Here’s my two cents about the selection process for my team.
- Minimise speculation regarding how a player could have played quite differently were he to bat/bowl today because of the relatively easier/tougher conditions to bat in/bowl in. T20 for me is a fundamentally different format and several fine stars in test cricket of the modern era have flattered to deceive in the shorter form of the game due to the skills required to thrive here.
- This lends a natural bias towards players belonging to the last three decades of cricket, when ODIs were in their infancy and we got the first glimpse at how a shorter format alters the style of play compared to 5 days of cricket. It is tough to avoid this (especially because my next two picks will be of this era
) but I shall try to look at the previous decades too more fairly.
Here are my two picks that I never really expected to be available at this stage:
Reasons for selection:
- After filtering for minimum appearances, he has the lowest economy rate in the history of ODIs and the second lowest bowling average too, behind only a statpadded Rashid Khan. His dominance is shown clear by the second most economical bowler of his era being Hadlee who is a tier below him.
- He is one of the tallest bowlers to ever grace this game and used his height to full advantage. Every length ball of his ends up just short of it and bounces very awkwardly, leaving batsmen unable to defend and desperately losing their wicket being caught behind or by a slip as evidenced by 60% of his wickets resulting from a catch compared to nearly 55% by Lillee or Hadlee.
- If those awkward length balls and the odd bouncer wasn’t enough trouble, this man will slip in a toe-crushing yorker every now and then that leaves you pretty much praying for your wicket. So good is he with his yorkers that only 9% of his dismissals have been LBWs, as he turns them into bowled dismissals instead.
- His greatest strength according to the man himself? Not his pace, not his bounce and not the fear he strikes into most batsmen’s hearts. It is his accuracy that he rates as his single greatest strength.
- It is a measure of his greatness that most teams chose to respect him and not take him on (a perfectly viable tactic due to the lower scores back then) and yet he picked up wickets regularly.
- Still has the best bowling figures in a World Cup final, sparking a collapse of 7 wickets for just 11 runs. Undoubtedly a big game player indeed.
- Despite his huge body, he is very capable of fielding well and can also smash a few sixes if needed with the bat down the order.
Comparable modern T20 player:
This man here is without doubt the GOAT pace bowler in ODIs, is there anyone who could even hope to stand next to him?
If you were forced to find someone similar to him, I would probably point at Bumrah. Both have teams trying to play them out rather than take them on, both can deliver a good yorker and their stock deliveries are very good and accurate. Garner’s probably quicker, more accurate and has the extra bounce that takes him from the category of legends to standing alone at the top.
Role in the team:
Garner’s overs will be like gold dust in every game. Due to his compatriots being a tad quicker than him, he hasn’t been the first choice option with the new ball in a lot of games which means he has plenty of experience bowling in the middle overs. His ability to bring the economy to almost a standstill when he bowls and the regular wickets he picks up means he will be a useful option in the middle. His ability to bowl yorkers and mix it up with bouncers makes him a natural option for the death overs.
In an ideal world, Garner bowls one over in the powerplay, one in the middle overs and two at the death, completely tightening the noose when teams start to accelerate. Garner’s first over during the death can also be used during the powerplay or middle overs if there’s a chance of sparking a collapse.
My other pick will be
Kapil Dev. Will add a description of him tomorrow in another separate post.
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7. K. Dev
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11. J. Garner
Your pick
@Sinister One.
