Mani write up:
Why I'll win.......
- Fast bowlers hunt in pair- Micheal Holding & Waqar Younis + M.Morkel/L.Malinga :
- I have the best opening bowling combo in this draft arguably, as M.Holding and W.Younis have achieved success individually and as a pair with their respective teammates. Here Waqar/Holding will test the batsmen with nagging pace and accuracy. When the ball gets old, they can reverse swing the ball plus the toe crushing Yorkers from Waqar could knock few timber's.
- I doubt whether EAP's opening batsmen's are good enough to deal with the pace and swing of Wagar/Holding and they will expose his middle order to a new ball, which would halt their dream of scoring big on any kind of pitch.
- Captain Fantastic : C.Lloyd
- One of the most successful captains in the cricket history.
- Spinner - Musthaq Ahmed
- Leg spin/ googly bowler from the sub-continent will give much needed variety in the spin department compared to EAP's off spin duo.
- Opening batsmen's:
- J.Langer / M.Trescothick, comparatively these two are in far better position to negate the pace bowlers as the Langer's calmness and M.Trescothick's flamboyant style come in handy regardless of whatever is thrown at them from EAP's side.
- Middle order: M.Vaughan - M.Waugh - C.Lloyd - D.Martyn
- Batsmen who can produce long innings and are equally good at dealing against spin or pace bowling.
- Lead men while batting – Vaughan; C.Lloyd; MS.Dhoni
- Beginning Phase - Vaughan
- Middle Phase - C.Lloyd
- End phase - MS.Dhoni
- All three lead their respective country and had guided their team during the crucial phases. Their leadership would come in handy to support the batsmen at the other end and help ease the pressure and help the team pose a good total.
- Sharp slip fielders – M.Waugh; C.Lloyd; M.Trescothick
- Best slip fielders to complement fast bowling
- Whispering Death and The Burewala Express
The Team
Justin Langer (Ave: 45.27): In a land of dashers and crashers Langer was seen as a grafter, a battler, but the reality was that he was a swashbuckling strokemaker. His partnership with Hayden tore up record books with ease and made the likes of Greenidge and Haynes look like strokeless stonewallers.
Marcus Trescothick (Ave: 43.79): One of England’s most reliable opening batsman in the 21st century. Despite having a very short career, Trescothick was a mainstay in the England team and was a crucial member of the 2005 Ashes win. Bullying most attacks without even giving the impression of doing so, his armoury included classic cover drives and fearless pull shots. Against the spinners, he used slog sweeps to great effect.
Michael Vaughan (Ave: 41.44): Despite early comparisons to Michael Atherton for his inhumanly calm aura at the crease, Vaughan soon demonstrated he was more than just a like-for-like replacement. Once he had made the place his own, Vaughan blossomed magnificently, playing with a freedom of expression that Atherton had never dared to approach. Vaughan was only the third Englishmen after Graham Gooch and David Gower to reach the summit of the ICC World Test rankings in 2003.
Mark Waugh (Ave: 41.81): One of the world’s most elegant and gifted strokemakers, the twin brother of Steve, Waugh’s game was characterized by an ability to drive, cut, pull and loft the ball so effortlessly that it could make him look disdainful of the talents of bowlers. Gifted, natural, elegant, languid, carefree… the adjectives could go on and on. Mark Waugh was that special a cricketer.
Clive Lloyd(Ave: 46.67): Clive Lloyd was the crucial ingredient in the rise of West Indian cricket. He was a hard-hitting batsmen and one of the most successful captains in history. An almost ponderous, lazy gait belied the speed and power at his command and the astute tactical brain that led the West Indies to the top of world cricket for two decades. He transformed the philosophy of West Indian cricket, turning a band of supremely talented, yet inconsistent happy-go-lucky cricketers into ruthless machinery for destruction.
Damien Martyn(Ave: 46.37): The artist with the silken touch. With the exception of Tendulkar and perhaps Waugh, no other Cricketer made batting look so simple. In their world beating era, there were quite a few power players who mercilessly slaughtered bowlers. Martyn too could dominate, but in his own away. He would merely caress and thread the ball through the gaps with that delicate approach. On his day, the bowlers had a tough task of dismissing him as he could dominate in a flash; an hour or two gone by and they would find him in total control.
MS Dhoni (Ave: 38.09): Arguably one of India’s most popular and charismatic cricketers, Captain Cool’s home-made batting and wicketkeeping technique, and a style of captaincy had scaled the highs and lows of both conservatism and unorthodoxy. Dhoni demonstrated all that was right with the new look India. He didn't respect reputations, but never disrespected. He improvised; he learned and soon became one of the best ever Wicket keeping batsmen his country has ever produced.
Michael Holding (Ave: 23.68; Econ: 2.79; SR: 50.9): Michael Holding turned around from far, far away, where the eyes had to squint to see. And then he ran in fluid, silent, long strides, with an action almost hypnotic in grace and athleticism. And as he waltzed into follow-through, the ball darted at rates seldom witnessed even in the heydays of pace bowling in the 1970s. His stealthy, extensive run up was soundless and serene. Umpires were seldom aware of his approach till the corner of their eyes caught him stretched in his delivery stride. Not for nothing was he was he called “
Whispering Death“.
Waqar Younis (Ave: 23.56; Econ: 3.25; 43.4): The man who really put reverse into swing. Sharing his Test debut with the Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar, during the November 1989 Test at Karachi, he took a four-wicket haul in his first Test innings, including the wicket of Tendulkar. He never looked back since.
Morne Morkel (Ave: 29.33; Econ: 3.12; SR: 56.3): 1.96m tall, Morkel’s height allows him to generate steepling and awkward bounce. At his peak, he used a combination of speed and skill to form part of South Africa's most potent pace pack.
Mushtaq Ahmed (Ave: 32.97; Econ: 2.92; SR: 67.7): Bubbly, Chubby, Unique action with Googlies aplenty. Styling his action on his hero Abdul Qadir, he is a match winner with a full house of legspin variations. At his best he is not far behind Shane Warne. He can bowl the leggie as well as the googly with uncanny similarity. He is a wrist spinner which sanctions him to get a good turn on the ball and his stock googly has stunned many a set batsmen in their prime.
Lasith Malinga (Ave: 33.15; Econ: 3.85; SR: 51.5): He sets off: his run-up smoothly transforming from a jog into a sprint, his curly golden-streaked locks swirling in the wind, and by the time he crosses the umpire, he is steaming in like a hurricane on rampage. Within microseconds, his right bowling arm swings in an angle parallel to the ground, what they call a round-arm action, and the ball is released almost from the line of middle-stump. Before the batsman can say, “
What the…”, the ball has zoomed in, swinging deviously in the air and pitched right where the batsman’s feet are. Lasith Malinga gained a reputation for delivering searing inswinging yorkers from a round-arm action as destructive as it was distinctive. That yorker, a deceptive slower ball, and an excellent bouncer formed the body of Malinga's menace, while the action made his deliveries hard to pick up. All that ability was also set off by street smarts; Malinga was rarely shy to switch up plans, and reshuffle fields. Even when batsmen thought they knew what was about to come, Malinga retained the capacity to surprise.
