ALL-TIME INDIA TEST ELEVEN

ALL-TIME INDIA TEST ELEVEN

1. Vijay Merchant (right hand opening batsman)

2. Sunil Gavaskar (right hand opening batsman -- vice-captain)*

3. Virender Sehwag (right hand batsman, occasional right arm slow bowler)

4. Sachin Tendulkar (right hand batsman, occasional right arm variation bowler)

5. Virat Kohli (right hand batsman - captain)**

6. Vinoo Mankad (all-rounder, opening batsman, left arm orthodox spinner)

7. Farokh Engineer (wicket keeper, right hand middle order batsman/opening batsman)

8. Kapil Dev (all-rounder, right hand batsman,  right arm fast medium bowler)

9. Ravichandran Ashwin (all-rounder, right hand batsman, right arm off-spinner)

10. Amar Singh (all-rounder, right arm fast medium)

11. Jasprit Bumrah (right arm fast medium bowler)

12th man : Eknath Solkar

WHY THIS SELECTION?

1. Vijay Merchant was a copy-book batsman of the classical school of British batsmanship. He was highly regarded by no less a legend of the game than Sir Donald Bradman who specifically mentioned about his extremely high first class cricket batting average of over 71 runs per innings, a feature that Sir Don thought could be attributed to surely his excellent batting technique, skill and allied attributes. This particular all-time eleven is scheduled to play all-time elevens of other test playing nations. Hence, the opening pair has to be strong technically which precipitated selection unto the batting virtuoso, Vijay Merchant.

2. Gavaskar with his record against the most fearsome pace attack the cricketing world has seen ever was an automatic choice. He scored 13 test centuries against the West Indies when they dominated world cricket with their fearsome foursome fast bowlers, the  battering battery consisting of Andy Roberts, Michael Holding, Wayne Daniel, Malcolm Marshall, Sylvester Clarke, Winston Davis, Joel Garner, Keith Boyce, Noriega, Shillingford and Vanburn Holder, to name the fastest among them.

Gavaskar's knowledge of the game, his intelligence, fire in the belly, his uncompromising sense of dignity and national pride, and his ability to rise to the occasion in tough times against all odds make him ideal for vice-captaincy. His slight defensiveness in mental attitude relative to Kohli loses him the captaincy of the team.

3. The most destructive batsman of all time, Sehwag at one down can rip up the opposition attack. Equally devastating against pace and spin, and with his nonchalant approach to the game, he was the automatic choice for the no. 3 spot. With his rapid rate of scoring and scant respect for reputation of bowlers, Sehwag's unbelievable hand-eye coordination makes him a nightmare for bowlers and the perfect match-winner under any condition barring the sticky wicket post a shower in those days when pitches used to remain uncovered. But the present set of matches will all be played under present-day conditions of covered pitches during rainfall.

4. Tendulkar. What more can I say than to call him God's ultimate gift to Indian cricket, the acme of batting perfection and any team's automatic choice at no. 4? With his breathtaking array of strokes, perfect middling of the ball every time that makes even Sir Don's 254 of perfected like middling at Lord's in 1930 look commonplace, Tendulkar is peerless in this position and needs no further rationalisation to justify his selection.

5. Virat Kohli has edged past the likes of Rahul Dravid, V.V.S. Laxman, Dilip Sardesai, Polly Umrigar and Vijay Manjrekar by his sheer professional attitude to cricket, his insatiable appetite for runs, his almost Olympian fitness and the killer instinct that so distinguishes him. He already has 70 international centuries to his credit and a 50 plus average in all three formats of the game which surely distinguish him as a remarkable batsman of singular abilities, adaptability, aspiration and appetite. Hence, he makes his way into the team at no. 5.

Virat Kohli's intelligence, aggression, focus and fitness, coupled with his decisiveness, insatiable appetite for victory under all circumstances, self-respect, leadership qualities and, simply, fire in the belly that enlivens a team even under difficult conditions make him the automatic choice for captaining a team that aspires to beat the best of the rest of the world.

6. Vinoo Mankad many old-timers consider as our greatest all-rounder of all time, even better than the flamboyant Kapil Dev. He was an opening batsman, a position in which he scored two double hundreds, a word-record opening partnership in Test matches with Pankaj Roy of 413, and he held the record for India's highest individual Test score of 231 for decades before Gavaskar broke it with his 236 not out against the touring West Indies in Madras in the 1983-84 home series. Mankad's superlative all-round skills were on display in the Lord's Test of 1952 which has come to be called 'Mankad's Test'. His left arm orthodox spin was world-class and for all this he was an automatic choice at no. 6 where with Engineer to follow, he is ready to face the second new ball in a long innings for India. 

7. Farokh Engineer pipped past Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Syed Kirmani, P. Sen and some others purely on grounds of his experience in keeping efficiently to both spin and pace in English County Cricket and by dint of his quick run-getting. He batted with flamboyance and flair against both spin and pace, in overcast English swinging conditions and in the subcontinent's tropical heat on turning tracks. Having quite often opened the innings for India with dazzling brilliance, Engineer would provide the perfect partner for Mankad in taking on the second new ball in a long Indian innings. 

8. 

Written by Sugata Bose 

Comments : 

Sugata Bose @ Sumit Mukerji : You are right. But Md. Nissar chose to settle in Pakistan post-Partition. Hence. Yes, Vishwanath is an option that I got past on account of Kohli's greater appetite for runs and capacity for achieving it. However, it's a tricky issue, this particular selection. Thanks for your valuable suggestions.

Sugata Bose @Sumit Mukerji : Amar Singh has replaced Lala Amarnath. Vishwanath is not there in the team, though, Kohli is. Yes, Hazare I considered but his batting would be too slow to win matches, the same reason why Dravid was left out.

Sugata Bose @ Sushanta Banerjee : You have thankfully included Vinoo Mankad in your team. Most people have forgotten him altogether. Media focus in India is only on current greats. Strange, indeed, but perhaps, a reflection on Indian intellectual impoverishment of the times. To my mind, he was our only other great all-rounder besides Kapil Dev and in many old-timer's estimation he was even better than the Haryanvi of indisputable brilliance both with bat and ball. After all, Vinoo Mankad had the technical soundness to open the innings. Have we forgotten 'Mankad's Test' in England when he performed alone like an entire team with bat and ball? He was our first professional player as well, our first export to English County Cricket and for decades the world record holder for the highest opening partnership in Test cricket of 413 runs with Pankaj Roy before their record got inevitably eclipsed.

Sugata Bose @Naveena CK : Speed of scoring, so very essential to winning Test matches, was the factor that was considered by me in the selection. Here Kohli has a definite edge over Dravid.

Sugata Bose @Naveena CK : Not really. This team is a general one. There will be a bench strength to draw from for specific wickets. Good observation, though.

Sugata Bose @