All Time World Test XI

After announcing my All Time ODI XI there's an even more complicated task at hand and that is to name the all time Test World XI.If Cricket has survived & if it has managed to win so many fans all around the world then Test Cricket has to be the answer.Test Cricket is widely recognised as the purest form or the platform whereby a cricketer's cricketing skills are seriously put to 5 days of gruel test.Being an avid follower of the game since my childhood,have followed nuances & insights of the game no ordinary fan would have thought of.It is almost impossible to name one All Time XI so have decided upon 3 All Time Team,that is,First All Time,Second All Time & Third All Time:

FIRST ALL TIME TEAM:

OPENERS:

Sunil Gavaskar

Sir Jack Hobbs

MIDDLE ORDER:

Sir Donald Bradman(Captain)
Sachin Tendulkar
Brian Lara
Sir Garfield Sobers(all rounder)

Adam Gilchrist(wicket keeper)

BOWLERS:

Shane Warne
Curtly Ambrose

Glen McGrath

Wasim Akram

12thMan:

Michael Holding/Ian Botham

SECOND ALL TIME TEAM:

OPENERS:

Wally Hammond

Kumar Sangakara(wicket keeper)

MIDDLE ORDER:

Rahul Dravid
Sir Vivian  Richards

Jacques Kallis(all rounder)

Steve Waugh

Imran Khan(Captain)

BOWLERS:

Shaun Pollock

Anil Kumble

Richard Hadlee

Muttiah Murlitharan

12th Man:

Michael Hussey/Dennis Lillee

ALL TIME THIRD TEAM:

OPENERS:

Matthew Hayden

Virender Sehwag

MIDDLE ORDER:

Ricky Ponting(Captain)

Kevin Pietersen

Mahela Jayawardene

Kapil Dev(all rounder)

Alec Stewart(wicket keeper)

BOWLERS:

Waqar Younis

Courtney Walsh

Malcomm Marshall

BS Chandrashekhar

12thMan:

Allan Donald/VVS Laxman

All Time World ODI XI

Cricket since its inception by the English has seen the game evolved over the years.The ODI format has been a successful one like the Test Format.It has witnessed some of the greatest of batsman in Tendulkar & Ponting and bowlers like McGrath & Akram.It is quite an impossible feat to name all the greats in one elusive team so have decided upon 3 teams,that is,All Time First Team,All Time Second Team,All Time Third Team:

ALL TIME FIRST TEAM:

OPENERS:

Adam Gilchrist (Wicket Keeper)

Sachin Tendulkar

MIDDLE ORDER:

Sourav Ganguly(Captain)

Viv Richards

Jacques Kallis(all rounder)
Michael Bevan
MS Dhoni

BOWLERS:

Shane Warne

Wasim Akram
Muttiah Muralitharan

Glen McGrath

12th Man:

Chaminda Vaas/Michael Hussey

SECOND ALL TIME TEAM:

OPENERS:

Kumar Sangakara(wicket keeper)

Mark Waugh

MIDDLE ORDER:

Rahul Dravid

Brian Lara
Ricky Ponting

Yuvraj Singh

Chris Cairns
Kapil Dev(All Rounder)

BOWLERS:

Waqar Younis

Shaun Pollock

Brett Lee

12th Man:

Inzamam Ul Haq/Saqlain Mushtaq

ALL TIME THIRD TEAM:

OPENERS:

Sanath Jayasuria

Matthew Hayden

MIDDLE ORDER:

Virat Kohli

Kevin Pietersen

AB De Velliers(wicket keeper)

Mahela Jayawardene(Captain)

Andrew Flintoff(all rounder)

BOWLERS:

Daniel Vettori

Darren Gough

Javagal Srinath

Shane Bond

12th Man:

Damein Martyn/Shoaib Akhtar

All Time Team India XI(ODI):

Having won the World Cup twice in 1983 & 2011 & also having won the World Championship Of Cricket in 1985 held in Australia,Team India has produced some oustanding players in the shorter format of the game that is the 50 over format.Tendulkar,Ganguly,Dhoni,Yuvraj are some of its most iconic players

An all time Team India XI ODI could easily give any all time team a run for it's money.Here's my pick for the All time Team India XI (ODI):

OPENERS:

Sachin Tendulkar

Sourav Ganguly(Captain)

MIDDLE ORDER:

Rahul Dravid

Mohammed Azharuddin

Ajay Jadeja

Yuvraj Singh/Virat Kohli

Kapil Dev

MS Dhoni(Vice Captain/Wicket Keeper)

Bowlers:

Anil Kumble

Zaheer Khan

Javagal Srinath

12th Man

Maninder Singh

All Time Team India XI{Test}

Indian Cricket has produced some of the finest players that the game has ever seen be it Gavaskar,Tendulkar,Kapil DEv,Dravid,Ganguly so many of them.It is quite a difficult task to handpick an all time India XI but here's the thing if it were to happen Team India would look almost invincible.Here's my pick for the all time Team India XI Test squad:

Openers:

Sunil Gavaskar

Virendra Sehwag

Middle Order:

Rahul Dravid

Sachin Tendulkar

Sourav Ganguly(Captain)

VVS Laxman

MS Dhoni(wicket keeper)

Kapil Dev(All Rounder)

Bowlers:

Anil Kumble

Zaheer Khan

Javagal Srinath

12th Man:

Gundapa Vishwanath/BS Chandrashekhar

It's a Bird,It's a Plane,Nope its Usian Bolt

Usian "Lightning" Bolt has to be one of the greatest of athletes & sportsmen that anyone could ever witness.Bolt hasn't broken but shattered many of the records be it the 100m,4x100m relay & 200m.He has won it all be it the Olympic Gold Medal or theWorld Championship.The kind of athlete that he is it has become almost impossible even for the likes of Yohan Blake,Tyson Gay,Justin Gatlin,Asafa Powell & others to stop him. Bolt has charmed the likes of everyone with his signature move after winning the race,people really love Usian Bolt.Reigning World & Olympic Champion Bolt has surpassed the likes of Carl Lewis & Michael Johnson with his phenomenal display of speed on the track.Gold Medals in the 2008 & 2012 summer olympics coupled his heroic win and made him a fan favourite.

