In ODIs, India and New Zealand played against each other for the first time in 1975 and since then the two countries competed against each other on more than 90 occasions. Both India and New Zealand boast of dominant record at home but struggled on the other team’s home venues.
Head to head, India holds a slight edge over the Kiwis with 46 wins and 41 losses so far. The Indian team looked stronger on paper on many occasions mainly due to its formidable batting line-up but the Black Caps always gave them a run for their money.
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The rivalry between the teams has not been much spoken about but is very pretty close and entertaining as the overall numbers suggest.
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Both the countries produced a plethora of amazing players that cast a spell over the spectators and achieved immortal fame in the history of cricket. Ahead of New Zealand’s tour of India which is going to commence shortly, let us take a look at the greats of both sides who could have formed ‘India-New Zealand all-time combined XI.’
This side possesses enough firepower to send shivers down the spine of any other team.
#1 Sachin Tendulkar
Without an iota of doubt, Sachin Tendulkar remains the most worshipped cricketer in the world even after his retirement and is forever the hot favorite for the title of ‘the greatest of the greats.’ The long list of his gigantic achievements needs no special mention.
Since his debut in the international arena in 1989, Tendulkar captured the imagination of the cricket lovers all over the globe and scaled peak after peak. He broke many batting records, which were hitherto thought to be unsurpassable and set a slew of new benchmarks.
None has been left untouched by the aura of Tendulkar. He is a demigod to a billion Indians and cricket lovers abroad, was a perennial scourge to even legendary bowlers like Shane Warne and a massive source of inspiration to many budding cricketers. His achievements are so humongous that a player can be termed a great even if he achieves only half of what Sachin did.
For all his unparalleled achievements, Tendulkar can walk into any side in any format. He thus becomes an automatic choice for the first opening slot and the easiest pick in the ‘Ind-NZ all-time combined ODI XI.’ Tendulkar possesses ‘the golden arm’ that can break nagging partnerships and thus can turn the matches with the ball too.
#2 Brendon McCullum (wk)
Brendon McCullum, who retired this year, is one of New Zealand cricket’s most belligerent batsmen and an entertainer to the core. Regardless of the position he batted in, McCullum was implacable. He hammered the ball as hard as anybody else and showed utter disdain for the bowlers.
McCullum’s fearless approach of attacking the bowlers ruthlessly right from the word go made him a bowler’s nightmare. Even in test cricket, McCullum followed the same carefree style of batting.
His hard-hitting powers were on best display in the 2015 World Cup when he guided the Kiwis to the final of the tournament. Both as a captain and a batsman, McCullum played a pivotal role in the dream run of the Kiwis that could be halted only in the final by a dominant Australian side.
While setting a target or chasing, he put the opponents firmly on the back foot very early on in the match and handed New Zealand a massive advantage by batting at a breakneck pace.
For a batsman of his ability, a batting average of 30 in ODIs seems a bit on the lower side but McCullum is chosen to open the innings along with Sachin Tendulkar for his belligerence. McCullum is a very fine wicket keeper too and hence will don the wicket-keeping gloves for this dream team.
#3 Virender Sehwag
Virender Sehwag is one of the modern cricket’s greatest entertainers for his daredevil approach with the willow. When it came to aggression, it is not an exaggeration to say that he sometimes put even the legendary Sachin Tendulkar in the shade.
Regardless of the format, he launched a ferocious assault on the bowling attacks right from the outset ripping them to shreds. Neither the reputation of the bowler nor the situation the team was in would make Sehwag curb his attacking instincts. While the phrase ‘nervous nineties’ is often spoken of in cricket, it seemed to have no bearing on Sehwag at all.
‘The Nawab of Najafgarh’ was never afraid of going for a six to get to his 100 or 300 or any milestone. His strike rate of 104 in ODIs is a testimony to the blistering pace at which he made his runs and the havoc he played on the bowling attacks.
Sehwag possessed his own repertoire of shots that can be found in no coaching manual and had a spectacular ability of hitting even the good balls for boundaries. He occasionally swung matches in India’s favor with his off spin too. It was incredibly tough to leave out the great Saurav Ganguly but Viru deserves to take the slot for his ‘all guns blazing’ approach.
