The whole world is now busy with the FIFA World Cup. But
there are other sports in the world, and particularly if your nationality is ‘India’,
you wouldn’t forget the BIG TEST that starts on July 9, India vs. England. But
some Crazy Cricket Fans like me turn on TV for cricket before that itself. If
the BIG TEST starts on July 9, then there is a BIG MATCH on July 5 at the Lord’s
celebrating the venue’s 200th year. And the match witnesses the
legends of the game returning to the field, donning a jersey, playing the game
that they ruled once, again for a duration of 7 hours. And the teams would have
not been much better than the Captains itself. The 3 letter legend ‘GOD’ alias
Sachin Tendulkar leading the MCC side vs. the 6 letter legend ‘WIZARD’ alias
Shane Warne leading the Rest of the World. More than the captains the squads
also consist of retired players such as Gilchrist, Lara, Muralitharan, Dravid,
Collingwood, Lee, and Tait and so on
Let us now see these squads line up for the BIG MATCH:-
MARYLEBONE CRICKET
CLUB:
Sachin Ramesh
Tendulkar (Captain):
The
legend of the 7 letter game CRICKET would have got no better honors than to
lead the famous side. To describe about him, words will not be enough, he has
almost all the records that a batsman can hold in the game of cricket. And as
usual he’ll be occupying the NON-STRIKER end with Aaron Finch.
Aaron Finch:
The dashing Aussie opener has been picked more probably to
provide fire power at the start of the innings with all the legends who play
are more comfortable with scoring off singles, twos and later going for an
onslaught.
Brian Lara:
The
Dashing left hander was probably the player who came to the rescue the Caribbean
side when it suffered a major slide following the retirements of the legends Richards,
Lloyd, Ambrose e.tc., He personally requested his skipper Tendulkar that he would like to play with him and
Tendulkar accepted happily.
Rahul Dravid:
The
success story of CSK in seasons 3&4 and KKR in 5&7 were more to
solidity that was provided when wickets fell around. And likewise to provide
that solidity in the middle comes the right-handed Rahul Dravid and the whole
world knows how well he can build the innings around him and go for the big
shots if the need arises.
Shivnarine Chanderpaul:
The
batsman with the unorthodox stance when batting, also has the talent like Rahul
Dravid and both of them would be more useful when a collapse occurs if at all
in the big star studded batting line up.
Chris
Read (Wicket Keeper):
If
all the players are from overseas who is going to give them inputs about the
home conditions??? Here comes the England gloves man Chris Read behind the
stumps to provide the inputs. Though his records does not speak for him, he is certainly the local boy in the team.
Daniel Vettori:
The
spectacled bowler is one of the two spinners in the playing XI and he will be useful
to control the run flow during the middle overs particularly after seeing that
dashing line up the opposition.
Brett
Lee:
The
Sydney Express comes back to cricket and many would love to see him bowl out an
over with speeds over 150kmph. Such is the amount of pace he generates that
rattles the opposition batsmen’s stumps and also his celebrations after he
takes the wicket.
Umar Gul:
The Art is bowling. Missing someone?? Yeah the Pakistanis...
And here comes Umar Gul with his deadly pace and swing. The leading T20 wicket
taker has something up his sleeve to bring the game under control
Saeed Ajmal:
The
magician is back. This time he is along with Sachin... Saeed Ajmal has the
Knack to turn games with his turn and bounce but with the pitches in England supporting
pace, he would be really tested by the opposition bowlers.
Shaun Tait:
Tired watching balls zip through at one end at over 150kmph??
If you want them at both ends, here is Shaun Tait to provide you that. Along
with Brett Lee they form a deadly combo of bowlers who touch speeds of 155kmph
often.
Now we have seen the HOME team.
Next we have the AWAY team
REST OF THE WORLD:
Virender Sehwag:
Who
else would you want to open the innings other than the Nawab of Najafgarh?? The dashing
Indian opener is always a nightmare for the opposition and when he is on song,
they are doomed. And this match could also provide him the platform for the
return to India colours after a long gap.
Adam Gilchrist
(Wicket Keeper):
The
Wicket keeper who changed the role of the keepers in the game by playing the
role of an attacking batsman in addition to his smart glove work. Adam
Gilchrist was an automatic choice for the pick, and he is picked as an opener
to partner Virender Sehwag.
Tamim Iqbal:
The choice of Tamim Iqbal as the third choice opener has
some questions as either Ponting or
Kallis could have been picked for a no.3 spot rather than a third opener, but
the selection committee believed in him and picked him for his exploits
at the early stages of the innings. Whether it works out or not, we will see.
Kevin Pietersen:
KP shortly called, Kevin Pietersen is a dashing middle order
batsman who can make merry on his day. Out of the national side with controversies,
the match is like a stage for him to prove his talent after a poor IPL season
with the DDs.
Yuvraj Singh:
This
line up surely consists of many hard hitters and this seems to continue with another
batsmen in the list being Yuvraj Singh. Mostly remembered for his 6 sixes of an
over off Stuart Broad, he can also be used as a left arm spinner and just like
Sehwag, he can initiate a comeback through these performances.
Shahid Afridi:
Next
to the line-up of the big hitters list is BOOM Afridi. He comes down the order
and just changes the course of the match with his maverick performances and he
is also a wily spinner with the ball.
Paul Collingwood:
We all
saw in the RCB vs. RR match how the deadly RCB line up shattered into pieces
where they had 5 big hitters and lacked solidity (a player who has the
capability to build the innings around him when wickets tumble at the other
end). To provide Solidity and Inputs about the local conditions is Paul
Collingwood, the 2010 T20 World Cup winning captain. He can also roll up his sleeves
to send some medium paced deliveries.
Peter Siddle:
This
team is likely to have the Indian victory formula of 7 batsmen and 4 bowlers
and Siddle would be the pace leader. Capable of swinging the ball in aiding
conditions, he would be useful and also he make some contributions with the bat.
Tino Best:
Tino
Best was the West Indian answer when they needed the quality of attack which
Walsh, Ambrose and Holding produced. He will be partnering Siddle with the new
ball to rattle the opposition.
Shane Warne
(Captain):
The opponent captain is Sachin Tendulkar. Now who will find
a way out to stop him and it is Shane Warne, Sachin’s biggest rival on-field to
lead the Rest of the World. All of us know what wonders Shane Warne could do
and it will be the epic Warne vs. Tendulkar to relish again.
Muttiah Muralitharan:
Now
the game has seen return of many legends. If Sachin Tendulkar has almost all
records in batting, this guy here has almost all records in bowling and
together with Warne, they are sure to spin a web where the opposition will find
it hard to bounce back.
NOTABLE MISSES:
Ricky Ponting, Jacques Kallis, Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardena, Mathew Hayden, Glenn McGrath, Shoaib Akthar, Sanath Jayasuriya, Shane Bond, Chaminda Vaas, Shaun Pollock.
-S.T. Guha Karthikeyan
