One of the key reasons behind England’s resurgence in the limited-overs formats, opening batsman Jason Roy has jumped into the bandwagon of players selecting their dream teams. In a video posted on Lord’s Cricket Ground’s Official Youtube Account, he revealed his favorite cricketers of all-time.
Born in Durban, South Africa, the right-hander has represented England in 26 ODIs and scored 939 runs at an average of 40.82 with three tons and four fifties. Not surprisingly, most of the 26-year old‘s side contains those who featured in the late 90s and early 2000s.
Opting for solidity and consistency at the top of the order, Roy pits Alastair Cook and Hashim Amla with each other. Aside from being a left-right combination, the presence of two proven openers augur well for the eleven.
In the middle-order, an array of stroke-players hog the limelight. Sachin Tendulkar comes in when the first wicket falls with the likes of Kumar Sangakkara and Kevin Pietersen waiting in the wings. Having another quality left-handed batsman offers a bit of variation in terms of setting the fields. Though he did not keep wickets in Tests during the latter half of his career, Sangakkara gets to take up the gloves in this team.
Roy quipped, “At number three is Sachin Tendulkar, the ‘Master Blaster’ – pure class and his records speak for itself. At four, Sangakkara is going to come in for me and be quite aggressive. If need be, he can steady the ship and keep as well. At number five, I’ve got big KP (Pietersen). A game-changer and someone who will hopefully win me games regularly.”
Also Read: Jonathan Trott picks Sachin Tendulkar, Waqar Younis and Alastair Cook in his all-time XI
Fulfilling the duties of all-rounders, Jacques Kallis and Andrew Flintoff complete the batting lineup to ensure that there would be no let-up for opposition teams. Possessing the ability to do more than a handy job with the ball, the duo lends balance to the proceedings.
With world-class operators such as James Anderson, Dale Steyn and Ian Bishop in the dressing room, there might be a jostle for taking the new ball. While the former two seam bowlers are capable of extracting late swing, the latter’s pace, and extra bounce will test any batsman.
One of the what-could-have-been stories of his era, Bishop played only 43 Tests and 84 ODIs with 161 wickets at an average of 24.27 and 118 wickets at 26.50 respectively due to several major injuries. If fitness issues had not come in his way, the articulate cricketer might have ended up as one of the best ever in the pace department.
By virtue of being the second highest wicket-taker of all time in Tests, Shane Warne is tasked with taking care of spin bowling. However, the absence of a second spinner to partner the great man might just be the only area of concern in Roy’s dream team.
Jason Roy’s All-Time XI: Alastair Cook, Hashim Amla, Sachin Tendulkar, Kumar Sangakkara (wk), Kevin Pietersen, Jacques Kallis, Andrew Flintoff, Shane Warne, Ian Bishop, James Anderson, Dale Steyn
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