This draft is based on player performances in ICC World Cups and Champions Trophy only, only performances in these tournaments count, performances outside these tournaments carry no weight. Please vote according to this criteria.
TEAM CRAPPY
1. Sourav Ganguly
2. Sanath Jayasuriya
3. Kumara Sangakarra (wk)
4. Viv Richards
5. Martin Crowe
6. Imran Khan (*)
7. Shane Watson
8. Mitchell Starc
9. Zaheer Khan
10. Mushtaq Ahmed
11. Alan Donald
VS
TEAM THE RED VIPER
01. Virender Sehwag.
02. Adam Gilchrist. (+)
03. Jacques Kallis. (6)
04. Virat Kohli. (c)
05. Javed Miandad.
06. Scott Styris. (7)
07.Lance Klusener. (5)
08. Andy Roberts. (2)
09. Muttiah Muralitharan. (4)
10. Waqar Younis. (3)
11. Glenn McGrath. (1)
Crappy writeup
Batting
The great Viv Richards leads the line up with a 100 against his name in a WC final. He was pretty much the best batsman in world ups until Sachin came about. Sangakarra, one of the best players of all time in any format and Martin Crowe, player of the tournament in 92 WC, further cements the middle order. Crowe was phenomenal in that world cup both as a player and a captain. Ganguly and Jayasuriya open the batting. Ganguly, an all time ODI great, has exceptional ICC record. Jayasuriya, man of the series for WC 1996, will be the X factor upfront. Watson will play the role of enforcer/finisher in the line up with support of Imran Khan. The batting order may not be the exact same one as listed. If situation demands, Watson may come in ahead of Khan or even Crowe.
Bowling
Imran Khan, Alan Donald, Zaheer Khan and Mitchell Starc is a ridiculous pace bowling line-up. Donald was consistent for SA in WCs as his records reflects while Zaheer Khan had a great world cup for India in 2003 (despite the poor performance in the final) and was possibly India's second most important player in 2011 World cup win. Even in the 2011 final where his final figures were not good due to leaking runs in the end, he pretty much set up the win by choking SriLanka at the beginning of the innings. Starc was the best player in 2011 WC final and the very reason Oz won that WC. Mushtaq Ahmed takes up the role of spinner having played the same role in 92 WC win for Pakistan with excellent figures. Watson and Jayasuriya join the line up with both capable of bowling 10 overs each. Other bowling options are Richards and Ganguly making it 9 bowling options!
Summary - 10 out of 11 players have better record in ICC tournaments compared to their career one. (Borderline for Donald too). Overall team has great pedigree in terms of historically great ODI players with match winning performances in world cups.
The Red Viper writeup
The Batting Unit:-
Opening the batting for us, we have the ultra-destructive pair of Virender Sehwag and Adam Gilchrist, which would put fear in any bowling attack's minds. Two of the greatest openers of all time, both Viru and Gilly were uber attacking batsmen who could take advantage of the power-play and set the platform for the middle-order to build on it. At 1-down, we have Mr Consistent and super-dependable Jacques Kallis. One of the greatest batsman in ODI history, Kallis would provide some solidity to the batting unit. At 4, we have possibly one of the Top-3 batsman of ODI history in Virat Kohli. A supremely talented batsman with a range of shots as good as any. Kohli is a master of pacing his innings and playing depending on the situation. He can either anchor the innings or play the role of the finisher. At 5, we have Javed Miandad. One of the best finishers of all time, Miandad was the pioneer of finishers in ODIs. He was hugely influential when Pakistan won the Cricket World Cup in 1992, as he was 2nd highest run-scorer in that World Cup. At 6, we have Scott Styris. A powerful batsman who thrived in the role of a finisher for the New Zealand team from early 2000s to 2010s, Styris would provide us with quick scoring with his ability to strike the ball and accelerate during the death overs. At 7, we have the swashbuckling Lance Klusener. The best finisher in World Cup history. Zulu's ability to accelerate and clear ropes at will in death overs would be vital while posting a huge total or chasing down one. Andy Roberts, Muttiah Muralitharan, Waqar Younis and Glenn McGrath complete the tail. While nothing spectacular, Andy Roberts and Muttiah Muralitharan could hit a couple of boundaries and get a quickfire 10/15 odd runs.
All in all, the batting line-up is really balanced. It has openers who exploit the new hard ball and destroy the opposition bowling attack in the power-play and provide the platform for the middle-order, middle-order batsmen who could anchor the innings and build on the start provided by the top-order, finishers who can guide the team to a great total or chase down the total by perfectly pacing the innings.
