Open Mic: Tests: India All-Time Lineup

All-time lineup, eh?

Before I begin, this took a lot of digging up of record books and scorecards, so all thanks to Cricinfo.com, and, of course, the ever reliable Wiki first!

Now Indian cricket isn’t exactly a new kid on the block, know what I’m sayin’?

As Wiki puts it, “Cricket is the unofficial national sport of India, and its development has been closely tied up with the history of the country, mirroring many of the political and cultural developments around issues such as caste, religion and nationality.”

The game stretches back as far as 300 years in the country.

In this period, it has gone from being the privilege of the higher classes to the passion of the masses.

So how does one pick up just eleven from the millions who would have graced the cricket field at a competitive level, hailing from this country?

Simple really, do as the statisticians do. And also, limit your options to Test cricketers only. (A bit unfair really, as a lot of talented guys never made it to the highest level in the country, due, no doubt, to the never ending political and bureaucracy interference in the system.)

But this presents a small, tiny, problem.

If we go by the record books, almost the entire batting lineup is from the past three decades, and the bowling is much the same!

So does that mean that Indian cricket, literally, and downright, sucked, up until recently?

Well, that statement is just partially true.

India has had its share of greats in the past, a trail which begins at the doorstep of the great Ranjit Singh, after whom India’s premiere First Class tournament is still named.

Now, as George Costanza would say it, “Let’s cut to the chase!”

 

The All Time Indian Test XI

 

1. Sunil Gavaskar: Anyone surprised? I guessed so. India hasn’t seen a Test opener since him! Really! Not that the country lacks any talent up the order. There were the odd few who would make it to the national team now and again. But the fact that no one could even come close to matching his standards is testimony to the fact that the departure of this man from the annals of Indian cricket has a left an aping gap that is yet to be filled.
   
   
   
2. Virender Sehwag: Well, maybe the gap has been filled, but only partially, and that too because of this lad, who’s exploits the top of the order have been nothing short of Herculean! Two triple hundreds, five double hundreds, and eleven scores of over a hundred and fifty! All this after 59 Test matches! Bradmanesque!
   
   
   
3. Vijay Merchant: Predominantly an opening batsman at the Test level, having scored 681 of his 859 Test runs at the number one position, he averaged an impossible 71.64 in First Class cricket, and with an opener like Sehwag, it is not improbable that you may find the number three walking in fairly early! His is still the second highest First Class average, after the Don’s, in the history of the game. A prominent figure in, both, pre and post-Independence India, the man rewrote many a record books, including the Indian record of 359* in a single First Class inning.
   
   
   
4. Colonel C.K. Nayudu (Captain): (pictured) The number four slot goes to the most enigmatic of Indian cricketers of all time. Known to give the ball a serious hit, (he once landed the ball in a different county!), Nayudu was subject to quite a bit of unpopularity, and famous for many a run ins with the royalty in the Indian dressing room. A modest average of 25 does by no means indicate the wealth of talent this man possessed. Though he never tasted victory at the Test level, in all his seven outings, he did manage to beat Douglas Jardine’s formidable MCC side, a feat in itself! He takes the captain’s honors for being the charismatic individual, capable of inspiring any Indian.
   
   
   
5. Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar: The only reason this man is not at his usual number four spot is because I have chosen a slightly different role for him in this side. The Master Blaster is the “hell for leather” batsman in my side. The “little bonzer” possesses genius many only dreamt of seeing on a cricket field before he stumbled on to the cricketing field, and into public conscience, first with a world record partnership at the Harris Shield Tournament in ’88, and then a year later, as the cherubic lad made his Test debut at just 16! The Best the world has seen since Bradman, the bowlers are going to dread this side from start to finish!
   
   
   
6. Vijay Hazare: Another batting legend playing out of position in my side, Hazare, the first Indian to make a hundred in each inning, is one of the all time greats of Indian batting, and actually owns a Test match record to prove it! 6 hundreds and 9 fifties in a career spanning 30 Tests, Hazare’s double whammy at Adelaide against Australia is probably what he is best remembered for. His back to the walls inning of 145 in the second inning proved his relentless attitude, and though India went down by an innings, and six Indian batsmen failed to trouble the scoreboard as Hazare was compiling a hundred, the legend was to stay for ever!
   
