5 teammates who could have been great rivals on field

There have been some suggestions that the renowned Indian batsmen of the last decade deserve more credit as they scored all those runs without facing a ‘weak’ Indian bowling attack. Even though this is not a place to go deep into the matter, it is not hard to imagine that current batsmen like Virat Kohli and Mahendra Singh Dhoni would have certainly scored more prolifically had they faced Indian medium pacers instead of those fiery Australian or English bowlers in their last few tours away from home.Ever wondered a faceoff between Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis against their own self-destructive batsmen? What about Brett Lee and Shane Warne bowling to Matthew Hayden and Adam Gilchrist? Exciting, isn’t it? We've seen AB de Villiers taking on Dale Steyn in IPL on multiple occasions, and it's been fantastic!Here are the five such imaginary rivalries that could have been exciting to watch, had the players not represented the same team. (Though some such individual battles have happened in IPL, a prolonged rivarly was not present in the T20 tournament.)Special mention: Alastair Cook v James Anderson

#5 Hashim Amla vs Dale Steyn

The South African heavyweights are undoubtedly the worlds most respected cricketers in recent times for their level of excellency in their respective games. We have enjoyed quite a lot of thosemini-battles between AB de Villiers and Steyn, despiteinslam-bang T20s. But,Amla is one who doesnt really engage himself in much of T20s and the Protean superpowers can set the bar for quality cricket when they face off.

With Steyn himself crediting Amla by once saying that the he can bat even on a ploghen field, the prospect of a battle involving the twobest players of current times will produce somememorable on-field heroics. With Amla being someone with a predominantback foot play, the pace and late swing of Steyn might be something Amla has not faced in his entirecareer (in competitive matches).

True, Steyn is not the only one who can swing it late, but, is the complete pacer around and hence, will force Amla to bring out his A game in the contest of class.

#4 Ricky Ponting vs Glenn McGrath

No other bowler has been this successful with a simplest of bowling action and a medium pace to operate with like Glenn McGrath. On the other hand, the most successful No.3 batsman from Australia is not a great player of inswing either and stats confirm the same.

A bunch of fast bowlers have got the better of Ricky Ponting in recent times with Ishant Sharma, Shane Bond, Jerome Taylor and Morne Morkel being the popular of them. Even in a short span, Mohammad Amir of Pakistan has dismissed Ponting five out of 6 matches (all three formats combined). Given the same and McGrath’s world reknowned off-cutters one might expect some testing times for the so called one of the greatest batsman of all times.

A probing length in the corridor of uncertainity is one factor that can unsettle any batsman when dished out with consistently and with McGrath’s keep-it-simple style of bowling against the aggressive playing style of Ponting would have been an incredible rivalry that we missed.

#3 Vivian Richards vs Malcolm Marshall

Richards has a Test battingaverage of 50.23 and Marshall has a bowling average of 20.94 (from 121 and 81matches). Such was the level of dominance in their game andthe two were the pillars of strength for the great West Indian team of the 1980s.Both these greatsleft the game after the Oval,1991 not before setting the benchmark for their successors with their ultra-effective, impact performances.

Both were considered destructive for their aggression in their game and would have been a intense, fierce one-on-one battle had they were to stay on opposite camps. For someone who faced bowlers with very minimal respect against someone who never really alowed a batsman to settle down would not only had been interesting, but, would have been thrilling and grasping.

The pace and bounce of Marshall V the bat speed and confidence of Richards = Classic.

#2 Kumar Sangakkara vs Muttiah Muralitharan

The left-handerclearly has enviable numbers among all batsmenin modern day cricketwhile the other is the most sucessful bowler in the history of the game (both in Test cricket). Sangakkara in a recent interview has revealed thatthe experienced gained onacting as a wicket-keeper toMuralitharan in nets helped his game against spinners,particularly, Saeed Ajmal.

Being a wrist spinner, Muralitharanmight have been difficult to handle for Sangakkara with a probing line and length. Add to it,adevastating doosrawould trouble any leading batsman in the world. Facinga bowler who can exploit a batsmans weakness,however small it can be will always be a litmus test for the batter. The magician from Kandy might have given some tough times to his teammate in case one happened to play for an another country.

#1 Sachin Tendulkar vs Anil Kumble

Literally 34357 runs V 956 wickets (Tests, ODIs and T20Is combined) !

The Master Blaster is one batsman who handledthe great Shane Warne with ultimate easeafter someinitial struggles. Every Sachinist will refer to the desert storm for the little masterssheer dominance against the best in the business. If that is so, how aboutIndias very own leggie Anil Kumble rolling his armover against Sachin?

Kumble is known morefor his pace and bounce than the revolution on the ball which he mixes up nicely to fool the batsman. The batting greaton the other hand will always be keen in taking on the leg-spinners and the contest would have been an epic battle without a doubt. The shear brilliance of these two individuals in theirgame is undeniable andthe fact that one wouldlook to outsmart the other will always guarantee a gripping, eye-catching battle to watch out for.