Let us have a look at his choice of All Time Test XIs:
#1 Matthew Hayden (Australia)
He is one batsman who used to play with the self-esteem of the bowlers, hammering them black and blue all across the ground and not worrying about getting out. His eyes used to shine with the pure intent and strategy to smash the deliveries all around the park, and he feared no one. He had a marvellous record in the slow and turning tracks of India and in fact, the whole subcontinent.
#2 Alastair Cook
The Prince of Kolkata said that he was indeed very tempted to pick Virender Sehwag, but instead chose Cook, owing to the remarkable records he has set and feats he has achieved at a very young age. ‘15,000 Test runs and 50 Test centuries are not beyond him’ - Sunil Gavaskar said about Alastair Cook. Those coming from someone who himself is considered as one of the greatest Test openers, speaks volumes about the class of Alastair Cook.
His 294 against India in Birmingham and 122 in Mumbai were proof of the fact that he was one of the greatest of the game, being able to play both, fast bowling and spin perfectly with good technique, adaptability, courage and patience.
#3 Rahul Dravid (India)
Having debuted and played alongside Dravid for almost all his career, Dada knows him better than anybody else. Respectfully called as the ‘Wall’, Dravid is someone who would feature in every cricketer’s All Time Test XI.
Rahul Dravid is one among the only five players to have crossed the 10,000 run mark in Tests and ODIs, being the fourth highest run scorer in the history of Test Cricket. He has been the most prized wicket for all oppositions and getting him out called for the wildest celebration. His wicket in Tests was worth more than Sachin’s and that is the kind of Batsman Rahul Dravid was, in a nutshell.
#4 Sachin Tendulkar (India)
The great Sachin Tendulkar, whose name has become synonymous with the game of cricket itself, is a must here. Dada has played a lot of cricket alongside the Little Master, and it was very much expected that he would pick the magician with the bat. Sachin itself is a statement that needs to introduction and having him in the side would be a great boon for the rest of the 10 players.
#5 Jacques Kallis (South Africa)
The former South African all-rounder has been picked by Dada at the very important position of number 5. Kallis is one of the greatest all-rounders to have ever played the game of cricket, who batted superbly, scoring several hundreds and fifties, and could bowl overs of genuine fast bowling too. He is the only cricketer in the world to score more than 10,000 runs and also take more than 250 wickets in Test and ODI Cricket, both. With a Test average of over 55 runs per innings and the phenomenal abilities to play reverse swing, as well as swing and reverse swing the ball himself, he is a no-brainer for the team.
#6 Kumar Sangakkara (Sri Lanka)
Sourav Ganguly has picked Sangakkara as his wicket-keeper batsman to bat at number 6. One of the finest wicket-keeper batsmen to have stepped on the cricket field, he was the undisputed number one Test batsman in the ICC Test Rankings from 2005 to 2015 and has created records with the wicketkeeping gloves too.
#7 Ricky Ponting (Australia)
This might come as a shocker, but Dada clarified that he is not necessarily going by the batting order, which means that he just wants Ponting to be part of the side. Dada calls him an automatic choice due to his terrific record as a captain and one of the best as far as tactics are concerned. He is one of only four players (along with Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and Rahul Dravid) in history to have reached the 13,000 Test runs mark. He also holds the record of being one of the most successful captains of all time, with 48 victories in 77 Tests between 2004 and 31 December 2010. Being the only cricketer in history to be involved in 100 Test victories, Ponting is the only batsman to have hit a century in both the innings of his 100th Test Match, and that is what makes the Former Australian Captain so special.
#8 Glenn McGrath (Australia)
Sourav here lauds McGrath’s consistent accuracy and discipline while bowling in Test matches. With a staggering number of 563 wickets, that too during Australia’s golden era alongside the likes of Shane Warne and Jason Gillespie made it practically impossible for any batting side to survive. He has 29 five wicket hauls in Test Cricket, with 10 of them coming only in the Ashes.
His accuracy and consistency in bowling the right line and length has always been cent-per cent and has often been compared to a traditional bowling machine. McGrath has always come back stronger after every injury or being dropped.
#9 Dale Steyn (South Africa)
A genuine out-swing Fast Bowler who can go through the defence of batsmen and hit the stumps very often is Dale Steyn. A fast bowler who creates excitement and exhilaration not only among his teammates but also the spectators in a cricket match, Steyn has the distinguishing ability to maintain his pace above the 140km/h mark and bowl stringent lines and lengths throughout a Test innings. The kind of enthusiasm he can create while running in and delivering a nerve-racking out-swinger is absolutely unparalleled.
#10 Shane Warne (Australia)
A very obvious choice this, the greatest ever leg-spinner who has scalped more than 700 wickets. Warne has not only been a big spinner of the cricket ball but an extraordinary player of the batsmen’s minds. He is known to have set up the batsmen by bowling a particular array of deliveries and making the batsman play a certain style or type of shots and then bowling a completely different delivery to make the batsman continue with the set style of shot and fail to play the delivery, ending up with the wicket. He has been one of the most accurate leg-spinners, and has proven to be extremely useful as a slip fielder and also a tail-ender, who could bat aggressively and rescue his team on several occasions.
#11 Muttiah Muralitharan (Sri Lanka)
Wrapped in controversies throughout his career, Murali had a phenomenal time with the ball. Most batsman of his era today confess having sleepless nights and being perplexed as to what he had been bowling and was going to bowl. Till date, batsmen say that they could never read the bowling of Muralitharan. The man with 800 wickets has never failed to startle the world’s finest of batsmen and has been often termed as the mystery bowler who would leave batsmen baffled, by the batsmen themselves.
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