Unable to endure the sad spectacle on television of the West Indies being decapatitated by South Africa last Sunday, some close friends and KHALIDOSCOPE sought relief by donning ICC selectors hats, in a manner of speaking, to pick our own unofficial World XI to take on Australia in Sydney on October 14-19.
Although the selection was confined to the initial list announced by World XI selectors Sunil Gavaskar, Clive Lloyd, Jonty Rhodes, Michael Atherton, Sir Richard Hadlee and Aravinda de Silva, it soon became apparent that their task ahead in finalising the XI will be complex, given the embarrassment of riches in the initial list of 30 released in Mumbai last Monday.
Although some of our players for the six-day official Test were automatic selections, the competition for the remaining slots was fierce, as reflected in the holiday season (silly season in journalese) pastime, that went on late into the night, at the end of a hot summers dog day.
Apart from current form, yardsticks of balance, fielding ability, nature of the wicket at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) and recent performances against Australia, in particular, were applied. Despite best efforts, the three final XIs chosen by different individuals suffer from a paucity of left-handers, which is, acknowledgedly, a grave deficiency.
The lateness of the hour came in the way of selection of a captain, an omission that wannabe selectors from among readers may wish to rectify.
The selections are being reproduced for the information of readers, who might wish to finalise their own 11 players for the one Test match only to take the field against Ricky Pontings all-conquering world champions, in what promises to be the mother of all Tests in recent times.
SELECTION 1 (in batting order):
Virender Sehwag
Herschelle Gibbs
Brian Lara
Rahul Dravid
Sachin Tendulkar
Jacques Kallis
Andy Flintoff
Mark Boucher (wk)
Anil Kumble
Muttiah Muralitharan
Shoaib Akhtar
12th man: Andrew Strauss
SELECTION 2:
Marvan Atapattu
Virender Sehwag
Rahul Dravid
Sachin Tendulkar
Brian Lara
Kumara Sangakkara (wk)
Abdul Razzaq
Harbhajan Singh
Muttiah Muralitharan
Makhaya Ntini
Steve Harmison
12th man: Herschelle Gibbs
SELECTION 3:
Michael Vaughan
Virender Sehwag
Rahul Dravid
Brian Lara
Sachin Tendulkar
Inzamam-ul- Haq
Shaun Pollock
Mark Boucher (wk)
Chaminda Vaas
Danish Kaneria
Muttiah Muralitharan
12th man: Chris Gayle
Readers are invited to e-mail their own nominations of 12 players to worldteam@mid-day.com. Players chosen may be from outside those selected above, but must be from the ICC list of 30. The first five selections received will be published.
The six wise men
Sunil Gavaskar
Clive Lloyd
Sir Richard Hadlee
Aravinda de Silva
Mike Atherton
Jonty Rhodes
