India's best ODI XI of all-time: Dhoni, not Ganguly deserves to lead this team

With India’s one-day series loss to Bangladesh in the rear view mirror, now seemed like a good time as any to select India’s all-time one-day team. After all, remembering the good times can often be balm during the bad times. Selecting an All-time XI of a country is an extremely difficult task. To judge the performance of players from different eras is fraught with danger. And there will always be disgruntled fans who will be upset when their favourites miss out. For the purpose of our analysis, the final XI selected will three top order batsmen, two middle order batsmen, an all-rounder, a wicket-keeper, and four bowlers. [caption id=“attachment_2315180” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File picture of MS Dhoni. Reuters[/caption] There are some players who are automatic choices due to their longevity and the sheer weight of their numbers. In an all-time India XI, Sachin Tendulkar, Kapil Dev, MS Dhoni and Anil Kumble walk in. Many would advocate for Sourav Ganguly to be Tendulkar’s opening partner. They scored 8227 runs in partnership with each other at an average of 47.55 with 26 centuries and 29 fifty-run partnerships. They have scored 2235 runs more than the next most prolific partnership in ODI history (from any country). They also have the fourth highest opening partnership of all-time with 258. But Ganguly has a batting strike-rate of just 73.7, which is acceptable but not great. Virender Sehwag has a strike rate of 104.33. While Ganguly scored a century once every 14 matches, Sehwag did so once every 17 matches. So he scores a century almost as often as Ganguly. Sehwag also has the second highest strike-rate of all time in ODIs among all the 191 batsmen who have scored at least 2000 ODI runs. So going against popular belief, Sehwag should open with Tendulkar, as that will take the pressure of Tendulkar and allow him to bat normally through the innings. That doesn’t mean there is no room for Ganguly, who has second most number of centuries for India. He can slot in No. 3, where he played in the 2003 World Cup. Virat Kohli might prefer to bat at No. 3, but he averages 61.46 batting at No. 4. He is the second fastest to make 20 ODI centuries and is one of just two Indian batsmen to average over 50 (the other being Dhoni) He also has a strike rate of 89.73, which shows that he is capable of scoring at a brisk rate. If an early wicket falls then he showed be promoted above Ganguly as he is a better player of pace and Ganguly is a better player of spin. The tussle for the No. 5 spot is pretty interesting with Mohammad Azharuddin, Yuvraj Singh and Suresh Raina all staking a claim. Here weightage has been given to performances away from home and in World Cups as all Indian batsmen have good records in home conditions. The following table gives the performances of these three away from home and in World Cups.

In their prime, all three were excellent fielders. However, Azharuddin has a much lower strike-rate than the other two, and even if you factor in the slower scoring rates of his era, he has to miss out. While there is not much to choose between Yuvraj and Raina, the fact that Yuvraj has scored more centuries and was the Man of the Tournament in the 2011 WC goes in his favour. The wicket-keeper slot at No. 6 goes to Dhoni and the all-rounder’s spot goes to Kapil. That leaves just the bowlers. We want two more fast bowlers and two spinners. Kumble is one of those spinners so that leaves us with needing three more bowlers. Once again, the bowling performances in conditions away from home, have been considered, as well as their performances in World Cups.

Roger Binny was the leading wicket-taker in the 1983 World cup but hasn’t played enough matches for a fair comparison. Zaheer Khan has the most wickets in alien conditions and the joint-most in World Cups for India with Srinath. Also his ability to swing the ball both ways goes in his favour. Srinath gets the other seam bowlers slot as he is more economical than Agarkar and is also the only bowler with genuine pace. For the one remaining spot for a spinner, there is little to choose from between Harbhajan and Ashwin, but Harbhajan gets the nod because he is a more attacking bowler and also for his better strike-rate away from home. Plus, he used to bowl a lot of his overs in the PowerPlays but still has a good economy rate. There is no question about the captain. Only one man on this list has won a World Cup and a Champions Trophy so despite the claims of Ganguly, it is Dhoni who will lead the team. The final XI in batting order is: 1) Sachin Tendulkar 2) Virender Sehwag 3) Sourav Ganguly 4) Virat Kohli 5) Yuvraj Singh 6) Mahendra Singh Dhoni (captain and wicket-keeper) 7) Kapil Dev 8) Harbhajan Singh 9) Anil Kumble 10) Javagal Srinath 11) Zaheer Khan