My 2008 Team of the year
December 29th 2008 13:47
This is my squad:
1) Virender Sehwag
2) Gautam Gambhir
3) VVS Laxman
4) Sachin Tendulkar
5) Kumar Sangakkara *
6) Michael Hussey
7) Andrew Flintoff
8) Zaheer Khan
9) Ishant Sharma
10) Dale Steyn
11) Muthiah Muralitharan
Reserves:
1) Graeme Smith (unlucky but the right-left combination of Sehwag and Gambhir takes the cake)
2) Ricky Ponting (still a dominant force in batting, but is gradually becoming less potent)
3) Makhaya Ntini (he is your man if you want somebody who is always at the batsman - no matter whether it is rain or shine!)
4) * Brendon McCullum/M.S.Dhoni (Actually if the tour that this World XI undertakes is to any other part of the world other than the subcontinent, then McCullum will get the nod ahead of Dhoni but will be in the reserves and Sangakkara will be in the playing XI. If it is in the subcontinent, Dhoni wins the spot hands down and may actually make it to the XI. Additionally McCullum will get the nod ahead of both Dhoni and Sangakkara if it is a 20-20 contest)
5) James Andersen (An excellent and deceptive fast bowler who can swing as well as seam the ball. Added to this he is among the world's foremost athletes on a cricket field.
Sadly there is no reserve spinner as the skill of spin is slowly getting lost in the whirlygig of International cricket. Vettori has done a splendid job of not just leading his country but also contributing with bat and ball. But like so many of his country he is a man who makes the most use of his limited skill set. He is a wonderful team man and any national team would love to have him in the side, but he stops just short of being a world class spinner and hence does not achieve a place in the World XI.
PS - This is mainly a Test squad.
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