Transcending the borders for the limited-overs "Dream Team"

There cannot be a better time than this to go down memory lane and think what could have been greatest overs-limit team of 14 that the combined might of India and Pakistan can put up.

The following list is a personal observation of this writer. There would be as many other lists as there are people when one has to choose from such a vast reservoir of talent.

First, a look at the openers. If it was Tests, then Sunil Gavaskar would have been on everybody’s list, leaving the other slot to be decided between Vijay Merchant and Hanif Mohammed — the original Little Master. The other principal talents that merit consideration for the opening slots would be Majid Khan, Mohsin Khan, Aamir Sohail and Navjot Sidhu.

But in the end, there is very little dispute that the two batsmen who have made the biggest blast in this position have been Krishnamachari Srikkanth and Saeed Anwar.

Srikkanth was a pioneer of sorts in hitting world class pacemen with consummate ease over the infield in the restrictive phase of the first 15 overs. He was more than a useful change bowler too, twice capturing five wickets in an innings in One-day Internationals.

Anwar’s consistency and track record in this format speak volumes for itself. The world record holder for the highest individual score in One-day cricket has hit 12 centuries, which is second best to Desmond Haynes’ record of 17. When in flow, he is unstoppable. The two pronged attack of Anwar and Srikkanth would be every bowler’s nightmare.

The four middle-order slots have a galaxy of contenders. Among old timers, we have the likes of CK Nayudu, Vijay Hazare, Vijay Manjrekar, Dilip Sardesai, Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi. And from recent times, there are Gundappa Vishwanath, Dilip Vengsarkar, Sandeep Patil, Mohammed Azharuddin, Sanjay Manjrekar, Salim Malik and Rameez Raja. Nayudu and Patil certainly have strong claims with their hurricane batting displays. But the former’s international career did not match his awesome domestic feats, while Patil’s fielding was a liability.

The personal choice — for slots three to six: Zaheer Abbas, Sachin Tendulkar, Javed Miandad and Mushtaq Mohammad.

Zaheer Abbas’ one-day average of 47.62 — with seven centuries and 13 half-centuries — is the second best for all time for all countries, if minimum playing record of 20 innings is taken as base. A master at killing opponents with his silken grace, timing and placements.

One can deny Tendulkar his opening spot and revert him back to his old position, but there is no denying his place in the eleven. An average of 40-plus and 12 hundreds — in joint second place with Anwar — makes his case undisputable.

`Old Fox’ Javed Miandad at five is a master in his cunning craft and fleet-footed running between wickets. He is a man for all seasons, who can take apart pace or spin in any situation. A true genius.

A look at the record of champion teams will vouch for the qualitative role of the all-rounders. It’s on this one strength that Mushtaq Mohammad gets in — his leg-spin bowling as worthy as his batting.

The pace bowling department is another area where there will be few arguments. Imran Khan, Wasim Akram, Kapil Dev being streets ahead of the others when it comes to breath-taking all-round displays. Fazal Mohammad, Sarfraz Nawaz, Waqar Younis, Mohammad Nissar, Ramakant Desai or Javagal Srinath may have their claims as pure fast bowlers as might all-rounders Lala Amarnath, Dattu Phadkar, Polly Umrigar, Russi Surti, Karsan Ghavri, Manoj Prabhakar, Mohinder Amarnath and Mudassar Nazar. But Imran and Kapil are two of the greatest all-rounders in the history of the game who can win a match single-handedly with their batting or bowling, while Akram stands in a peak of his own with 333 wickets in ODIs. His batting ability pales only in comparison against Imran and Kapil.

The sub-continent has produced some of the greatest spinners the game has seen. There is Vinoo Mankad, Bapu Nadkarni, Salim Durrani, Bishen Singh Bedi, Dilip Doshi, Ravi Shastri and Iqbal Qasim with the left-arm variety. Erapalli Prasanna, Srinivas Venkatraghavan, Shivlal Yadav, Tauseef Ahmed and Saqlain Mushtaq among the off-spinners. Subhash Gupte, Bhagwat Chandrashekar, Narendra Hirwani, Anil Kumble, Intikhab Alam, Abdul Qadir and Mushtaq Ahmed among the leggies.

Anybody who can score a double hundred and take eight wickets in an innings in international level has to be a top class all-rounder. Mankad was in that elite class. Though Nadkarni’s parsimonious left-arm spin and Shastri’s all-round value have great utility, the choice finally boils down to Mankad.

Shastri has a good overs-limit credentials — as a batsman who hit six sixes in a six-ball over in first class cricket and who won the Champion of Champions award for his all-round success in the World Championships in Australia. But he was more of a batting all-rounder for a major part of his batting career. And in a eleven loaded with batsmen, Mankad’s superior bowling skills would lend better balance to the attack.

The eleventh slot goes to the wicket-keeper. Who should it be? Farokh Engineer, Budhi Kuderan, Syed Kirmani, Nayan Mongia, Imtiaz Ahmed, Wasim Bari or Moin Khan?

Engineer was a superb ‘keeper and an ornament to some of the finest World XIs of his time. He was also a very aggressive batsman. His 96 before lunch against a West Indies attack of Wes Hall, Charlie Griffith, Gary Sobers and Lance Gibbs should settle any dispute about his credentials. So Engineer it is as the wicket-keeper batsman for the eleventh slot.

A team needs at least three players in the reserves. Has one heard of a better all-round fielder than Mohammad Azharuddin? A marvel close-in or in the out-field, he is also a truly great batsman. A player who has recorded some of the most dazzling innings at quick pace and who, till not so long ago, held the record for the fastest hundred in ODIs.

Saqlain Mushtaq takes the reserve spinners’ slot ahead of other claimants. Even at a young age, he has proved his abilities in this form of cricket. There can be no better proof than the fact that he enjoys the best strike rate in the history of ODIs. The 14th and final slot has to go to a utility all-rounder — one who is a dependable bat and can also be a match winner with the ball. Its a toss-up between Mohinder Amarnath and Mudassar Nazar. Amarnath scores over his rival by the virtue of his more solid batting — once widely acknowledged as the best batsman in the world against pace — and consistent match-winning abilities with the ball on bigger platforms like the World Cup.

In a team that has no tail, the pace bowling is taken care of by Imran, Akram and Kapil, while Mankad and Mushtaq man the spin department. And just in case there is need for a sixth bowler, there is Srikanth.

In a 14 that has 12 players who have captained their countries, the popular choice for captaincy will always be Imran. He made Pakistan a force to reckon with in world cricket with his dynamism and cerebral leadership. And there was no better motivator than him — a master at man management.