The Bowling Attack:-
The bowling-attack comprises of Glenn McGrath, Sir Andy Roberts, Waqar Younis, Muttiah Muralitharan, Lance Klusener, Jacques Kallis and Scott Styris. In Glenn McGrath, we have the the greatest bowler bowler in World Cup history. The highest wicket-taker in World Cup history. And in Andy Roberts and Waqar Younis, we have another two All-Time Great fast bowlers. McGrath and Roberts would spearhead the bowling attack and share the new ball. McGrath with his line and length and Roberts with his brute pace and bounce would complement each other extremely well. Our first change would be Waqar Younis, who would give our spearhead bowlers a breather without us losing much in terms of wicket-tacking ability. However, we won't bowl Waqar much in the initial stages of the game. We will preserve him for the middle overs when the ball gets old and starts to reverse and for the death overs where he can be an absolute menace to the opposition batsmen with his pace and ability to bowl yorkers at will. Muttiah Muralitharan would be our primary spinner. The 2nd highest wicket-taker in World Cup history, Murali would suffocate the opposition batting unit in the middle overs by stopping the flow of the runs and taking a couple of wickets. With McGrath, Roberts and Waqar already cleaning up then top-order, it would allow Murali to do what he does best. Dominate in the middle-overs and take the game away from the opposition. Lance Klusener would be the fourth seamer. Plenty of variety in his bowling arsenal. Could bowl quick but also can be very tricky and slippery to play against when he takes the pace off the ball. Good reverse swing bowler, can bowl yorkers but his biggest weapon are the off-cutters which are incredibly difficult to hit against. Jacques Kallis is the fifth seamer of the attack. Another fine bowler. Pre-shoulder injury, Kallis was fast and was an extremely dangerous bowler who had a knack of picking up wickets. Post-shoulder injury, he lost the pace but mastered the art of swing and seam movement. What he lost in pace, he compensated it with his line and length. Scott Styris would be our 7th bowler. A very handy bowler, Styris offers us some variety to our bowling attack with his medium-pace and off-cutters.
Overall, the bowling attack has plenty of ammo and variety in it. It has bowlers who can bowl at a genuine pace, swing the new ball as well as the old ball using reverse swing and the greatest spinner in World Cup history. We have the Top-2 bowlers in World Cup history in McGrath and Murali. McGrath was the master of line and length and setting up batsmen, Roberts had a mean bouncer in him, especially his slow bouncer which fooled almost every batsmen and Waqar who offers elite reverse swing as well as unplayable yorkers in death overs. And Murali was the spin king. With Klusener, Kallis and Styris supporting them, we have a bowling attack with plenty of variety and can restrict any team's batting unit.
The Opposition - (crappycraperson):-
Crappy has got a very good team but I feel I will win this. I have a much better bowling attack. I have got simply got much better bowlers who had incredible record in ICC tournaments. Genuine match-winners with their bowling. While Crappy has got a very good bowling attack as well, I don't think its anywhere as good as mine. In terms of performances, match winning spells and economic bowling.
In terms of batting, I have got a better opening pair. Sehwag & Gilchrist has the edge over Dada & Sanath. The sheer destructiveness of Sehwag and Gilchrist in the power-play would be tough to match for any opening pair. A combined average strike-rate of around 100 is simply outstanding. The middle-order is close. While Viv is the best batsmen from either team, the next best middle-order batsmen are from my team in Kallis, Kohli and Miandad. May be Crowe probably manages to sneak in between those three. Anyway, I think the middle-order battle is close. I like my middle-order more because it can deal with both the fast bowling and spin really well. However, I won't argue if someone rates Crappy's middle order over mine. Its certainly debatable.
Now to the lower middle-order/finishers, I simply have got much better finishers here. Kohli, Miandad, Klusener and Styris are all outstanding finishers. If you compare it to Crappy, his two main finishers are Watson and Imran Khan. Crowe was a good batsman, but he wasn't a finisher. Majority of Watson's exploits were really as an opener or top order batsman. He still had a good record coming down late in the batting order but nowhere near as impactful as while opening the batting. Imran in ODIs doesn't have that good batting record, especially in World Cup. And, if you take away those knocks against Sri Lanka when they had just started playing cricket at International level and had a poor team, his record looks quite underwhelming.
This would be a great fascinating match between two great sides. Batting both are more or less of the same level but my superior bowling attack would be the difference here. My bowling attack has got two of the best bowlers in World Cup history who have produced plenty of match-winning spells, at the biggest stages against the best teams. Would do so here again!