#4 Martin Crowe
Martin Crowe who passed away this year after a long battle with Cancer was elegance personified with the willow and became the yardstick against which today’s leading Kiwi batsmen like Ross Taylor and Kane Williamson will be compared when they hang up their boots.
In the history of New Zealand’s cricket, Crowe’s place as the greatest ever batsman in both formats of the game is unrivalled. In a relatively weak team that boasted of no other magnificent batsman apart from himself, Crowe was a batting virtuoso. For more than a decade, he remained the lynch-pin of the Kiwi batting line-up.
Crowe was not just a supremely elegant batsman - he was a very fine captain too. He played a stellar role in New Zealand’s phenomenal success in the 1992 World cup. He was the best batsman in the tournament and ended it as the leading run scorer with a tally of 456 runs.
His innovative captaincy propelled New Zealand to semi-finals who looked good to storm into the finals until they were stunned by the young Inzamam-Ul-Haq’s blazing 60 off 37 balls. He pioneered the idea of opening the bowling with off-spinner which is so common today, especially in T20 cricket.
His ODI Strike Rate of 72 may seem low by today’s standards but it is impressive considering that many of his contemporary greats scored at around the same rate. For his silken stroke-play, it is hard to leave Crowe out of the side.
#5 Chris Cairns
Christopher Lance Cairns was one of the finest all-rounders of the modern cricket and a superb six hitting machine. By the time Cairns called it a day in test cricket, he held the record for hitting the maximum number of sixes in the format which shows his penchant for the big shots.
Since the 1990s, New Zealand has always been blessed with a good number of decent all-rounders and utility players but none of them was as proficient as Chris Cairns.
Cairns was a frontline pace bowler for the Kiwis for the major part of his career. His right arm medium pace fetched him in excess of 200 wickets in both formats of the game. With the bat, Cairns could be devastating on his day. He was capable of wreaking havoc on the bowling attacks in the death overs.
Cairns formed the backbone of the Kiwi middle order in ODIs and was the team’s most reliable player in both formats. His aggressive style of batting often turned the matches in New Zealand’s favour and fetched him close to 5000 ODI runs.
All-rounders are highly valuable in limited overs cricket and a top-notch all-rounder like Cairns can definitely add immense value to the team. Not many all-rounders in the history of the game can boast of a better record than that of Cairns. For his fine all-round ability, Cairns deserves a spot in the ‘combined XI.’
#6 Mahendra Singh Dhoni
If there is one cricketer who could rival Sachin Tendulkar in terms of popularity in India, it would be Mahendra Singh Dhoni or more affectionately ‘the dynamite of Jharkhand’. Dhoni can rend the bowling attacks asunder, can slowly build a partnership if the team is in dire straits, can perform lightning quick stumpings and can change the tempo of an innings in the span of just a few overs.
In a nutshell, he is a man for all seasons. Not surprisingly, he is widely regarded as one of the best finishers in the ODIs. Considering his much needed finishing prowess and the fact that Dhoni batted at no.6 for the lion’s share of his career, the uber cool Indian will remain at no. 6 slot in the ‘combined XI.’
Dhoni enjoyed great success in ODIs as captain leading India to victory in the 2011 World Cup but let us not thrust the captaincy on him as Dhoni was far more aggressive in his batting approach when he was not the captain compared to the time when he carried the burden of captaincy.
Dhoni can play as a specialist batsman leaving the glove work to Brendon McCullum, as he is far more consistent than the latter.
#7 Kapil Dev (c)
Throughout his illustrious career, Kapil Dev was the face of the Indian pace bowling attack. Kapil toiled on the morale-shattering pitches of India and went on to become its greatest pacer in a remarkable fashion. He was a devastating lower order batsman too.
Kapil’s unbeaten 175 in 1983 World Cup that rescued India from dire straits against Zimbabwe is ample proof of his destructive power with the willow and the ability to turn the match on its head.
It is indisputable that Kapil Dev is by far India’s greatest all-rounder in both formats of the game and also its first pace bowling hero. Even after trying so many options, India’s search for the next Kapil Dev seems to be fruitless and interminable.
Kapil’s ODI batting Strike Rate of 95 is awe-inspiring even by today’s standards. Considering the fact that he played in an era where a Strike Rate of 70 was considered very decent, his strike rate is even more admirable.
