PlanetCricket's All Time XIs

Is this a good idea?

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Botham was a match winner and more of a bowling all-rounder than Sobers. (not saying that Sobers wasn't a match winner) He took a five-for and a century in the same Test 5 times. He's definitely a competitor for the all-rounder spot in an all-time XI, imo.


Fair enough. I just can't conceive of an all time XI without Sobers. Easily the second best batsman of all time before you even factor in his bowling and fielding.[DOUBLEPOST=1501276835][/DOUBLEPOST]ODI XI

Gilchrist
Tendulkar
V.Richards
Kohli
DeVilliers
Symonds
Kapil
Wasim
Garner
Murali
Donald
 
Botham was a match winner and more of a bowling all-rounder than Sobers. (not saying that Sobers wasn't a match winner) He took a five-for and a century in the same Test 5 times. He's definitely a competitor for the all-rounder spot in an all-time XI, imo.
Imran Khan was miles better than Botham.
 
The thing is with inter-generational sides it is extremely difficult to put together an XI with solid knowledge.

For example, no-one on this site has seen Bradman ever play cricket. While myself, only got into cricket during 2005/06 season (India touring Pakistan) and a lot of players before the time are simply judged by random youtube clips and their stats - which is not a fair assessment of the player. For example, Starc has one of the best bowling averages in modern cricket, however, he wouldn't make it into my current XI.

Do you see my point?
 
The thing is with inter-generational sides it is extremely difficult to put together an XI with solid knowledge.

For example, no-one on this site has seen Bradman ever play cricket. While myself, only got into cricket during 2005/06 season (India touring Pakistan) and a lot of players before the time are simply judged by random youtube clips and their stats - which is not a fair assessment of the player. For example, Starc has one of the best bowling averages in modern cricket, however, he wouldn't make it into my current XI.

Do you see my point?
It's not so difficult if you have read a fair bit of cricket history.[DOUBLEPOST=1501447959][/DOUBLEPOST]
Imran Khan was miles better than Botham.
Imran was a better bowler. I think Botham was a more naturally gifted batsman. But Imran was very effective with the bat late in his career.
 
Imran was a better bowler. I think Botham was a more naturally gifted batsman. But Imran was very effective with the bat late in his career.
And that's one of the reasons why Imran is better : his capability to adapt. Had he not suffered that big shin injury, which forced him to give up bowling for two years, and left him as a shadow of his former self as a bowler, he would've definitely ended with more than 500 wickets. In his first five years, he averaged 22 with the bat in 25 tests. In his last three, he averaged 72 in 15 matches. He had the second highest batting average in his last five years, behind only Martin Crowe. From 1980 to 1988, he averaged 17 with the ball, less than Marshall, Garner, Holding, Hadlee, Lillee, Botham and Kapil Dev. He averaged 52 with the bat and 20 with the ball as captain. The difference between his batting average (37) and bowling average (22) is 15. Only Sobers has a higher difference between his batting and bowling averages. To argue that Imran wasn't the best of the four allrounders of the 80s is foolish.
 
Imran might have been a better bowler overall but in his prime Botham was better. He could swing ball both ways and was a permanent golden arm
 
Imran might have been a better bowler overall but in his prime Botham was better. He could swing ball both ways and was a permanent golden arm
How about reverse swing? Imran was the only bowler in the world that could do it at his time. There is no objective way you can say Botham was a better bowler than Imran. Batsman, maybe, but bowler, no way.

On a different note, is Shaun Pollock the most underrated cricketer ever?
 
