Inzamam-ul-Haq picks his greatest team of 12 players to have never won a World Cup
Former Pakistan great Inzamam-ul-Haq, writing in his column for the official ICC website, has picked a team of 12 great players who have never won a World Cup. Inzamam was part of the 1992 Pakistan World Cup winning team and played a pivotal role in the semi-final of the tournament against New Zealand to help his team chase a daunting target of 263.
Dravid as wicket-keeper
Inzamam chose Saeed Anwar and Sourav Ganguly as his openers, followed by Brian Lara and Jacques Kallis at No.3 and No.4. On his former national teammate, Anwar, Inzamam said: “Before openers like Matthew Hayden and Virender Sehwag took the world by storm, if one had to pick an opener in one-day cricket, he was the man for the slot. There weren't many players during his playing days who had batted at a strike-rate of 80 plus with so much elegance and power.”
Inzamam credited India’s progress in ODIs to Ganguly, rated Lara as the finest left-hander ever and Kallis as on par with Garry Sobers, the world’s greatest all-rounder.
Martin Crowe and Rahul Dravid will fill up the No.5 and No.6 slot respectively, with Ian Botham coming in at No.7. Dravid will double up as a wicket-keeper. On former New Zealand captain Crowe, Inzamam sad: “I have seen lots of great batsmen, but the batting technique of Martin was far better than most of them.”
Bowling unit – 3 pacers, 1 spinner
Anil Kumble is the lone spinner in the team that has three fast bowlers in Curtly Ambrose, Waqar Younis and Allan Donald. Recounting how Waqar was unlucky to miss out on the 1992 World Cup due to injury, Inzamam said: “Great bowler with a bad luck as he had to fly back home from Australia in 1992 due to back injury. I still remember when we landed at Islamabad airport after winning the World Cup, Waqar was there on the truck, crying for not being part of the winning World Cup squad.”
Lavishing praises on Kumble, Inzamam writes: “A miser leg-spinner, who didn't like to be hit for runs. Anil was not a big spinner of the cricket ball, but kept batsmen thinking with his superb line and length. Whenever he got favorable turfs, he was there to turn the tables on the opponents. He was probably the only spinner who was not shy of showing aggression like the fast bowlers.”
South African fielding sensation Jonty Rhodes makes the side as the 12th man.
Full Team: Anwar, Ganguly, Lara, Kallis, Crowe, Dravid, Botham, Kumble, Donald, Waqar, Ambrose, Rhodes
You can find Sportskeeda’s XI here.
Inzamam-ul-Haq will always be remembered by Pakistani fans for this blistering innings of 60 off 37 balls in the 1992 World Cup Semi-Final against New Zealand: