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The upcoming World vs Australia series

Robertinho

Cricketer Of The Year
Well, I'm not sure if there is a thread about it, so I made one. I think it'll be great, will draw huge crowds, plus be a really competitive series.

I think no team has ever looked to dominate Australia as of late, but each side has some great individuals and altogether I think they may just edge us out! (Nah, of course Australia will win :D)

What's your likely World XI lineup? Mine:

V. Sehwag
G. Smith
B. Lara (c)
S. Tendulkar
J. Kallis
R. Dravid
K. Sangakkara (wk)
D. Vettori
S. Pollock
M. Muralitharan
S. Harmison

May be a little unusual. Smith, depending on whether he finds form. Vettori in my opinion sneaks in ahead of, well.. Kumble, Danish, Harbajan, etc. as the 2nd spinner because I think he troubles the Aussies alot (except Gilchrist, that is.) His statistics don't mirror his effect, and the fact he's a New Zealander (being in such a pathetic team. no offence intended) also brings him down. His batting is invaluable aswell, I could imagine him and Pollock enjoying some partnerships. I felt ul-Haq was unlucky to miss out on a spot, Strauss as well, and Harmison could be replaced. Also the batting order looks unusual as Tendulkar, Dravid, Kallis and Lara could all come in at 3...

What about yours?
 

aussie

Hall of Fame Member
mate, your a bit late this topic has been discussed already, but has it stands its way too early to start picking World XI's a lot can happen between now and then
 

FaaipDeOiad

Hall of Fame Member
Too early to pick accurately given that form may change and so on. For today on current form though...

One thing I think is likely is that the "World XI" will actually try and be a World XI and include players from every country. If that is the case I would go for this lineup.

1. Varinder Sehwag (IND)
2. Andrew Strauss (ENG)
3. Rahul Dravid (IND)
4. Brian Lara (WI)
5. Jaques Kallis (SAF)
6. Kumar Sangakkara (SRI)
7. Heath Streak (ZIM)
8. Shaun Pollock (SAF)
9. Daniel Vettori (NZL)
10. Shoaib Akhtar (PAK)
11. Muttiah Muralitharan (SRI)

12th Man: Mohammad Rafique (BAN)

It's actually quite tough, because to get a Bangladesh player into the 12 you would have to take out Murali or play three spinners, neither of which is very likely.

If there is no world team policy, drop Streak and Rafique and bring in Flintoff and Tendulkar. Chances are on current form one or the other would be 12th man.
 

Robertinho

Cricketer Of The Year
AMZ - "Vettori in my opinion sneaks in ahead of, well.. Kumble, Danish, Harbajan, etc. as the 2nd spinner because I think he troubles the Aussies alot (except Gilchrist, that is.) His statistics don't mirror his effect, and the fact he's a New Zealander (being in such a pathetic team. no offence intended) also brings him down. His batting is invaluable aswell, I could imagine him and Pollock enjoying some partnerships."
 

vvk

School Boy/Girl Cricketer
Murali Kartik is a better bowler than Vettori. On recent form, one would have to put Kaneria, Kumble,and Harbhajan ahead of him.
 

FaaipDeOiad

Hall of Fame Member
a massive zebra said:
Why are people picking Vettori? There are loads of better spinners than him.
Well, I picked Vettori because a) I wanted a player from every team, and he's the best New Zealander, and b) because he will almost certainly be picked barring injury. Look at the alternative spinners. Murali has played two tests in Australia in his career and averages 70 or something in them. Harbhajan has also played two, I believe, and not done that well. Kumble has played in quite a few but has never done all that well except in the last series. If Murali is injured he will be one of the spinners picked. Vettori however has played extensively in Australia and done very well. He troubled all the Australian batsmen in 2001 and again in 2004, and the same is true of reverse series in New Zealand in 2000 and just recently. In all of those series except perhaps the most recent one where he had some competition from Franklin, he was New Zealand's best bowler by far. On top of that, he has a great record against them in ODIs as well. He will be picked on the back of his performances against Australia in Australian non-spinning conditions, not based on his average. The other spinners who have had significant success against Australia in Harbhajan, Kumble and to a lesser extent Murali have largely done it OUTSIDE Australia, and this will be significant in the selection for at least one of the spinners I think.