TEAM CRAPPY
1. Sourav Ganguly
2. Sanath Jayasuriya
3. Kumara Sangakarra (wk)
4. Viv Richards
5. Martin Crowe
6. Imran Khan (*)
7. Shane Watson
8. Mitchell Starc
9. Zaheer Khan
10. Mushtaq Ahmed
11. Alan Donald
VS
TEAM THE RED VIPER
01. Virender Sehwag.
02. Adam Gilchrist. (+)
03. Jacques Kallis. (6)
04. Virat Kohli. (c)
05. Javed Miandad.
06. Scott Styris. (7)
07.Lance Klusener. (5)
08. Andy Roberts. (2)
09. Muttiah Muralitharan. (4)
10. Waqar Younis. (3)
11. Glenn McGrath. (1)
Crappy writeup
Batting
The great Viv Richards leads the line up with a 100 against his name in a WC final. He was pretty much the best batsman in world ups until Sachin came about. Sangakarra, one of the best players of all time in any format and Martin Crowe, player of the tournament in 92 WC, further cements the middle order. Crowe was phenomenal in that world cup both as a player and a captain. Ganguly and Jayasuriya open the batting. Ganguly, an all time ODI great, has exceptional ICC record. Jayasuriya, man of the series for WC 1996, will be the X factor upfront. Watson will play the role of enforcer/finisher in the line up with support of Imran Khan. The batting order may not be the exact same one as listed. If situation demands, Watson may come in ahead of Khan or even Crowe.
Bowling
Imran Khan, Alan Donald, Zaheer Khan and Mitchell Starc is a ridiculous pace bowling line-up. Donald was consistent for SA in WCs as his records reflects while Zaheer Khan had a great world cup for India in 2003 (despite the poor performance in the final) and was possibly India's second most important player in 2011 World cup win. Even in the 2011 final where his final figures were not good due to leaking runs in the end, he pretty much set up the win by choking SriLanka at the beginning of the innings. Starc was the best player in 2011 WC final and the very reason Oz won that WC. Mushtaq Ahmed takes up the role of spinner having played the same role in 92 WC win for Pakistan with excellent figures. Watson and Jayasuriya join the line up with both capable of bowling 10 overs each. Other bowling options are Richards and Ganguly making it 9 bowling options!
Summary - 10 out of 11 players have better record in ICC tournaments compared to their career one. (Borderline for Donald too). Overall team has great pedigree in terms of historically great ODI players with match winning performances in world cups.
The Red Viper writeup
Opening the batting for us, we have the ultra-destructive pair of Virender Sehwag and Adam Gilchrist, which would put fear in any bowling attack's minds. Two of the greatest openers of all time, both Viru and Gilly were uber attacking batsmen who could take advantage of the power-play and set the platform for the middle-order to build on it. At 1-down, we have Mr Consistent and super-dependable Jacques Kallis. One of the greatest batsman in ODI history, Kallis would provide some solidity to the batting unit. At 4, we have possibly one of the Top-3 batsman of ODI history in Virat Kohli. A supremely talented batsman with a range of shots as good as any. Kohli is a master of pacing his innings and playing depending on the situation. He can either anchor the innings or play the role of the finisher. At 5, we have Javed Miandad. One of the best finishers of all time, Miandad was the pioneer of finishers in ODIs. He was hugely influential when Pakistan won the Cricket World Cup in 1992, as he was 2nd highest run-scorer in that World Cup. At 6, we have Scott Styris. A powerful batsman who thrived in the role of a finisher for the New Zealand team from early 2000s to 2010s, Styris would provide us with quick scoring with his ability to strike the ball and accelerate during the death overs. At 7, we have the swashbuckling Lance Klusener. The best finisher in World Cup history. Zulu's ability to accelerate and clear ropes at will in death overs would be vital while posting a huge total or chasing down one. Andy Roberts, Muttiah Muralitharan, Waqar Younis and Glenn McGrath complete the tail. While nothing spectacular, Andy Roberts and Muttiah Muralitharan could hit a couple of boundaries and get a quickfire 10/15 odd runs.
All in all, the batting line-up is really balanced. It has openers who exploit the new hard ball and destroy the opposition bowling attack in the power-play and provide the platform for the middle-order, middle-order batsmen who could anchor the innings and build on the start provided by the top-order, finishers who can guide the team to a great total or chase down the total by perfectly pacing the innings.
