A combined all-time Test XI from India and England
1480 – That’s the number of Tests played by both England and India combined. Traversing across countless generations, the two nations have enriched the game with innumerable memories in whites. With a lip-smacking 5-Test series between them set to begin shortly on Indian shores, let us try and assemble a dream team comprising of players solely belonging to the two sides.
Even though England had been playing Tests from as early as 1877, players whose careers reached their zeniths prior to June 1932 (when India participated in their maiden Test) are not considered in the combined XI in order to allow for a more proportional representation among the two countries.
#1 Sunil Gavaskar
“To a country starved of self-respect, he was a godsend” – Noted commentator and writer Harsha Bhogle summed up Sunil Gavaskar‘s effect on Indian cricket perhaps better than anyone else could. In contrast to his diminutive frame, Gavaskar stood like a colossus in between menacing fast bowlers and a hesitant batting lineup.
Be it swing, seam or spin, the man refused to be swayed on any surface against any team. Aside from being the first batsman to complete 10,000 Test runs, Gavaskar’s stature could be ascertained from something every cricketer craves – peer appreciation.