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 THE RED VIPER
01. Virender Sehwag.
02. David Boon.
03. Jacques Kallis. (4)
04. Virat Kohli. (c)
05. Javed Miandad.
06. Scott Styris. (6)
07. Mushfiqur Rahim. (+)
08. Daniel Vettori. (5)
09. Andy Roberts. (1)
10. Waqar Younis. (3)
11. Glenn McGrath. (1)
VS
TEAM Skills/Ijazz17
1. Amla
2. Sharma
3. De Silva
4. AB De Villiers
5. Clive Lloyd
6. Glenn Maxwell
7. Kapil Dev
8. Mitchell Starc
9. Shane Bond
10. Trent Boult
11. Muttiah Muralitharan
The Red Viper writeup
THE TEAM:-
The Batting Unit:-
Opening the batting we have the ultra-destructive Virender Sehwag and the 1987 World Cup Final - Man Of The Match, David Boon. Both were excellent batsmen who could attack at will 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 extremely reliable, Mushfiqur Rahim. The corner stone of the Bangladesi side in the last decade, Mushfiqur is a very good glovesman and is a really solid batsman who has the ability to score quickfire 30 odd runs from 20 odd balls. And his ability to rotate the strike is also vital as he can give strike to the set-batsmen like Kohli, Miandad or Styris etc on the other end. Then with Daniel Vettori at 8, we have another handy batsman who could strike the ball hard and offer us good long tail.
All in all, the batting line-up is really balanced. It has openers who exploit the new hard ball in the power-play, 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. And then we have lower-order batsmen who can strike the ball hard and get quick runs on the board.
The Bowling Attack:-
The bowling-attack comprises of Glenn McGrath, Sir Andy Roberts, Waqar Younis, Jacques Kallis, Daniel Vettori 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. Jacques Kallis is the fourth 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. Daniel Vettori would be the spinner in the side. While he didn't spin the ball or offered as much flight as the likes of Warne and Murali, Vettori was a super smart bowler who could get you key wickets but his biggest asset is his ability to choke the runs in one end. One of the most economical bowlers in ODI history. Scott Styris would be our 6th 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. McGrath was the master of line and length and setting up batsmen. Roberts had a mean bouncer in him and his slow bouncer would fool plenty of batsmen. And then there's Waqar, who offers elite reverse swing as well as unplayable yorkers in death overs. With Kallis, Vettori and Styris supporting them, we have a bowling attack with plenty of variety and can restrict any team's batting unit.
The Opposition - (Skills & Ijazz17):-
Skills & Ijazz17 have got a very good team but the major issue with him is while he has got certain players who have done very well in ICC tournaments, they don't have the longevity. There have been plenty of cases of one tournament wonders. They don't quite match-up to the consistency and longevity that my team possess in the both the batting unit and the bowling attack.
I have got better openers and better batsmen in the middle-order. Although I don't quite possess the explosiveness that they do in terms of Kapil Dev and Glenn Maxwell, my batting unit has got more depth. In terms of bowling, we both have got very good bowling attacks. McGrath - Roberts - Waqar - Vettori - Kallis - Styris vs Bond - Starc - Ali - Kapil - Murali. That would be a fascinating battle. However, like I said earlier, my team and especially my bowling unit has played in multiple tournaments and have a bigger body of work and consistency to show for. They also have more variety and depth in the bowling attack. We can change things up depending upon the situation. Thats why I feel we would win this.
Skills/Ijazz17 writeup
Batting
Bowling
Why team Fergie/Phelan wins?