All rounders XI

Wilfred Rhodes
Vinoo Mankad
Jaques Kallis
Gary Sobers
Adam Gilchrist
Aubrey Faulkner
Ian Botham
Imran Khan
Kapil Dev
Shaun Pollock
Richard Hadlee
 
Test XI (Sorry for some bad choices, dont know about some old players)

:aus: :bat: Sir Don Bradman - 99.96 nuff said, already. :c:
:ind: :bat: Sunil Gavaskar - Perhaps the greatest batsman to ever play for India.
:saf: :ar:
Jaques Kallis - One of the greatest with the bat, great with the ball
:ind: :bat:
Rahul Dravid - Could have been the greatest for any team, except for India, when he played alongside Sachin
:sri: :wkb:
Kumar Sangakarra - Edges over Botham for my Keeper slot just because of his batting consistency.
:wi: :bat:
Shivnarine Chanderpaul - The best person you need when you want to save a match.
:eng: :ar:
Ian Botham - Arguably Greatest all rounder after Kallis
:aus: :bwl:
Shane Warne - The greatest leg spinner ever.
:pak: :ar:
Wasim Akram - The swing master from Pakistan
:sri: :bwl:
Muttiah Muralidharan - The most mysterious bowler ever.
:aus: :bwl:
Glen McGrath - The accurate killer

12th - :nzf: :ar: Daniel Vettori - As much as it hurts me to leave him out, he can not be ignored. He is the definition of the spin bowling for New Zealand.
 
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ODI XI

:ind: :bat: Sachin Tendulkar - 49 centuries, about a 150 50+ scores.
:sri: :ar:
Sanath Jayasuria - The definition of aggressive batting in powerplays.
:ind: :bat:
Virat Kohli - No better current ODI player.
:aus: :bat:
Ricky Ponting - Australia's Mr. consistent
:saf: :bat:
AB de Villiers - 360 degree.
:ind: :wkb:
MS Dhoni - No comments :c:
:pak: :ar:
Shahid Afridi - Can't seem to find a better all rounder than him for this position.
:nzf: :bwl:
Shane Bond - Injuries plagued his career but he could have been the best.
:aus: :bwl:
Brett Lee - Pips ahead of McGrath here.
:wi: :bwl:
Malcolm Marshall - Never seen him play, but heard and read a lot
:sri: :bwl:
Lasith Malinga - A bowler tailor made for limited overs.
 
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ODI XI

:ind: :bat: Sachin Tendulkar - 49 centuries, about a 150 50+ scores.
:sri: :ar:
Sanath Jayasuria - The definition of aggressive batting in powerplays.
:ind: :bat:
Virat Kohli - No better current ODI player.
:aus: :bat:
Ricky Ponting - Australia's Mr. consistent
:saf: :bat:
AB de Villiers - 360 degree.
:ind: :wkb:
MS Dhoni - No comments
:pak: :ar:
Shahid Afridi - Can't seem to find a better all rounder than him for this position.
:nzf: :bwl:
Shane Bond - Injuries plagued his career but he could have been the best.
:aus: :bwl:
Brett Lee - Pips ahead of McGrath here.
:wi: :bwl:
Malcolm Marshall - Never seen him play, but heard and read a lot
:sri: :bwl:
Lasith Malinga - A bowler tailor made for limited overs.
Afridi is a once in a blue moon batsmen. In my opinion Imran Khan could be a competitor for this spot.
 
Afridi is a once in a blue moon batsmen. In my opinion Imran Khan could be a competitor for this spot.
Wanted a spin bowling all rounder... Enough of fast bowlers already.
 
T20I XI

:nzf: :bat: Brendon McCullum - Aggressive batsman and aggressive keeper. First to score two centuries.
:aus: :ar: Shane Watson - Great T20 opener, handy with the ball as well.
:ind: :bat: Virat Kohli - Most Consistent T20 batsman
:saf: :bat: Faf du Plessis - Excellent batsman, excellent captain.
:ind: :bat: Suresh Raina - Excellent T20 record.
:pak: :wkb: Kamran Akmal - Edges ahead of MS Dhoni only on the account of his batting.
:pak: :ar: Shahid Afridi - Man of the tournament in 2 WT20s
:wi: :ar: Darren Sammy - Only captain to win the WT20 twice. :c:
:sri: :bwl:
Lasith Malinga - T20 superstar.
:wi: :bwl: Sunil Narine - Crafty off spinner. One of the most difficult to counter
:afg: :bwl: Rashid Khan - The newest phenom in World cricket.

12th man - :wi: :ar: Chris Gayle - Universe Boss.
 

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