm orthodox of Mankad was first rate (possibly the best of his time), and he was good enough to score centuries against Lindwall/Miller/Johnston (1948) and Trueman/Bedser/Laker (1952).

In this particular Test at Lords he was on the field for all but 3 1/2 hours of the 5 days in what was a phenomenal effort;

2nd Test: England v India at Lord's, Jun 19-24, 1952 | Cricket Scorecard | ESPN Cricinfo

As much as I like Shakib, he still remains the poor mans version of Mankad.

Imran - Akram - Waqar - Murali - Mankad is a quality attack in every respect no matter where the pitch or what the conditions.

 

[smash84]

tihs is a tricky one. The batting needs shoring up for sure. Mankad probably the best choice

 

[Lillian Thomson]

Even if we consider the West Indies attack of the 1980s there is no precedent to say that 4 fast bowlers do any better than 3 fast bowlers. The 4th is simply a waste.

If only the West Indies had played Albert Padmore instead of Joel Garner they would have been just as successful.

 

[The Battlers Prince]

I really want to find a way to get Younis and Bedi a game, but I find those allrounder options very appealing.

Edit: went with Kapil because Sachin and Sehwag can send down some lazy spinners

 

[watson]

If only the West Indies had played Albert Padmore instead of Joel Garner they would have been just as successful.

It is not cut n' dried that 4 fast bowlers do any better than 3.

IMO it is important to have a balanced attack.

Eight genial giants: a pictorial view across 28 years

A graphical analysis of the career of top West Indian fast bowlers

Out of the 226 Tests, there were a maximum of 100 tests in which 4 of the pace bowlers could have been played.......There are two surprises. The first is that West Indies played 4 pace bowlers, out of these 8, in only 30 of these during these 27 years. Of course they played other pace bowlers to come to four. The second surprise is that in tests in which West Indies had fielded 4 pace bowlers, out of the selected 8, their win percentage is below 50. This indicates that the best combination was three top pace bowlers and one bowler of different type, a spinner or even a medium pace swing bowler, to maintain balance.

Eight genial giants: a pictorial view across 28 years | Cricket | ESPN Cricinfo