Best Asian Test Team of All Time

[watson]

I like Shakib and all, but I cant fathom him being in an Asian all time XI in the top six when he averages 28 vs Australia, 25 vs England, 26 vs India and 20 vs SA.

Great allrounder but his batting is a little bit short of ATG status. It’s true that Vinoo’s overall average is low-ish but he did average 40 when opening. Not bad against Trueman, Statham, Bedser, Fazal, Lindwall and Miller.

 

[Daemon]

Great allrounder but his batting is a little bit short of ATG status. It’s true that Vinoo’s overall average is low-ish but he did average 40 when opening. Not bad against Trueman, Statham, Bedser, Fazal, Lindwall and Miller.

It's really only propped up by those two double hundreds against a not very good NZ

 

[watson]

And these...

2nd Test, India tour of England at London, Jun 19-24 1952 | Match Summary | ESPNCricinfo

3rd Test, India tour of Australia at Melbourne, Jan 1-5 1948 | Match Summary | ESPNCricinfo

5th Test, India tour of Australia at Melbourne, Feb 6-10 1948 | Match Summary | ESPNCricinfo


But yeah, his career is full of peaks and troughs.

 

[smash84]

01. Sunil Gavaskar
02. Hanif Mohammad
03. Kumar Sangakkara
04. Sachin Tendulkar
05. Javed Miandad
06. Vinoo Mankad
07. Kapil Dev
08. Imran Khan
09. Syed Kirmani
10. Wasim Akram
11. Subhash Gupte

The batting is solid but the bowling is weak. Murali ahead of gupte for sure

 

[bagapath]

Gavaskar (obvious)
Sehwag (aggression to supplement the steady Sunny)
Sangakara (over Dravid because he is left handed; otherwise impossible to split)
Tendulkar (obvious)
Miandad (nose ahead of inzy, de Silva, mahela, younis, yousuf, hazare and miles ahead of laxman, zaheer, vishy)
Imran (obvious)
Shakib (what more does he have to do, will be good to bowl in tandem with the main spinner)
Dhoni (great keeper to spinners, better bat than others, good team man to have)
Kapil (obvious)
Akram (obvious)
Murali (obvious)

Squad: waqar, dravid, de silva, mankad (ATG cricketers)

 

[srbhkshk]

If Imran,Kapil and Dhoni are all in the team, I'd much rather go for Waqar or Kumble over Shakib, Shakib is overrated and sucks while playing against the tougher teams. His is a case of the one eyed King.

 

[srbhkshk]

FWIW this will be my team -

Gavaskar
Sehwag
Sangakkara
Tendulkar
Miandad
Dhoni
Kapil
Imran
Wasim
Waqar
Murali


Bench - Laxman , Dravid , Kumble , Zaheer

 

[CricAddict]

I don't see a single post discussing Inzy while he was regarded as one of the best in the world in his playing days. Not even in squad?

 

[OverratedSanity]

I don't see a single post discussing Inzy while he was regarded as one of the best in the world in his playing days. Not even in squad?

If it wasn't for Younis I think he'd get a few mentions. But I think he's widely regarded as only the 3rd best pakistani batsman now. Overshadowed by his countrymen.

 

[smash84]

If it wasn't for Younis I think he'd get a few mentions. But I think he's widely regarded as only the 3rd best pakistani batsman now. Overshadowed by his countrymen.

This

 

[harsh.ag]

Plus most people are going with just 5 specialist bats. So that makes it even less likely for his name to pop up.

 

[subshakerz]

Gavaskar (obvious)
Sehwag (aggression to supplement the steady Sunny)
Sangakara (over Dravid because he is left handed; otherwise impossible to split)
Tendulkar (obvious)
Miandad (nose ahead of inzy, de Silva, mahela, younis, yousuf, hazare and miles ahead of laxman, zaheer, vishy)
Imran (obvious)
Shakib (what more does he have to do, will be good to bowl in tandem with the main spinner)
Dhoni (great keeper to spinners, better bat than others, good team man to have)
Kapil (obvious)
Akram (obvious)
Murali (obvious)

Squad: waqar, dravid, de silva, mankad (ATG cricketers)

I think Dhoni's keeping is just not good enough for an all-time test side, and his batting in tests is really not much outside the subcontinent. Would rather have Sangakarra as keeper, even if he may not be 100% in his batting, and keep Dravid who belongs in the middle order).

