Tony Greig's all time best Indian Test XI

[Xuhaib]

http://content-ind.cricinfo.com/talk/content/multimedia/301356.html?view=transcript

1. Sunil Gavaskar (captain)

2. Rahul Dravid

3. Sachin Tendulkar

4. Mohammad Azharuddin

5. Vijay Hazare

6. Kapil Dev

7. Farokh Engineer (wicketkeeper)

8. Anil Kumble

9. Bishan Bedi

10. EAS Prasanna

11. Javagal Srinath

Good team though I would remove Azhar and open with Mankad (averaged 40 as an opener) and Gavaskar, with Dravid at 3, Sachin at 4, Hazare at 5 and Kapil at 6.

In the bowling Chandra over Kumble.

 

[Richard]

Dravid opening? He's mad. Why on Earth would you want Dravid not at three?

And why on Earth Prasanna ahead of Chandrasekhar?

 

[Swervy]

Dravid opening? He's mad. Why on Earth would you want Dravid not at three?

And why on Earth Prasanna ahead of Chandrasekhar?

and why on earth is Tony Grieg not allowed an opinion different to yours??????

 

[Richard]

Where did I say he wasn't? Just was wondering why he was of said opinion.

 

[Craig]

and why on earth is Tony Grieg not allowed an opinion different to yours??????

 

[Swervy]

Where did I say he wasn't? Just was wondering why he was of said opinion.

full of surprises me

 

[Swervy]

http://content-ind.cricinfo.com/talk/content/multimedia/301356.html?view=transcript

1. Sunil Gavaskar (captain)

2. Rahul Dravid

3. Sachin Tendulkar

4. Mohammad Azharuddin

5. Vijay Hazare

6. Kapil Dev

7. Farokh Engineer (wicketkeeper)

8. Anil Kumble

9. Bishan Bedi

10. EAS Prasanna

11. Javagal Srinath

Good team though I would remove Azhar and open with Mankad (averaged 40 as an opener) and Gavaskar, with Dravid at 3, Sachin at 4, Hazare at 5 and Kapil at 6.

In the bowling Chandra over Kumble.

where is Roger Binny on this list?

 

[Richard]

Not to mention Manoj Prabhakar and S.

 

[silentstriker]

Vijay Merchant not opening is a travesty.

 

[Richard]

Haha, cripes, completely forgot about him.

Really, how on Earth could one prefer Azharuddin with Dravid opening to him?

 

[silentstriker]

My mouth just filled with a little bit of vomit when I saw Srinath an an all time side TBH. I'd rather go in with all four spinners....

Or pick Amar Singh or Mohammad Nissar.

 

[Swervy]

My mouth just filled with a little bit of vomit when I saw Srinath an an all time side TBH. I'd rather go in with all four spinners....

Or pick Amar Singh or Mohammad Nissar.

why...he was a class bowler wasnt he?

 

[silentstriker]

why...he was a class bowler wasnt he?

No, he wasn't.

 

[Swervy]

No, he wasn't.

why..have I missed something here?

 

[silentstriker]

why..have I missed something here?

*SHRUG*, he was an OK bowler but an all time side should have very good bowlers. He did OK from time to time but he would get torn apart mercilessly if you put him against other all time XIs.

 

[Swervy]

*SHRUG*, he was an OK bowler but an all time side should have very good bowlers. He did OK from time to time but he would get torn apart mercilessly if you put him against other all time XIs.

but the thing is, India havent had many very good pace bowlers. So he really hasnt got too much to compete with has he.

I personally thought he was a pretty good bowler, on his day probably as nippy a bowler as India have produced

 

[Richard]

India did have a couple of pretty decent seam-bowlers in the 1930s, though, in Mohammad Nissar and L Amar Singh. Both of whom might well have been better than Srinath, especially given it was hardly a seam-friendly era.

 

[silentstriker]

but the thing is, India havent had many very good pace bowlers. So he really hasnt got too much to compete with has he.

That's exactly my point. He wasn't very good, and he shouldn't get in as a default. I'd rather have another spinner, who I know is a good bowler, rather than a mediocre fast bowler who I know is going to get flogged.

Like I said earlier, I would have had Amar Singh or Nissar, or another spinner.

 

[Richard]

Kapil and Tendulkar opening the bowling an appetising prospect to you, then?

I see the point about Bedi and Kumble, who were both superlative bowlers in home conditions. But apart from those two, who have India had in the spin department who really offered more than Srinath or Nissar\Amar Singh? Prasanna and Venkat, much as they formed part of the greatest spin-attack The World has ever seen (beyond question IMO), weren't really so special as to demand selection for an all-time team.

Chandra is a bit of a wild-card, too, as he was most famed for his success overseas as his taking advantage of home.

 

[silentstriker]

A spinner opening the bowling has happened before..I'd rather face that prospect than see Srinath opening tbh.

Actually, Kapil Dev and Karsan Ghavri had a pretty good opening partnership going at one point (left/right combo).