1. Dilshan
2. Guptill
3. Gautam Gambhir
4. AB De Villiers
5. S. Waugh
6. Jean-Paul Duminy
7. Razzaq [3]
8. Brett Lee [1]
9. Upul Chandana [5]
10.R. Ashwin [4]
11. Curtly Ambrose [2]
Openers -Tilekaratne Dilshan & Martin Guptill
1. Tilekaratne Dilshan – A solid player who can build his innings patiently while at the same time maintaining an excellent run rate. Dilshan has scored 21 of his 22 centuries while opening the innings. Also, his career average of 39.44 increases to 46.45 while opening the innings and to 47 while opening the innings in India. While the career SR increases from 86 to 89 while opening the innings and to 99 while opening the innings in India.
2. Martin Guptill – He can attack any bowling lineup from the go and will be looking to do so in this game also. His career average of 43.25 increases to 45.85 while opening the innings. Also all his 100+ scores have come while opening the innings. He holds the 2nd highest individual score in ODIs and the highest individual score in World Cups.
Middle Order– Gautam Gambhir, AB DeVilliers & Steve Waugh
3. Gautam Gambhir – While generally known for opening the innings, Gambhir has played quite a few matches at no. 3. His career average of 39.68 increases to 42.09 while playing at no.3 and is at the same level (41.91) while playing in India at no.3. He has shown the ability to handle pressure of coming in early in case of early wickets and build the innings. The most important knock of his life also came while playing at no.3.
4. A B DeVilliers – While his batting talents were always admirable in last couple of years he has elevated his batting to another level, and breaking records on the way. His career average of 54 is maintained while batting at no. 4 with a strike rate of 97. In India his average while batting at no. 4 increases to 130 with a strike rate of 128! We will be looking at AB to accelerate the innings in the middle overs to propel us to a high score.
5. Steve Waugh – One of the best cricketers around. Steve Waugh is just the player you need to come in at no. 5 and steady the innings in case of a top order collapse and also capable of building the innings after a solid foundation has been laid. His career average of 32.90 increases to 37.42 and the same is consistent with his average in India, but with a staggering SR of 95.11. Has taken 195 wickets also.
Lower Middle Order– J P Duminy, Abdul Razzaq
6. J P Duminy – He bats with a SR of 138 in India coming in at no. 6. Can hit them long and hard. We will be looking at him and Razzaq to slog in the death overs to put up a big score.
7. Abdul Razzaq – One of the great modern day allrounder. He can deliver with both bat and ball. His career average of 29.70 increases to 32.37 while batting at no. 7 and the SR also increases from 81.25 to 90.44.
Tailenders
8. Brett Lee – Has 3 ODI 50+ scores in general. Also bats with a SR of 96.66 in India.
9. Chandana – Has 5 ODI 50+ scores. Also bats with SR of 91 .71 in India
10. Ashwin – Has an ODI 50. Bats with a SR of 86.57
Bowlers
Brett Lee – 380 wickets in 221 matches at an average of 23.36 and SR of 29.4. This guy guarantees wickets.
Curtly Ambrose – 225 wickets in 176 matches at an average of 24.12 and a SR of 41.5. His economy of 3.48 suggests he is not easy to hit against.
Abdul Razzaq - 269 wickets in 265 matches at an average of 31.83 and a SR of 40.6.
R. Ashwin – 142 wickets in 102 matches at an average of 31.73 and a SR of 39.2.
Upul Chandana – 151 wickets in 147 matches at an average 31.90 and a SR of 40.6.
Steve Waugh, Dilshan and Duminy have together in total 350+ wickets.
Tactics
Our opening batsman and our no. 3, in case an early wicket does fall, are all capable of getting us off to a flying start and lay the foundations for a big total while at the same time not throwing away their wickets. We will look to see off the new ball bowling of Akram and Lillee and then look to build our innings from there. Our middle order of Gambhir, DeVilliers and Steve Waugh are capable of scoring runs at a brisk rate in the middle overs to allow the batsmen to go after the bowlers in the last 10 – 15 overs. In Duminy and Abdul Razzaq, we have just the players to do the heavy hitting as required in the death overs to put up a big score.
Our bowlers will look to make early inroads in the opposition’s team and restrict the free flow of runs while the fielding restrictions are on. Ambrose will be the main bowler tasked with keeping things tight and not allow runs to be scored freely. While Brett Lee will exploit the pressure built up by Ambrose by taking early wickets. Razzaq will be bowling first change and continue the work of Lee and Ambrose. Both Ashwin and Chandana would bowl through the middle overs with the assistance of Duminy and Dilshan. Waugh will bowl as required and primarily as a partnership breaker.
Why will we win:
We are batting first and it is a huge toss to win. Our batting lineup is capable of putting up a big total even if the opposition’s bowling contains Wasim Akram and Lillee. Apart from these two the bowling attack only has 2 recognised bowlers and will have to rely on part timers to fulfill the 50 overs. Botham, with due respect was not as good a bowler as he was in Test matches. Harbhajan is a good spinner but I have players who are better players of spin bowling. On the other hand, McCullum for all his talent would not find it easy to score against Ambrose. Moreover, his middle order has 3 players viz Mahela Jayawardena, Daryll Cullinan, Michael Clarke, who played the majority of their career at no. 4. One of them will be playing at no. 6 and would be responsible for seeing the team to reach the target and may have to bat with tailenders while doing so. Neither of the three players have much of a record in this regard. Also, bowling in the second innings my spinners would be able to make the best use of the playing conditions at Eden Gardens. Granted Harbhajan has played twice as many matches as Ashwin has, but in India, Ashwin has an average of 29 compared to the average of 35 of Harbhajan.
Must be least responded matchup in Cricket drafts.