The Bowling Attack:-
The bowling-attack comprises of Glenn McGrath, Sir Andy Roberts, Waqar Younis, Muttiah Muralitharan, Lance Klusener, Jacques Kallis and Scott Styris. In Glenn McGrath, we have the the greatest bowler bowler in World Cup history. The highest wicket-taker in World Cup history. And in Andy Roberts and Waqar Younis, we have another two All-Time Great fast bowlers. McGrath and Roberts would spearhead the bowling attack and share the new ball. McGrath with his line and length and Roberts with his brute pace and bounce would complement each other extremely well. Our first change would be Waqar Younis, who would give our spearhead bowlers a breather without us losing much in terms of wicket-tacking ability. However, we won't bowl Waqar much in the initial stages of the game. We will preserve him for the middle overs when the ball gets old and starts to reverse and for the death overs where he can be an absolute menace to the opposition batsmen with his pace and ability to bowl yorkers at will. Muttiah Muralitharan would be our primary spinner. The 2nd highest wicket-taker in World Cup history, Murali would suffocate the opposition batting unit in the middle overs by stopping the flow of the runs and taking a couple of wickets. With McGrath, Roberts and Waqar already cleaning up then top-order, it would allow Murali to do what he does best. Dominate in the middle-overs and take the game away from the opposition. Lance Klusener would be the fourth seamer. Plenty of variety in his bowling arsenal. Could bowl quick but also can be very tricky and slippery to play against when he takes the pace off the ball. Good reverse swing bowler, can bowl yorkers but his biggest weapon are the off-cutters which are incredibly difficult to hit against. Jacques Kallis is the fifth seamer of the attack. Another fine bowler. Pre-shoulder injury, Kallis was fast and was an extremely dangerous bowler who had a knack of picking up wickets. Post-shoulder injury, he lost the pace but mastered the art of swing and seam movement. What he lost in pace, he compensated it with his line and length. Scott Styris would be our 7th bowler. A very handy bowler, Styris offers us some variety to our bowling attack with his medium-pace and off-cutters.
Overall, the bowling attack has plenty of ammo and variety in it. It has bowlers who can bowl at a genuine pace, swing the new ball as well as the old ball using reverse swing and the greatest spinner in World Cup history. We have the Top-2 bowlers in World Cup history in McGrath and Murali. McGrath was the master of line and length and setting up batsmen, Roberts had a mean bouncer in him, especially his slow bouncer which fooled almost every batsmen and Waqar who offers elite reverse swing as well as unplayable yorkers in death overs. And Murali was the spin king. With Klusener, Kallis and Styris supporting them, we have a bowling attack with plenty of variety and can restrict any team's batting unit.
The Opposition - (crappycraperson):-
Crappy has got a very good team but I feel I will win this. I have a much better bowling attack. I have got simply got much better bowlers who had incredible record in ICC tournaments. Genuine match-winners with their bowling. While Crappy has got a very good bowling attack as well, I don't think its anywhere as good as mine. In terms of performances, match winning spells and economic bowling.
In terms of batting, I have got a better opening pair. Sehwag & Gilchrist has the edge over Dada & Sanath. The sheer destructiveness of Sehwag and Gilchrist in the power-play would be tough to match for any opening pair. A combined average strike-rate of around 100 is simply outstanding. The middle-order is close. While Viv is the best batsmen from either team, the next best middle-order batsmen are from my team in Kallis, Kohli and Miandad. May be Crowe probably manages to sneak in between those three. Anyway, I think the middle-order battle is close. I like my middle-order more because it can deal with both the fast bowling and spin really well. However, I won't argue if someone rates Crappy's middle order over mine. Its certainly debatable.
Now to the lower middle-order/finishers, I simply have got much better finishers here. Kohli, Miandad, Klusener and Styris are all outstanding finishers. If you compare it to Crappy, his two main finishers are Watson and Imran Khan. Crowe was a good batsman, but he wasn't a finisher. Majority of Watson's exploits were really as an opener or top order batsman. He still had a good record coming down late in the batting order but nowhere near as impactful as while opening the batting. Imran in ODIs doesn't have that good batting record, especially in World Cup. And, if you take away those knocks against Sri Lanka when they had just started playing cricket at International level and had a poor team, his record looks quite underwhelming.
This would be a great fascinating match between two great sides. Batting both are more or less of the same level but my superior bowling attack would be the difference here. My bowling attack has got two of the best bowlers in World Cup history who have produced plenty of match-winning spells, at the biggest stages against the best teams. Would do so here again!