   
   
7. Farokh Engineer (Wicket Keeper): There was no doubt in my mind as to who the ‘keeper of the side should be since the moment I started planning the lineup! If you can keep to the likes of Bedi, Prasanna, Chandrasekhar and Venkataraghavan, the legendary “Spin Quartet”, then you can keep to anybody, in my books! If ever any evidence was needed to this man’s ability behind the stump it came as selection in the Rest of the World teams that played in England and Australia in the 70s and that too as first choice! His batting would have left the likes of Gilchrist far behind had the advent of television brought him to our homes. But alas, that aspect of his cricket is probably destined to obscurity! He shall forever be remembered by his teammates and older fans though, for his flamboyant 94* before lunch during the Madras Test in ’66-’67. Known to be a reliable opener, he has batted at every position down to number ten in the Indian lineup. Number 7 on my team!
   
   
   
8. Vinoo Mankad: If ever a better cricketer played for India, please let me know! This man actually had a form of dismissal named after him, for Pete’s sakes!
   Wiki: “Mankad ran out Bill Brown when, in the act of delivering the ball, he held on to it and whipped the bails off with Brown well out of his crease. This was the second time Mankad had dismissed Brown in this fashion on this tour - he had done it in an earlier match against an Australian XI. On that occasion he had warned Brown once before running him out. The Australian press strongly accused Mankad of being unsportsmanlike, though some Australians, including Don Bradman, the Australian captain at the time, defended Mankad's actions. Instances of bowlers running batsmen out this way in first class cricket date back to the nineteenth century. But after this incident, if a batsman is given out this way, he is said to have been Mankaded.”
   The laws of the ICC have changed since then, and Mankading is no longer allowed, but this man’s efforts with both the bat and ball can not be forgotten.
   Slow left armer, he took 8 wickets in an innings twice! Since him, only Kapil Dev and Kumble have achieved that feat.
   A batsman par excellence, his best years were dedicated to the First Class game, but he did manage 5 centuries, a laudable effort.
   Another predominantly opening batsman, I just had to put this man in the side!
   
   
   
9. Kapil Dev: At his prime, the most fearsome fast bowler India has ever produced, and probably equally destructive with the bat, just as the Zimbabweans! Famous for his “banana out-swingers” and Richards-like approach to the batting crease, definitely one of the best all-rounders the world has ever seen.
   
   
   
10. Mohammad Nissar: Pre-Partition India’s, and probably even post, fastest bowler! Considered the most feared bowler of the 30’s, C.K. Nayudu claimed that in his first spell, he was faster than the great Harold Larwood, famous for his exploits in the Bodyline Series! India may be searching for a fast bowler currently, but apparently our predecessors had no problems in the pace department what so ever! Just wish I would see his pairing with Dev, with the new ball, even once! What a treat that would be!
    
    
    
11. B.S. Chandrasekhar: I was stuck for a long time on this one. Who do I pick to be my frontline spinner? Kumble? Bedi? Prasanna? I settled for BS! Why? Simply because his away record is superior to that of any other Indian spinner! His average of 32 on foreign soil is a shade better than Bedi’s 33, and definitely outshines Prasanna and Kumble. The inspiration behind Kumble’s legend, this polio affected leggy is by far one of India’s greatest bowlers away from home, troubling batsmen on even the least helpful wickets. Chandrasekhar rounds up my eleven.

 

The likes of Polly Umrigar and Vijay Manjrekar came agonizingly close to making this list, but the likes of Vinoo Mankad and the two Vijays, Hazare and Merchant were a bit too valuable to keep out of the side.

They reflect the history, the heritage of this team, of this country, and definitely of this game!

Only two current day cricketers makes it to my side, Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag.

Tendulkar, no doubt, he is the greatest. To go up against the oldies, you need a certain amount of class, and dignity and most of all, demand respect even from guys double and triple your age. Of all of India’s cricketers, only Tendulkar achieves this.

Dravid and Kumble come close, but let’s face it, this guy is a bit beyond reach!

Sehwag on the other hand is turining out to be a cricketer whose ability is unparalleled today, and I am sure, not many have witnessed such brash arrogance and splendid stroke play on a cricket field before!