Jeetan Patel picks his All Time XI

New Zealand off-spinner Jeetan Patel is the latest cricketer to pick his All Time XI for ‘Lords- The Home of Cricket’. They have started the initiative in which different players pick favorite XI of players with whom they have played with or against or have been inspired by their cricketing career. Jeetan Patel has picked his team and few big names are missing in his team.

His best XI comprised of as many as 5 Australians, 2 Sri Lankans and a player each from India, South Africa, England, and Pakistan. The team misses a lot of big names like Sachin Tendulkar and Glenn Mcgrath but only eleven players can be selected and it seems the Kiwi player has tried his best to cover all the bases.

The opening duties have been handed over to Alastair Cook and Matthew Hayden. Cook is undoubtedly the best opener in the world at the moment and has scored runs across the world. Matthew Hayden has literally murdered the bowlers during his heydays and his aggression at the top was really helpful for Australia. The duo of Cook and Hayden will surely make up for an exciting start to the innings.

World Class Middle Order

Ricky Ponting is the skipper of the team and he will also come in at No. 3. The veteran has ruled the world while he was at the helm. His captaincy was always aggressive and it showed in his batting as well. Next to come in at 4 is the best all-rounder Jacques Kallis. The legendary South African used to bat at No.3 for his country and also bowl at a speed of around 140kph. No country would ever have such a player in their ranks and Proteas were lucky to have him for such a long period.

Rahul Dravid, the wall, is slated next at somewhat unusual position at 5. All his career he batted at 3 and literally tortured the bowlers with his defensive techniques. The batsman himself has played most deliveries ever in Test cricket and is also a safe pair of hands in the slip cordon. Sri Lankan legend Kumar Sangakkara is the next batsman who completes the world class middle order. The left hander served his country for so long scored a massive amount of runs.

Adam Gilchrist is the wicketkeeper of the team and will come in at No.7. The aggression which he displayed down the order along with his excellent skills behind the stumps made him a very successful wicketkeeper batsman in Tests. He was the vital cog in the Aussie line up in the early 2000s when the team used win literally every game.

Bowling attack

Wasim Akram leads the bowling attack with Australian speedster Mitchell Johnson. Akram’s belligerent swing bowling coupled with the fiery pace of Johnson should make up for a threatening opening burst. Then there are two world class spinners who are in every player’s team, Shane Warne and Muralitharan. Both the legendary spinners in one team would have given nightmares to any batting line up across the world.

Here is Jeetan Patel’s All Time XI:

Alastair Cook, Matthew Hayden, Ricky Ponting (c), Jacques Kallis, Rahul Dravid, Kumar Sangakkara, Adam Gilchrist (wk), Wasim Akram, Mitchell Johnson, Shane Warne, Muttiah Muralitharan