Rameez Raja picks his all-time XI, includes three Indians
Former Pakistan cricketer Rameez Raja may have long retired from the game but he is an ever-present in the commentary box across the globe and while many may not agree with many of his views, many would find it hard to argue with Rameez’s selection of his greatest ever eleven featuring many legends of the game.
While all-rounder Imran Khan is the only representative from his home country, West Indies has the most representation with four players.
Opening the innings for the Rameez Raja XI is the contrasting Indian pair of the swashbuckling Virender Sehwag and the original ‘Little Master’ Sunil Gavaskar. While he termed Gavaskar as a solid technical batsman who proved his mettle scoring more than 10000 Test runs, he named Sehwag as the second greatest entertainer the game has ever seen behind West Indies legend Sir Vivian Richards who unsurprisingly is selected as the side’s No 3 batsman.
In at No 4 and No 5 are two of the greatest modern day batsmen in Sachin Tendulkar and Brian Lara. Rameez said that records speak for themselves as far as the pair is concerned and that it was easy to pick the two considering the ease with which they played against any opposition and on any kind of surface.
Following the pair is another West Indian in Sir Garfield Sobers whom the former Pakistan skipper as the greatest ever all-rounder in the game. The wicketkeeper-batsman in the side is Australia’s Adam Gilchrist whom Rameez hailed for his destructive abilities with the bat as an opener as well as lower down the order.
Not surprising at all considering how Gilchrist is the first name that pops up in the minds of many as the greatest ever wicketkeeper in the game.
Coming in next is the great Pakistan all-rounder Imran Khan who has also been named as the skipper. Having played under Imran for close to a decade, Rameez hailed his leadership abilities, which is best exemplified by Pakistan’s title-winning glory at the 1992 World Cup and also the believes the balance an all-rounder of Imran’s pedigree provides to the side to be invaluable.
The new-ball pair chosen by Rameez Raja comprises of the fearsome West Indian great Malcolm Marshall and the deadly accurate Glenn McGrath. Finishing off his all-time XI is Australian legend Shane Warne who bamboozled batsmen all over to finish with more than 700 Test wickets.