On top of that, Vettori can bat well enough to almost be an all-rounder in the Pollock class now (in terms of batting as a bowler, not all-round ability). With the high likelyhood of two spinners being picked the selectors would probably like to have a third seaming option, and the strong lower order batting will make this easier. It's not as worrying having Flintoff, Pollock and Vettori followed by Shoaib and Murali as it would be having say Harmison, Ntini and Bond followed by that pair. ;)
 

Adamc

Cricketer Of The Year
I'm not sure how the ICC will select the teams, but i'm assuming they are going to appoint an 'expert' panel, i.e. Richie Benaud and some other guys who like Sachin Tendulkar. If that's the case, I'm sure Tendulkar will play, though there is little justification (to my mind) for having him in a World XI. If the ICC use the now-official player rankings, it will be quite interesting. Let's say they pick five specialist batsmen, a batting allrounder, a 'keeper and four bowlers using the current rankings:

(In order of ranking, excluding Aus players of course)
Batsmen:
1.Kallis
2.Dravid
3.Sehwag
4.Lara
5.Inzamam

Allrounder:

Flintoff (Kallis is actually no. 1 ranked allrounder)
Keeper:
7.Sangakkara

Bowlers:
8.Muralitharan
9.Pollock
10.Shoaib
11.Kumble... or if you want another quick, Ntini

Rearranging that would give something like:

1.Sehwag
2.Dravid
3.Kallis
4.Lara
5.Inzamam
6.Flintoff
7.Sangakkara
8.Pollock
9.Kumble/Ntini
10.Shoaib
11.Muralitharan

Pretty decent team, though you wouldn't want to pick Shoaib without him having played a few matches beforehand.

Having said all that, I read "Sunil Gavaskar (Chairman), Michael Atherton, Sir Richard Hadlee, Jonty Rhodes, Aravinda de Silva and Clive Lloyd will choose the ICC World XI team to take on the number one team in the world" - yay, no Richie! Still, with Sunny G as Chairman i'm sure Tendulkar will sneak in somewhere.
 

Dar

School Boy/Girl Captain
at the moment:

Sehwag
Strauss
Dravid
Kaillis
Tendulkar
Lara
Sangakkara
Pollock
Kumble
Harmison/Shoaib (depending on their fitness and form)
Muralitharan as long as he's fit

I pretty sure that team would be too strong for the Aussies. I included Tendulkar and Lara just for sheer volume of runs, you can never write either of them off and Lara is still capable of that magic. There isn't a weak link there i think the Aussies would struggle
 

Link

State Vice-Captain
after the ashes, i think if this type of thread comes along again, we will see more english names in that side.
looking for a good ashes return this year, yet again willing and hoping. c'mon england
 

lord_of_darkness

Cricket Web XI Moderator
If this is for one dayers.. Cairns should be ahead of Vettori

Or if god can help us.. Bond should easily feature in both test and ODIS.. hes a champ..
 

marc71178

Eyes not spreadsheets
Dar said:
I included Tendulkar and Lara just for sheer volume of runs, you can never write either of them off and Lara is still capable of that magic.
But is Tendulkar?
 

Dasa

International Vice-Captain
marc71178 said:
But is Tendulkar?
His scores in the Pakistan series suggest he's out of that form slump. He's been consistent after a long time.
 

chaminda_00

Hall of Fame Member
psxpro said:
I'd pick vettori becasue i feel he would be more successful than harbajan or murali in Australia.
Don't read too much into a series that was played between Australia and Sri Lanka nearly 10 years ago. Murali will be more effective then Vettori in Australia any day of the week. But if u are going to pick a spin bowler on his effectiveness in Australia would Danish and Kumble we the No 1 and 2 picks, both more effective then Vettori in Australia.
 

FaaipDeOiad

Hall of Fame Member
chaminda_00 said:
Don't read too much into a series that was played between Australia and Sri Lanka nearly 10 years ago. Murali will be more effective then Vettori in Australia any day of the week. But if u are going to pick a spin bowler on his effectiveness in Australia would Danish and Kumble we the No 1 and 2 picks, both more effective then Vettori in Australia.
Kumble was more effective in Australia in his last series than Kaneria, in my opinion. Murali is a sure pick though, if he wasn't picked the backlash would be massive, the selectors wouldn't dare.
 

Dar

School Boy/Girl Captain
marc71178 said:
But is Tendulkar?
I meant to say Tendulkar and Lara for volume of runs but especially Lara for that magic. We know Sachin won't turn a match around by himself but he's still consistent and has a great technique and has major success against Warne
 

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