Wisden has released its all-time Test World eleven to earmark 150 years of the Cricketers' Almanack. Sachin Tendulkar happens to be the only Indian cricketer who finds a place in a team that comprises of cricketing legends.
Australia great Don Bradman was named captain Wednesday of an all-time Test World XI to mark the 150th anniversary of Wisden Cricketers' Almanack.
Although Bradman played his last Test in 1948, no batsman before or since has come anywhere near his staggering Test batting average of 99.94.
ADVERTISEMENT
Also included is his compatriot Shane Warne, who during the 1990s established himself as arguably the greatest leg-spinner cricket has known.
Given that it is a UK-based publication built around the events of the previous English season, albeit one now encompassing the whole of senior international cricket, it is perhaps unsurprising there are four England players in the side.
Sachin Tendulkar (left) and Shane Warne were known for their epic battles of bat vs ball. File Pic
W.G. Grace, the 19th century star who invented the fundamentals of batting, opening great Jack Hobbs, wicketkeeper Alan Knott, a mainstay of England teams of the 1970s and Sydney Barnes, a master of both swing and spin and reckoned by many to have been England's greatest bowler of all time, make it into the side.
West Indies provide three players in Vivian Richards, widely regarded as the best batsman of his generation, Sir Garfield Sobers, frequently referred to as the greatest all-rounder cricket has known and Malcolm Marshall, viewed as arguably the best in a long line of top-class Caribbean fast bowlers.
India provide one player in the soon-to-retire Sachin Tendulkar, Test cricket's leading run scorer of all-time.
Tendulkar, who will retire from Test cricket after playing against the West Indies in his landmark 200th match in Mumbai next month, was named at his number four spot in the team.
The team captained by legendary Australian batsman Don Bradman has four Englishmen, three West Indians, two Australians, one Indian and one Pakistani.
Tendulkar's contemporaries like Brian Lara, Ricky Ponting and Jaques Kallis could not make it to the team, nor other Indian greats like Sunil Gavaskar and Kapil Dev.
Warne and Pakistani fast-bowling great Wasim Akram were the only two contemporaries of Tendulkar who made it to the World Test XI. Tendulkar and Akram are the only two Asians named in the team. Akram has long been considered the best left-arm fast bowler cricket has known.
Hobbs, Bradman, Richards, Sobers and Warne were named as Wisden's five players of the 20th Century in 2000.
Wisden World XI
1) J. B. Hobbs (England, 1908-1930)
61 Tests, 5,410 runs at 56.94
2) W. G. Grace (England, 1880-1899)
22 Tests, 1,098 runs at 32.29
3) *D. G. Bradman (Australia, 1928-1948 - captain)
52 Tests, 6,996 runs at 99.94
4) S. R. Tendulkar (India, 1989-2013)
198 Tests, 15,837 runs at 53.86
5) I. V. A. Richards (West Indies, 1974-1991)
121 Tests, 8,540 runs at 50.23
6) G. S. Sobers (West Indies, 1954-1974)
93 Tests, 8,032 runs at 57.78, 235 wickets at 34.03
7) †A. P. E. Knott (England, 1967-1981 - wicketkeeper)
95 Tests, 4,389 runs at 32.75, 250 catches, 19 stumpings
8) Wasim Akram (Pakistan, 1985-2002)
104 Tests, 414 wickets at 23.62
9) S. K. Warne (Australia, 1992-2007)
145 Tests, 708 wickets at 25.41
10) M. D. Marshall (West Indies, 1978-1991)
81 Tests, 376 wickets at 20.94
11) S. F. Barnes (England, 1901-14)
27 Tests, 189 wickets at 16.43
Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here!
