Satire: If tennis stars were to form a cricket team...

How often have we tried comparing greats of different sports! Slightly improvising on that, I am going to form a Test cricket team with tennis stars. The selectors often mess up picking the playing XI and my way of selection would probably serve as a guide for them as to how to go about doing it – no offense meant.

Openers – Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray:

The left and right combination always works in cricket and that is the first reason for me to send Nadal and Murray as my opening batsmen. This will confuse the bowlers who have to adjust their rhythm every time, according to the batsman who takes strike.

The essential prerequisite for openers is that they should be good in their defensive technique as they need to withstand some quality fast bowling. In tennis, Nadal and Murray are very well-versed in that. No matter how attacking their opponents are, their defense has always been very good. And since their court coverage is excellent, their rivals, at the other end, find it difficult to get the ball past them for winners.

So if I have them as their opening batsmen, the chances of them getting beaten or bowled by fast bowlers are very limited.

In addition to opening the batting, Nadal would also don the role of a part-time bowler as he would know how to slow things down when the runs start to flow from the bat of the opposition players. In tennis, Nadal is adept at keeping his opponent waiting between serves and so he is one of my part-time bowlers, for sure.

One down batsman – Novak Djokovic:

Like openers, the man who bats at No. 3 in Tests should also carry with him a solid defensive technique and be ready to bat for long; he should be enough to stay at the wicket for more than a day or two. Novak is well-suited for this as he is very good in defense as a tennis star plus he has played some marathon matches, surviving most of them. So he can stay at the crease for very long and protect his wicket too, playing the sheet anchor role to perfection.

A top order batsman should also show some aggression in scoring runs. In tennis, since Nole switches over from defense to offense in no time, I feel he is the best batsman to bat at No. 3.

Again like Nadal, I would like to have him as another part-time bowler who can slow things down and frustrate his opponents. You need not teach him this, by the way. You should just ask his opponent how it feels to be at the receiving end, waiting for his serve. He taps the ball to the ground not less than ten times before serving. In fact, he would be a better part-time bowler than Rafa.

No. 4 Batsman – Roger Federer:

Most of the players who bat at No. 4 in Tests are their respective team’s premier batsman. Sachin Tendulkar of India has always batted for his team at No. 4 and so did Lara, barring a few times. The batsman who comes at No. 4 should be as good as the top three in technique and should be even better in attacking. Also he needs to be a complete player with a variety of shots, as given in the text books.

It is universally accepted by everyone in the world of tennis that Federer is the most complete player ever, and he is also regarded by many as the greatest of all time. And besides that, he plays attacking tennis right from the outset. He is good at finding mind-blowing winners out of angles which you can only dream of.

So if he comes and bats at No. 4, he will find boundaries at will and also will guard his wicket with his solid technique for which he is known. He can win matches with his batting single-handedly.

No. 5 batsman (also a batting all-rounder) – Juan Martin Del Potro:

He will be my batting all-rounder in cricket. In tennis, Del Potro has a decent serve and a very good game on the whole. Delpo can serve well but may not serve aces as consistently as some of the game’s big servers.

This suggests he would excel very well as a batsman and also bowl at a speed of 120 to 130 kmph. He may not be a strike bowler but then he can get a wicket or two if he bowls for longer spells. And also he is relatively good in defense, which is a good quality to have in a batting all-rounder.

No. 6 batsman (also a bowling all-rounder) – Jo-Wilfried Tsonga:

The Frenchman’s serve is good but his overall game is not particularly solid. He makes mistakes but then he is also aggressive. He is a very attacking player, perhaps more than all the others mentioned above. The only problem is that he is not great with his technique and his defense is not going to help him in protecting his wicket either.

So I would possibly consider him as a bowler who can touch 140 kmph or more consistently, and also do some hitting which can keep the scoreboard moving. Since he is not great with his technique, he may get out in the face of quality bowling, but then he would have caused huge damage to the bowling side by making the ball sail over the ropes. Also, since he bowls at a very fast pace, he would be one of my three strike bowlers.

No. 7 batsman (also a bowling all-rounder) – Tomas Berdych:

The same theory that is applicable to Tsonga is applicable to him too.

No. 8 batsman (a spin bowling or a slow bowling all-rounder) – David Ferrer:

Ferrer will be my spin bowler who can also bat, like say Ravi Shastri of yesteryear. He is strong in defense but not known for his attacking abilities. Unlike Nadal, he cannot muscle his opponents out. He will go slow and grind hard to get the runs on the board.

He is not a big server either in tennis and his serve is not very flat. So he would probably bowl like Andrew Symonds – spin or a slow medium pace, depending on the nature of the wicket.

No. 9 batsman (a left arm spinner and a reasonable batsman) – Fernando Verdasco:

A team, for its survival, needs variety and so it is important for my team also to have that in its armoury. So I will go for Fernando Verdasco who can bat a bit and bowl slow left-arm spin. He can bowl for longer spells, taking rest only for a few overs. He would be very useful on slower tracks and can justifiably bowl to the leg side of the right handed batsmen, without being called for a negative approach.

As his defense is not very strong, perhaps he may not survive for long at the crease, but he will certainly stand long enough to help a top order batsman score his hundred.

No. 10 batsman and a fast bowler – John Isner:

You don’t expect your No. 10 batsman to be a technically sound player. He will be in the team only to get wickets and while batting, if he slogs a few and gets a double digit score, it can be called a bonus.

John Isner of USA fits into this role quite beautifully. He has the height to be a fast bowler. In tennis, his serve is very difficult to handle. Similarly, at the pace that he bowls, the batsman will find him difficult to play. In fact, with his height, he can generate good bounce as a bowler, thus making the batsmen dance to his chin music.

He is known for his forehand as a tennis player and that is precisely what he uses the most to attack his opponent. Similarly, he can use cross-batted shots to slog the bowlers to the boundaries, though he cannot play normal cricketing shots.

No. 11 batsman and a fiery fast bowler – Ivo Karlovic:

In height, there is not much difference between the Croat and the former West Indian great, Joel Garner. You expect fast bowlers who bat at No. 11 to be very tall and be able to bowl fearsome deliveries. Karlovic, as a tennis professional, does only one thing right all throughout and that is delivering his serve quite well. He serves aces at will and also currently holds the record for the fastest ace ever produced.

So he would be my wicket-taking bowler who makes the opposition press the panic button right from ball one.

12th Man: My twelfth man would be a batting all-rounder and he would be Milos Raonic.

Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction and is meant to be in jest.