Dream Team - Direct DilSe. Review on Five Best Cricketers

NOBODY is perfect.. We all have our strengths and weaknesses.. We also

have our prejudices and our passions.. To set them all aside and try

and pen a revu was one of the toughest things I have ever been called

to do.. And I dont think I have come anyway near to what I would like

to be.. But I am working on it..So when I read at MS on cricket and

all the subsequent arguments about ''the best players'', I was tempted

to give ''my newly formed resolutions'' a break.. So throwing

objectivism to the wind, here are my views ''straight from the heart''

Whenever I fill up application forms, I have found them inadequate..

Under religion, I never had an option for CRICKET.. My teammate at

college once commented that I had the fighting spirt of the Aussies,

the passion of a Paki, the style of a West Indian and the talent of a

Bangladeshi (Its another thing that as I write B'Desh are on the verge

of a famous test victory - umpires willing)

I have been following cricket like crazy now for the last 10 years and

i must confess that I have seen many greats grace the game. To pick 5 out of them would be Herculean , so let me settle for a squad of 13. My criteria has always been simple and non convoluted.

Some obvious rules/guidelines that I DO NOT follow and my reasons for the same:

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1. Statistics (They LIE..I had a batting average of around 22 in

college a la Bevan...lol)

1. Technical adequacy - it doesnt matter as long as they entertain - score runs and pick up wickets

   
   




2. Match winners (Drawing in the Windies in the 70s was tougher than

   
   

winning today in tailor made spinning tracks)

1. Test vs one Day players (there are only good players and bad

players)

My simple funda is

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''If I were to set up an alarm at 1 am to catch a cricket match, who

would I sacrifice my well deserved sleep to watch?''

And surprisingly, I got my 13 for all pitches and all seasons

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Sachin Tendulkar

Mike Atherton

Brian Lara

Vivian Richards (cp)

Aravinda De Silva

Steve Waugh

Javed Miandad

Ian Botham

Adam Gilchrist

Shane Warne

Wasim Akram

Courtney Walsh

Brett Lee

ps: This team has been picked only from those cricketers who have been playing the game actively in the last 10 years - whom I had the fortune of watching quite often on telly.

Bouquets and brickbats are welcome to be sent to me - NOBODY (After all , I AM PERFECT)