He was fantastic as captain too and led the team to its maiden World Cup triumph in 1983, which demonstrated to the world that the Indians could no longer be considered as a bunch of pushovers. For his spectacular all-round ability and captaincy skills, ‘the Haryana Hurricane’ walks into ‘Ind-NZ combined XI’ as the captain.
#8 Richard Hadlee
Sir Richard Hadlee formed one-quarter of the ‘golden quartet of the all-rounders’ that enthralled the cricket lovers throughout the 1980s with their incredible all-round feats. As a bowler, he was the deadliest of the quartet which comprised Imran Khan, Ian Botham and Kapil Dev among others.
Bowling was his primary strength and as a batsman, he was the least effective of the four although he was decent. Hadlee possessed enough batting muscle to often score some useful runs lower down the order and buttress the team’s weak batting lineup.
Overall, he was an all-rounder of superhuman ability. Until his retirement, Hadlee remained the mainstay of the Kiwi bowling lineup in both tests and ODIs around whom lesser mortals like Evan Chatfield operated. Hadlee’s place as the greatest player in the pantheon of New Zealand greats finds no competitors. When Hadlee had his last hurrah in the international arena in 1990, he was also test cricket’s highest wicket taker.
Purely on the strength of his bowling alone, Hadlee can walk into most teams in the world on any day and the fact that he can bat too makes him indispensable for the ‘combined XI.’ He is a player any captain would love to have in his team.
#9 Javagal Srinath
Since Kapil Dev’s retirement in 1994, India is yet to unearth a pace bowler of his caliber and Javagal Srinath probably came closest. He was never in the league of a Glenn McGrath or a Shaun Pollock but is one of a handful of quality pace bowlers that India could boast of.
Srinath, fondly referred to as the ‘Mysore express’, was the lynchpin of the Indian pace bowling unit and the team’s most reliable pacer throughout the 1990s.
When on song, Srinath often outfoxed the batsmen with lovely inswinging deliveries and in-cutters. He possessed a good bouncer too. With a tally of 315 wickets in 229 ODIs, Srinath remains the highest wicket taking pacer for India in ODIs and the only Indian pacer to breach the 300 wicket mark.
In the lower order, Srinath could give the ball a real whack and was capable of making some quick runs.
#10 Anil Kumble
With a tally of 619 test wickets and 337 wickets in ODIs, leg-spinner Anil Kumble is one of the most prolific bowlers in the history of the game and the highest wicket-taker for India in both formats. He rarely got colossal spin like a Shane Warne or a Muttiah Muralitharan and so was not as fashionable as them to watch.
However, he made up for the lack of turn with his ingenuity. Surprisingly, he turned his ‘lack of spin’ from weakness into strength and many who derided him for the lack of spin later became his staunchest admirers.
Kumble had an effective flipper that hurried on to the batsmen castling them or catching them plumb in front of the wicket. Although Kumble’s spot became irregular in the ODI team in the post-2000 era because of the meteoric rise of Harbhajan Singh, he already did enough to be regarded as the greatest ODI spin bowler for India.
He was undoubtedly India’s numero uno spinner throughout the 1990s. Kumble prevails over Harbhajan Singh and Daniel Vettori who are other stiff competitors for the slot of the lone spinner in this team, due to his longevity and better wicket taking ability.
#11 Shane Bond
Watching a fast bowler run hurriedly and send down the ball at blistering pace is one of cricket’s enduring delights and there were few who did that better than Shane Bond. Bond had a ‘short and sweet’ career for New Zealand. He was an ultra-fast bowler whose deliveries often met the bat with tremendous speed and ferocity.
He not only bowled at a scorching pace but could generate an appreciable amount of swing both ways without loss in pace, which often made him unplayable even for the best of the batsmen. While Bond intimidated all the teams he played against, he was devastating against Australia, the strongest team of his time, in particular.
Consistent injuries restricted his international appearances to just 18 test matches and 82 ODIs but that short stint was more than enough for him to make a lasting impression on the minds of the cricket lovers. Had he not been plagued by injuries, none would doubt that he would have become one of the most prolific bowlers in the history of the game.
When in full swing, he could slice through the most formidable batting line-ups like a hot knife through butter. For his express pace and genuine swing, Bond deserves the slot of the fast bowler in the combined XI.
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