COMMENT – India are No1in the International Cricket Council Test rankings as well as the World Cup holders. One of their five players in the Wisden Test XI is Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who has been their captain for a few years – and India still have not lost a Test series under him. Dhoni is joined by Virender Sehwag, VVS Laxman, Zaheer Khan and Sachin Tendulkar, who is also Wisden’s Leading Cricketer in the World.
At the other extreme: no Australian in this year’s Wisden Test XI, no Pakistani, no West Indian and no New Zealander.
And this is not narrow-minded, UK-based myopia. The three selectors are the Australian Ian Chappell, the Pakistani Ramiz Raja and the West Indian Ian Bishop. The editor is simply the convenor, with no vote except a casting one in the event of a tie. No Australian indeed. When Jacques Kallis gets too old to bowl quick, Shane Watson is set to be his successor as the only top-order Test batsman who can bowl pace. Only a couple of days ago he showed what a striker he is by hitting 15 sixes and 15 fours from the 96 balls he faced in scoring 185 in a one-day international against Bangladesh.
Still, it is a bit reminiscent of the fate of West Indies. One decade the world champions and a side packed with great cricketers, the next decade floundering without a great cricketer – or a succession strategy – in sight. In a way the future looks brighter for Pakistan than Australia. They lost their captain Salman Butt, and their two opening Test bowlers, Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Asif, after being suspended and sanctioned by the ICC.
They lost all their home venues, and the advantage that goes with them – and yet they still topped their qualifying Group A in the World Cup, and were knocked out by the holders, India, at the semi-final stage. Talented, resilient, and making the most of creative tension. No Australian or Pakistani in the Wisden Test XI, but for the first time a Bangladeshi.
One selector soberly opted for Andrew Strauss as the opening batsman to partner Sehwag, another for South Africa’s captain, Graeme Smith. But when the third opted for Tamim Iqbal, I was swayed by the same giddy thought of both openers hitting a hundred in the opening session of the Test match against Mars, and a particular TV commentator at lunch on day one going mad and shouting: “Start the spaceship!”.
Team in full: Virender Sehwag (India), Tamim Iqbal (Bangladesh), Kumar Sangakkara (Sri Lanka), Sachin Tendulkar (India), Jacques Kallis (South Africa), V. V. S. Laxman (India), *
