Sri Lankan batsman-keeper Kumar Sangakkara has named his all-time greatest eleven team and it was no surprise that only one Pakistani made it to the list and that was Wasim Akram.
In a video for Lord’s Cricket Ground the other day, Sangakkara admired Wasim’s ‘high skill’. “I’ll have Wasim as a left-arm fast-bowler said Sanga. “High skill! Belittles you both with the old and the new ball; a left-armer, just unbelievably challenging to face him.” he said.
The former Sri Lanka legend added that all batsmen feared the Pakistani left-arm pacer. “Any batsman that I have spoken to said he always feared facing Wasim.”
The 38-year-old, in his greatest eleven, chose former Australian Matthew Hayden and former Indian Rahul Dravid as openers. At number three and four he selected former West Indian Brian Lara and former Australian Rickey Ponting.
For the number five spot, Sanga chose fellow retired countryman Aravinda de Silva. Sanga chose Silva over Mahela Jayawardene because he “they both (Sanga and Mahela) agree that de Silva was the best Sri Lanka batsman ever.” Meanwhile for the number six all-rounder spot, he went for former South African all rounder Jacques Kallis.
Former Australian wicketkeeper-batsman Adam Gilchrist was Sanga’s choice at number seven.
He then went for two of the world’s greatest spinners, namely former Australian leg spinnr Shane Warne and former Sri Lankan Muttiah Muralitharan as his bowlers. According to Sanga, these two could bowl on any surface and pose the same amount of threat to the batsman as on a spinning top.
And as the last bowling option, Sanga once again preferred former fellow team mate Chaminda Vaas over former Australian pacer Glenn McGrath.