And Waqar definitely over Kapil. Kapil's batting at no. 9 is not really going to change anything. Imran, Wasim and Waqar in bowling should be a lock IMO.

 

[bagapath]

I think Dhoni's keeping is just not good enough for an all-time test side.

Why?

 

[kingkallis]

I think Dhoni's keeping is just not good enough for an all-time test side

Not good enough? Dude, he was as good as anyone or even better from sub-continent.

 

[OverratedSanity]

Not good enough? Dude, he was as good as anyone or even better from sub-continent.

I have no basis for comparison with past keepers like Kirmani and Bari but imo Dhoni could be pretty sloppy. His reputation for being a great keeper to spin is mainly because he's really flashy and imaginative with his stumpings and runouts. I don't think he was exceptional when it came to being a tidy keeper who didn't miss chances. There was a stretch in 2010-2013 where he'd regularly shell catches off Ojha/Bhajji/Ashwin.

Also pretty bad at collecting the ball when it swung. His keeping in the 2011 England tour was pretty diabolical.

 

[vcs]

I have no basis for comparison with past keepers like Kirmani and Bari but imo Dhoni could be pretty sloppy. His reputation for being a great keeper to spin is mainly because he's really flashy and imaginative with his stumpings and runouts. I don't think he was exceptional when it came to being a tidy keeper who didn't miss chances. There was a stretch in 2010-2013 where he'd regularly shell catches off Ojha/Bhajji/Ashwin.

Also pretty bad at collecting the ball when it swung. His keeping in the 2011 England tour was pretty diabolical.

Yep, brilliant hands while keeping to spin, ordinary while keeping to pace. He had an annoying habit of not even trying for catches that were closer to him than first slip. Just not acrobatic enough to take those tough ones down the legside etc.

 

[subshakerz]

Why?

Dont get me wrong, his keeping is pretty clean most of the time, and is terrific with spinners and stumping. But against pacers I find him lacking since he because of his build he lacks the athleticism to catch anything outside his immediate zone. Overall, I would put him as good but short of worldclass. The problem is that in tests, I think the length of the game really means that the keeper quality matters more. And I dont think this is offset by Dhonis batting which is really nothing much outside the subcontinent.

From the subcontinent, the only worldclass keeper I saw was Rashid Lateef, though I can probably rank Kirmani and Bari in that category. Would probably have Lateef instead of Dhoni.

 

[oblongballs]

I do like a good old fashioned, all time thread, so if I was to pick the best possible side for all conditions in tests, I would go with:

1. Hanif Mohammad (one of the most underrated test openers of all time who could play a true, gritty, now unheard of test innings)
2. Virender Sehwag (to compliment Hanif)
3. Kumar Sangakkara wk (one of the classiest and best all round batsmen of them all)
4. Younis Khan (the greatest test middle order batsman ever?)
5. Sachin Tendulkar (the only one who might beat the likes of Khan and Sangakkara in an argument on the best batsman front)
6. Mahela Jayawardene (you want a calm head? you pick Mahela)
7. Imran Khan c (captain and talisman in the form of the greatest fast bowling all rounder there has ever been)
8. Wasim Akram (Can there be any other?)
9. Muttiah Muralitharan (the greatest spinner has to be included)
10. Waqar Younis (pace like fire)
11. Fazal Mahmood (my father always recounted the 12 wickets he picked up at Lords, including the heart of England with Hutton, Graveney and Compton)

An ODI team would look considerably different:

1. Sanath Jayasuriya
2. Virender Sehwag
3. Virat Kohli
4. Sachin Tendulkar
5. Mohammad Yousuf
6. M.S Dhoni c/wk
7. Kapil Dev
8. Shahid Afridi
9. Wasim Akram
10. Muttiah Muralitharan
11. Waqar Younis

 

[Arachnodouche]

Offtopic, but is there an universal ATG that Sunny wouldn't be a part of? Meaning to ask, is he quite possibly the greatest opening bat to draw breath?

 

[subshakerz]

Offtopic, but is there an universal ATG that Sunny wouldn't be a part of? Meaning to ask, is he quite possibly the greatest opening bat to draw breath?

Jack Hobbs may have a strong case also.