Mani write up:
Line up
1.G.Boycott
2.S.Gavaskar
3.B.Lara
4.G.Chappell
5.C.Lloyd (C)
6.M.Waugh
7.M.Dhoni†
8.M.Holding
9.W.Younis
10.A.Donald
11.M.Ahmed
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12.L.Malinga (Plays only in the 3nd Test Match where pace and swing favors bowler in place of M.Ahmed)
Why I'll win.......
Fast bowlers hunt in pair:-
Micheal Holding + Waqar Younis +Allan Donald & L.Malinga
I got the best opening bowling combo in this draft arguably, as M.Holding / W.Younis /Allan Donald as done individually and as a pair with their team mates.Here Waqar/Holding /Donald will test the batsmen with nagging pace accuracy.When ball gets old they can reverse swing the ball plus the toe crushing Yorkers from Waqar/Donald could knock few timber's. S.Jayasurya as opener is more liability than the asset in test format especially in Pacy and Flat wkts against my opening bowling combo of Holding/Waqar/Donald.
Opening batsmen's (Shutting everything at top)
S.Gavaskar / G.Boycott:
At this stage of the draft you need solid openers to deal with opponents opening attack and arguably Gavaskar and Boycott is the best openers to have graced this game,comparatively this two are in far better position to negate with pace, as S.Gavaskar / G.Boycott where the two technically perfect batsmen to deal with Interval's pace trio.These two are perfect in judging the delivery, they know their off stump, they knew the delivery that need to be left out and when to offer shot at the delivery and more importantly they are not flashy which means they are not throwing away their wickets. Their calmness approach would give me better start and safe guard my middle order for long innings.
Captain Fantastic : C.Lloyd
One of the successful captains in the cricket history
Brian Lara - Enough said.
Spinners -Musthaq Ahmed
Leg spin/ googly bowler from sub continent give much needed variety in the spin department.
Middle order: B.Lara/G.Chappell/C.Lloyd/M.Waugh
Batsmen who can stay and produce long innings and equally good on dealing against spin or pace bowling.
Sharp slip fielders :-
M.Waugh-C.Lloyd-S.Gavaskar-G.Chappell- Lara
Partnerships:
Openning -
S.Gavaskar / G.Boycott
Middle Order-
B.Lara / G.Chappell / C.Lloyd
Lower middle order-
M.Waugh / M.Dhoni
Lead men while batting :
Beginning Phase -
S.Gavaskar / G.Boycott
Middle Phase-
C.Lloyd / G.Chappell /B.Lara
End phase-
M.Dhoni
All three had lead their respective country and had guided their team on their crucial match phase,their leadership would come in handy to support the batsmen in the other end and help the team pose a good total.
Whispering Death The Burewala Express The White lightning
The team
Sunil Gavaskar (Ave: 51.12):One of the greatest opening batsmen of all time, Gavaskar's game was built around a near-perfect technique and enormous powers of concentration. It is hard to visualise a more beautiful defence: virtually unbreachable, it made his wicket among the hardest to earn. He played with equal felicity off both front and back feet, had excellent judgement of length and line, and was beautifully balanced. Gavaskar was not only a batsman per excellence. He was a role model. He talked and wrote more about dedication, discipline, determination as the three Ds of success than the most enthusiastic moral science teachers. He was an icon, almost a spiritual guide.
Geoff Boycott (Ave: 47.72): If ever there was a perfect defence which looked almost impenetrable it has to be of Geoffrey Boycott. He was known for his defensive, steady style. The legendary English Test opener was a figure of serenity and calmness on the field. Many called it boring batting, but it ensured that the rest of the batting order had a solid platform to build upon.Many of the English batsmen owe Geoff their centuries as he was the one who removed the shine of the new cherry to make it easier for the batsmen to follow
Brian Lara ( Ave:52.88 Highest 400*): It has not been that long since Brian Lara’s majestic willow stopped etching those majestic arcs from the high back lift to flourishing follow-throughs. The image of the bent knee and the body and bat coiled like a spring are still fresh in memory, as are the flashes of energy bursting forth, the sound of willow against leather like the pop of the champagne cork, strokes gushing out in liquid grace, flowing in red streaks across the field to the boundary.
Greg Chappell (Ave:53.86): Greg Chappell was a visual delight when in full flow, a graceful, elegant batsman, the toughest of competitors and one of the more combative and controversial characters of the game, perhaps the greatest Australian batsman after Don Bradman.The tall, graceful Chappell was a picture of sublime aesthetics sculpted on the solid foundation of orthodox perfection of methods. His on-drive was the classiest sight in cricket, and even when he played the hook, a stroke normally associated with ferocity and force, he laced it with a touch of artistic elegance.
Clive Lloyd(Ave: 46.67): Clive Lloyd was the crucial ingredient in the rise of West Indian cricket. He was a hard-hitting batsmen and one of the most successful captains in history. An almost ponderous, lazy gait belied the speed and power at his command and the astute tactical brain that led the West Indies to the top of world cricket for two decades. He transformed the philosophy of West Indian cricket, turning a band of supremely talented, yet inconsistent happy-go-lucky cricketers into ruthless machinery for destruction.
Mark Waugh (Ave: 41.81): One of the world’s most elegant and gifted strokemakers, the twin brother of Steve, Waugh’s game was characterized by an ability to drive, cut, pull and loft the ball so effortlessly that it could make him look disdainful of the talents of bowlers. Gifted, natural, elegant, languid, carefree… the adjectives could go on and on. Mark Waugh was that special a cricketer.
MS Dhoni (Ave: 38.09): Arguably one of India’s most popular and charismatic cricketers, Captain Cool’s home-made batting and wicketkeeping technique, and a style of captaincy had scaled the highs and lows of both conservatism and unorthodoxy. Dhoni demonstrated all that was right with the new look India. He didn't respect reputations, but never disrespected. He improvised; he learned and soon became one of the best ever Wicket keeping batsmen his country has ever produced.
Michael Holding (Ave: 23.68; Econ: 2.79; SR: 50.9): Michael Holding turned around from far, far away, where the eyes had to squint to see. And then he ran in fluid, silent, long strides, with an action almost hypnotic in grace and athleticism. And as he waltzed into follow-through, the ball darted at rates seldom witnessed even in the heydays of pace bowling in the 1970s. His stealthy, extensive run up was soundless and serene. Umpires were seldom aware of his approach till the corner of their eyes caught him stretched in his delivery stride. Not for nothing was he was he called “
Whispering Death“.
Waqar Younis (Ave: 23.56; Econ: 3.25;SR 43.4): The man who really put reverse into swing. Sharing his Test debut with the Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar, during the November 1989 Test at Karachi, he took a four-wicket haul in his first Test innings, including the wicket of Tendulkar. He never looked back since.
Allan Donald (Ave: 22.25; Econ: 2.83; SR: 47.0): A classical action and top-drawer pace would have won him a place in any side in his prime, and for much of his career he was the only world-class performer in the South African team, spearing the ball in, shaping it away and always making things happen. If the credit for South Africa's success in the modern era could be given to one player, that cricketer would be Allan Donald.
, I'd just like to point 2-3 things -
I know its easy to but don't treat Jaya as non existent. Its not like he'd be out in the first over itself all the time. Your point about my middle order getting exposed quicker is true. But I don't thinkyou're understanding that its not just having 2 or so better players in the lower order; my entire series of 5 players is better than yours. And that's all I need to narrow that gap.