My World Cup 2015 XI as at 2 March

Kersi - McCullum

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Brendon McCallum  as the  Captain

By Kersi Meher-Homji

Kersi Meher-Homji donned the hat of a  selector and chose the Great World XI Cricket Team in his last write up. Here Kersi chooses his Best World Cup XI made up of current players playing from different teams competing for the most coveted trophy at the moment – the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015. Please read on”¦

The ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 has started with a bang with its share of thrillers and upsets. So far 23 matches have been played and three of them have been cliff-hangers. They are:

  • Ireland beating UAE by two wickets,
  • Afghanistan defeating Scotland by one wicket ”“ and now for the real spine-chilller,
  • New Zealand overcoming their next door “Big Brother” Australia by one wicket.

The biggest shock so far has been the defeat of the once mighty West Indies by the “minnows” of World Cup, Ireland.

So far New Zealand is on top of Pool A and India is on top of Pool B. India defeating Pakistan in Adelaide and the Cup favourites South Africa in Melbourne (watched by almost 90,000 spectators) have been among the highlights of WC 2015.

A fortnight ago, it appeared highly unlikely that India will retain the World Cup they had won in Mumbai in 2011. But after three convincing victories in three matches (they smashed UAE by 9 wickets as well on Saturday), India is one of the four favourites teams to lift the World Cup along with New Zealand, South Africa and Sri Lanka.

The current WC is only 16 days old with 27 days still remaining when the Final will be played in Melbourne on 29 March. So it is probably premature to select the Best 2015 WC XI but exciting all the same for me and the TIDU readers.

Kersi -Gayle

 

 

 

 

Kersi - dhawan

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chris Gayle and Shikhar Dhawan as openers  

Firstly, let’s look at the extraordinary performances:

  • Chris Gayle of the West Indies became the first batsman to hit a double century in WC cricket; 215 (for a strike rate of 146.25) against Zimbabwe at Canberra which included 10 fours and an astounding 16 sixes.
  • South Africa’s captain AB deVilliers hit a spectacular 162 not out off 66 balls at an amazing strike rate of 245.45 v. West Indies in Sydney. He smacked 17 fours and eight sixes.
  • Sri Lanka’s Kumar Sangakkara is the only one in WC 2015 to hit two centuries and affect two stumpings.
  • New Zealander quickie Tim Southee has taken most wickets thus far, 13, with the best figures of 7 for 33.
  • His partner in pace, Kiwi Trent Boult, a left-arm fast bowler, was behind New Zealand routing Australia for 151 runs at Auckland last Saturday when he captured 5 for 27. This resulted in NZ beating Australia by one wicket.
  • Australia left-arm fast bowler Mitchell Starc took 6 for 28 in the above match bringing Australia close to a win which they lost by a whisker, by one solitary wicket.
  • Starc became the only Australian bowler to take six wickets in a one-day international twice.

Kersi -de villiers

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kersi -sangakkara

 

 

 

 

 

 

AB de Villiers and Kumar Sangakkara at number 4 and 5

Now to my WC 2015 XI as at today (2 March)

Who will open the batting?

Chris Gayle walks in, his head held high, his bat swinging. He has scored 258 runs at an average of 64.50 and a strike rate of 112.17. His highest score of 215 is unapproached in the 40 year-old history of WC.

Who will partner him, Sri Lanka’s Tillakratne Dilshan or India’s Shikkhar Dhawan? Difficult to choose but left-handed excitement machine Dhawan gets my vote. When he scores the spectators’ hearts go “bing-bang-bong” and the bowlers and fielders have near heart attacks.

Brendon McCallum will come at no. 3 and will also captain the XI. He is the most dynamic performer in the series. He plays and thinks his cricket.

Also no doubt about South Africa’s AB de Villiers batting at no.4. His innings in Sydney last week was among the best I have seen in my 60 years of cricket watching.

The classical Kumar Sangakkara will bat at no. 5. He has scored most runs at the best average (268 runs at 134.00) in WC 2015 and is the only one to hit two centuries. He will also keep the wickets as he has taken three catches and stumped two batsmen this far.

Who will bat at no. 6, Sri Lanka’s Lahiru Thirimanne or India’s Virat Kohli? Thirimanne has been more consistent. So he is my choice. Kohli will be my 12th man for his superb fielding.

What about the fast to fast-medium bowlers? The New Zealand opening pair of Tim Southee and Trent Boult have worked wonders so far so I’ll let them open the bowling; Southee with his swingers and Boult with his left-arm pace.

Australia’s left-arm fast Mitchell Starc will be the first change quickie.

Finally to the two spinners; South Africa’s leg-break and googly bowler Imran Tahir and India’s off-spinner and carom-ball expert Ravichandran Ashwin.

Kersi -thirimanne

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lahiru Thirimanne  

Kersi -ashwin

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ravichandran Ashwin

So here is my WC 2015 XI in batting order:

Gayle (WI), Dhawan (Ind), McCullum (NZ, Capt), de Villiers (SAf), Sangakkara (SL, wk), Thirimanne (SL), Ashwin (Ind), Starc (Aus), Boult (NZ), Southee (NZ) and Tahir (SAf).

Kersi -starc

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mitchell Starc

Kersi -boult

 

 

 

 

 

 

Trent Boult

Kersi -tahir

 

 

 

 

Imran Tahir

 

 

 

 

Thus New Zealand is ahead with three in the XI, South Africa, India and Sri Lanka have two each   and Australia and West Indies one each.

Kersi -virat kohli

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Virat Kohli

 

 

12th Man: Kohli (Ind). Reserves: Tillakratne Dilshan (SL), Daniel Vettori (NZ) and Steven Finn (Eng).

Kersi -tillakratne

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tillakratne Dilshan

Kersi -vettori

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Daniel Vettori

Kersi -steven finn

 

 

 

 

 

 

Steven Finn

However, we will select the Best WC 2015 XI on 30th March, the day after the champion is decided.

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