All time ODI Sheep Draft SF1: Himannv vs V.O.

[Skills]

Team Himannv
01. Sanath Jayasuriya /o
02. Quinton de Kock /+
03. Brian Lara /
04. Aravinda de Silva /o
05. David Miller /
06. Mike Hussey /
07. Kapil Dev /o
08. Ravi Ashwin o/
09. Jaspirit Bumrah o
10. Shoaib Akhtar o
11. Glenn McGrath o

Team V.O.
1. Martin Guptill
2. Jonny Bairstow (wk)
3. Zaheer Abbas
4. Jacques Kallis
5. Jonty Rhodes
6. Michael Bevan
7. Imran Khan (c)
8. Richard Hadlee
9. Upul Chandana
10. Dennis Lillee
11. Saqlain Mushtaq

 

[Skills]

Team Himannv

Batting lineup:

01. Sanath Jayasuriya /o
02. Quinton de Kock /+
03. Brian Lara /
04. Aravinda de Silva /o
05. David Miller /
06. Mike Hussey /
07. Kapil Dev /o
08. Ravi Ashwin o/
09. Jaspirit Bumrah o
10. Shoaib Akhtar o
11. Glenn McGrath o

Things to note about the batting:

• On his day, it wouldn't matter who the bowler is - Sanath will take him apart.
• QdK is the more solid and consistent opener of the two but he's a good attacker in his own right.
• Lara is one of my favourites and one of the best batsmen of the 90s and of all time as well.
• Aravinda is a top ODI middle order bat and I think at his peak he was one of the best in the world.
• Miller is a good hitter and he's nicely set to come in and score quick.
• I'm a big fan of Hussey in this format and he's a fantastic hitter who can just bang from the get go.
• Kapil Dev is a top number 7 in this format and is a World Cup winner who can go after the bowling.
• Ashwin can bat well enough and has scored vital runs in limited over formats.

------

Bowling lineup:

01. Glenn McGrath: Opening bowler
02. Shoaib Akhtar: Opening bowler:
03. Jaspirit Bumrah: First change
04. Ravi Ashwin: Primary spinner
05. Kapil Dev: Pace bowling allrounder
06. Sanath Jayasuriya: Spin bowling allrounder
07. Aravinda de Silva: Backup spinner

Things to note about the bowlers:

• McGrath and Akhtar take the new ball to provide consistent brilliance on one end and fiery pace on the other.
• McGrath acts as the main strike bowler throughout the innings.
• Akhtar uses his pace to get wickets early and bowls a bit of reverse swing in the death.
• Bumrah is first change and specialist death bowler.
• Kapil Dev is a top pace option in this format in his own right.
• Ashwin is the main spinner and his job is to restrict and make it difficult to score runs in the middle overs
• Jayasuriya keeps it flat and restricts scoring.
• Aravinda is an underrated bowler in my view and has a lovely action - he'll help in the middle overs.

 

[Skills]

Team V.O.

Batting

• Guptill is capable of some extremely heavy hitting, being barely outside the top 10 for all time 6s hit while having played little over half as many games as anybody above him. He also has the second highest knock in ODI history to his name with a huge 237 not out. A big component of New Zealand's strength in the format over the last decade.
• Opening alongside him, Bairstow is an even quicker scorer of big runs. He's the only player drafted to maintain a career average of over 45 while hitting at better than a run-a-ball, and the only one outright apart from the arguable best ever in the format, AB de Villiers.
• Possibly the finest batsman to ever represent Pakistan, the ‘Asian Bradman’ Zaheer Abbas is a classy and aggressive run scorer. His ability to score runs at a rate that would not look out of place in modern ODI cricket in the 70s and early 80s sees him rated as the #2 ODI batsman of all time in the official ICC rankings, behind only Viv Richards.
• With rock solid technique and ice cool temperament, probably the best all-round cricketer of his generation Jacques Kallis will be the glue holding the innings together after the initial fireworks have gone off.
• An incredible athlete and wristy batsman who scored his runs at a very good clip, Jonty Rhodes is pretty much the prototype of the modern cricketer.
• The original and best finisher in the history of white-ball cricket, Michael Bevan is in at #6. As he did so many times for the great Australian side of the late 90s and early 00s, if those above him fall, Bevan calmly steadies the ship and steers it toward victory.
• Despite being known mainly for his bowling, Imran Khan has a record most outright lower middle order batsmen would be envious of. Hadlee and Chandana to a lesser degree are well capable of chipping in with good runs as low as #9.
• Having three of the greatest all-rounders ever along with the best finisher in ODI history gives me as much batting depth as any side drafted, with only #10 and #11 not being expected to contribute.

Bowling

• One of the true all-time great quicks, Richard Hadlee opens the bowling. With very good wicket taking ability and an incredible economy rate even for the era, Hadlee weighs in as the #2 bowler on the all-time ICC ODI player rankings behind only Windies legend Joel Garner.
• An arguably even more fearsome member of the pantheon of great quicks of that era, Dennis Lillee opens from the other end. This opening pair are capable of strangling almost any batting lineup.
• With an incredible wicket taking ability that saw him rack up a comfortably better average and strike rate than either Warne or Murali (he took wickets around 20% more often than either!), Saqlain Mushtaq has a very good claim to being the greatest ODI spinner of all time, with only his relative lack of longevity counting against him. On a track that's spinning, Saqlain wreaks havoc.
• Probably the greatest cricketer to ever represent Pakistan, Imran Khan, provides the first change seam option, offering searing pace, leadership and will to win in equal measure.
• The RFM of Jacques Kallis and leg spin of Upul Chandana offer very capable options to fill the remaining overs, with Kallis being given more overs on a green top and Chandana taking the lead on a turning pitch.

Fielding and captaincy

• While very strong in the primary disciplines, this is where my team stands above any other drafted.
• Spearheaded by the greatest fielder in cricket history, Jonty Rhodes, with support from other excellent fielders, Chandana, Guptill and Bevan with the ever-reliable bucket hands of Kallis at slip, this is the best fielding unit in the draft and will combine with an already very economical bowling attack to stifle the batsmen.
• Any communication error or dodgy running between the wickets will be swiftly punished and one or two miracle catches are almost guaranteed.
• Captain Imran Khan has a 75-59 ODI record in an era of relative weakness for Pakistan, culminating in winning the 1992 World Cup as underdogs.

 

[Skills]

@Himannv @V.O.

 

[NM]

Very close don't know which way to vote.

 

[V.O.]

Dead level with a couple of hours left. Giving this a bump to hopefully save us all from a super over!

 

[Mani]

That’s really close one, Himanav 1&3 looks too good, Abbas is no slouch either.Personally like Aravinda but Kallis adds move value, Bevan >Hussey and Jonty over Miller.Never rated Ashwin in ODI and no place for Chandana in draft he should go too.
Over all like VO bowling line up, Sorry Himanav had to vote for VO.

 

[V.O.]

Congrats @Himannv, very well drafted - excellent all-round team you've put together with only one or two spots I can think you might improve. Good luck in the final.

@Skills Nice work putting the game together and following it through even when you might not have been having the best time of things.

 

[Himannv]

Phew, tight game. Well played VO, I liked your side.