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  •   Thu, Jul 12 2007 09:23:28 AM

UNI

London, Jul 12: Skipper Sunil Gavaskar opens alongside Rahul Dravid while Sachin Tendulkar comes one down in Tony Greig’s best Indian Test XI in which only three players from the current side touring England manage to make the cut.

India’s highest Test wicket taker Anil Kumble bowls alongside Bishan Singh Bedi and EAS Prasanna in a dream spin trio while Kapil Dev and Javagal Srinath take the polish off the cherry as the former England skipper considers slow bowling to be Indian cricket’s forte.

“Sunil Gavaskar is my number one -- he goes in first. He will be followed by Rahul Dravid. Bear in mind that Dravid has the best average of all Indians in Test cricket -- an average of 58.03 at the moment. At number three I will have Sachin Tendulkar -- who is only just behind Dravid with an average of 55,” Greig told ‘Cricinfo’.

He puts Mohammad Azharuddin, who struck three tons in consecution in his debut matches, in the fourth slot while prolific middle-order bat Vijay Hazare, who led India to their first-ever Test win, plays at fifth position. Allrounder Kapil follows at sixth while ‘mane man’ Mahendra Singh Dhoni makes way for Farokh Engineer, who had better wicket keeping skills against spinners.

“I thought about Dhoni long and hard but I think that Farokh Engineer, because of the make-up of my side, will have to be the wicketkeeper, because there are some spinners in my side that take some keeping to and Engineer did that so well.” Kumble gets the not over BS Chandrashekhar purely on figures while Bishan Singh Bedi and the “most difficult Indian spinner to face” -- Erapalli Prasanna -- comes in at number nine and ten respectively.

Old warhorse Javagal Srinath pips young Turks Irfan Pathan and Zaheer Khan to round off the team that has just two pacers -- one of them a genuine all rounder.

All time best Indian Test XI (in batting order): 1. Sunil Gavaskar (captain), 2. Rahul Dravid, 3. Sachin Tendulkar, 4. Mohammad Azharuddin, 5. Vijay Hazare, 6. Kapil Dev, 7. Farokh Engineer (wicketkeeper), 8. Anil Kumble, 9. Bishan Bedi, 10. EAS Prasanna, 11. Javagal Srinath.
  

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Comment on this article

  • Swapnil Manish, Mumbai

    Fri, Jul 13 2007

    For your information,  Mr. Denzil Fernandes, Tony Greig was Engalnd's best all rounder before Ian Botham. He has been covering cricket for more than two decades and is very well respected in cricketing circles. I think its a good selection, although 1 more fast bowler is required (probably, Ramakant Desai).

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  • denzil fernandes, dubai

    Fri, Jul 13 2007

    By the way, who is Tony Greig may I ask? Except from being an ordinary player with an extra ordinary gift of the gab, Greig was no big cricketer of any merit. He was a farce more than a force if one may say so. His selection of any Indian team is good only for him and no one else.

    He was better known as a Packer man than anything else and it is only because of Packer that he managed to get into the limelight and nothing else. Everyone can their chosen teams with their favourite players. So, there is nothing special about Tony Greig picking up a team from an endless list of India players who have shone for India.

    Every Indian player when he wears the India cap believes that he has to perform at his best. Therefore, these so called ions are simply a waste of time and just a fancy of some personalities.

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  • swapnil bodake, nasik

    Thu, Jul 12 2007

    Good team Selection

    DisAgree Agree Reply Report Abuse


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