TEAM THE RED VIPER
01. Virender Sehwag.
02. David Boon.
03. Jacques Kallis. (4)
04. Virat Kohli. (c)
05. Javed Miandad.
06. Scott Styris. (6)
07. Mushfiqur Rahim. (+)
08. Daniel Vettori. (5)
09. Andy Roberts. (1)
10. Waqar Younis. (3)
11. Glenn McGrath. (1)
VS
TEAM Skills/Ijazz17
1. Amla
2. Sharma
3. De Silva
4. AB De Villiers
5. Clive Lloyd
6. Glenn Maxwell
7. Kapil Dev
8. Mitchell Starc
9. Shane Bond
10. Trent Boult
11. Muttiah Muralitharan
The Red Viper writeup
THE TEAM:-
The Batting Unit:-
Opening the batting we have the ultra-destructive Virender Sehwag and the 1987 World Cup Final - Man Of The Match, David Boon. Both were excellent batsmen who could attack at will 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 extremely reliable, Mushfiqur Rahim. The corner stone of the Bangladesi side in the last decade, Mushfiqur is a very good glovesman and is a really solid batsman who has the ability to score quickfire 30 odd runs from 20 odd balls. And his ability to rotate the strike is also vital as he can give strike to the set-batsmen like Kohli, Miandad or Styris etc on the other end. Then with Daniel Vettori at 8, we have another handy batsman who could strike the ball hard and offer us good long tail.
All in all, the batting line-up is really balanced. It has openers who exploit the new hard ball in the power-play, 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. And then we have lower-order batsmen who can strike the ball hard and get quick runs on the board.
The Bowling Attack:-
The bowling-attack comprises of Glenn McGrath, Sir Andy Roberts, Waqar Younis, Jacques Kallis, Daniel Vettori 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. Jacques Kallis is the fourth 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. Daniel Vettori would be the spinner in the side. While he didn't spin the ball or offered as much flight as the likes of Warne and Murali, Vettori was a super smart bowler who could get you key wickets but his biggest asset is his ability to choke the runs in one end. One of the most economical bowlers in ODI history. Scott Styris would be our 6th 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. McGrath was the master of line and length and setting up batsmen. Roberts had a mean bouncer in him and his slow bouncer would fool plenty of batsmen. And then there's Waqar, who offers elite reverse swing as well as unplayable yorkers in death overs. With Kallis, Vettori and Styris supporting them, we have a bowling attack with plenty of variety and can restrict any team's batting unit.
The Opposition - (Skills & Ijazz17):-
Skills & Ijazz17 have got a very good team but the major issue with him is while he has got certain players who have done very well in ICC tournaments, they don't have the longevity. There have been plenty of cases of one tournament wonders. They don't quite match-up to the consistency and longevity that my team possess in the both the batting unit and the bowling attack.
I have got better openers and better batsmen in the middle-order. Although I don't quite possess the explosiveness that they do in terms of Kapil Dev and Glenn Maxwell, my batting unit has got more depth. In terms of bowling, we both have got very good bowling attacks. McGrath - Roberts - Waqar - Vettori - Kallis - Styris vs Bond - Starc - Ali - Kapil - Murali. That would be a fascinating battle. However, like I said earlier, my team and especially my bowling unit has played in multiple tournaments and have a bigger body of work and consistency to show for. They also have more variety and depth in the bowling attack. We can change things up depending upon the situation. Thats why I feel we would win this.
Skills/Ijazz17 writeup
Batting
Bowling
Why team Fergie/Phelan wins?
- Explosion - We have two of the most destructive batsman ever in AB De Villiers & Glenn Maxwell in my team. De Villiers has destroyed countless attacks and holds the fastest world cup century & 150. Maxwell has obscene strike rate of 180 with an average of 60. These are key runs which become really difficult to chase. We're not even mentioning Kapil Dev here who was batting at 114 SR in an era where a score of 200 odd was game winning.
- Leadership - We have 2 World Cup winning captains in my team. Lloyd led the West Indies to both of their wins in 75 & 79, Dev is India's legendary captain for their first ever win in 1983. They both played huge roles - Lloyd scoring a key century in the 1975 final, and Dev top scoring for India as well as being a huge with the ball. Aravinda De Silva in his only ever world cup final scored a century and took 3 wickets to overcome the Australians.
- Solidarity - both our openers are among the best ODI batsmen in the world, and easily among the top 5 openers in the world. They have very solid-good records in ICC tournaments - especially Sharma who has played a big role in India's 2013 Champions Trophy win & helping them get to the final in 2017.
- Wickets - One thing we have in my team in abundance is wickets. I have the two best bowlers from the 2015 World Cup in my team - both took 22 wickets at ridiculous averages and SR. Starc was the player of the tournament in 2015, and lets not forget Shane fecking Bond. Supporting them we have the GOAT ODI spinner Muttiah Muralitharan who's ICC stats are somehow even better than his career stats & Kapil Dev who was great with the ball in the 1983 world cup. Then if we need we have De Silva to chip in at key moments.