His credentials include the 100m in staggering 9.58s & the 200m record at 19.19s.Bolt has always preferred the 200m more than the 100m race as it suits him more because of the slow start he takes but then strikes of with sheer pace.Bolt burst onto the scene after 2008 Beijing Olympics where he shattered the world record for 100 & 200m.Magnificent athelte that he is  Bolt has thus dominated the field of athletics like anyone has ever done before.At 6'5 @ 210 lbs with insane shoulders & huge arms Bolt is surely a magnetic personality.With 6 Olympic Gold Medals & 8 World Championships Gold Bolt is surely one of the most dominant & decorated athletes that we have ever seen.His rise to prominence has really made us awestruck by his onfield greatness every time we see him run.Bolt recently concluded Moscow world Championships in 100m,200m& 4x100m relay & became tied with all time great Carl Lewis with most gold medals in world championships.Even the likes of Prince Harry was bowled over by the charm & athletic genius that Bolt posseses.Bolt is a beast on the track, he likes to dominate at the same time he wants the world to know that he wants to be the greatest athlete & sportsmen that one has ever seen.He is a phenomenal athlete,his genius cannot be described,laughing assasin to be precise.Time and again Usian Bolt has entertained all of us by his sheer brilliance & oustanding superman heroics on the field.How often do we see an athlete slowing down just before the finish line not because he is tired but because he is excited,fiercly competitive & wants to win at any cost even though it cost him a couple of more seconds.The Legend of Usian Bolt is epic.He is a cult with the fans.His attitude towards domination & his quest & obsession of winning has surely made him one of the greatest athletes that we have ever seen.

BATMAN-MOST ICONIC COMIC CHARACTER

Perhaps one of the most legendary & iconic comic characters ever created till date.It was created by Bob Kane & Bill Finger,had it not been for them we would have surely missed out the legend of Nolan's movie on the Dark Knight.Being an ardent follower of the Batman right from my childhood,Batman The Animated Series was the first show whereby i saw my hero for the first time.The memory still remains intact with me,fighting over with my family to watch the show twice a day on Cartoon Network.

There have been many legendary comic characters till date like The Man of Steel-Superman,The Spiderman,Wolverine,He-Man,Hulk,Iron Man besides many more, but what makes The Batman stand out from the rest is is sheer human abilities.He isn't born special but overcame many of his adversities to become one with Vengence,no super powers whatsoever.The thing that makes his legend even more cult is his sheer Bad-Ass attitude towards the bad guys. It's phenomenal to watch.I must admit i am 22 right now & i am righting this as a sheer fan of his(self proclaimed biggest fan of his:D).His cars,his gadgets,his attitude,no-nonsense approach,his sheer presence as showcased in Christopher Nolan's movie is iconic.Trust me i have watched The Batman trilogy more than anyone i know of & it still gives me goosebumps.Other comic characters are great in their own way but the Batman's legend is such it cannot be defined.His duels with the Ras-al-Ghul,Bane,Poison Ivy,The Riddler,The Mad Hatter,Two Face,Scarecrow&his biggest nemesis ,The Joker have been more than iconic.The Batman has always enjoyed cult status among its fans & rightly so.You call him whatever u might want to-The Dark Knight,The Caped Crusader,Watchful Protector.

The World's Greatest Detective he is what he is called.The Batman trilogy by Nolan further boosted the waning state of Batman movies in the past which were not quite upto the marks.Who can forget the iconic DC Comics which showcased Batman to the world audience.May 27,1939 & mind you still counting the Legend of the Dark Knight still goes strong..His chemistry with the Joker is absolutely fantastic

With no super powers,inhuman strength,skilfull training & zeal to overturn the fortunes of Gotham City & to instill fear in the minds of Criminals the Batman for sure made us a huge fan of his.I am a fan of him since i was a kid & i will always remain so,even more when i listen to the Batman theme by Hans Zimmer or Shirley Walker.The Batman may be a fictional character but he will always remain the one i idiolised & dreamt of following his principles.It may sound as if i am writing a fan letter to my childhood hero but he indeed is a Hero.An iconic character with phenomenal skills,brute strength,a mind that even the likes of Sherlock Holmes & Alfred Hitchcock would have envied..The Batmobile,Batpod & plenty of his gadgets made us shell shocked & touched our childlike enthusiasm time & again.As intimidating he was to his enemies he was & will always be a cool,bad-ass,detective,hero to his fans.Here's to the greatest comic character ever that i know of The Batman.

MS Dhoni-Greatest ODI Batsman ever?

With the recent triumph in the tri-series held in West Indies & also winning  the final edition of the champions trophy Mahendra Singh Dhoni has time & again proved all of us of his superman abilities with the cricket bat as well as sheer brilliance while donning the captain's hat.The guy from Ranchi has really conquered ODI cricket to say the least,a format which he enjoys more than Test Cricket.Dhoni who was a football enthusiast in his school days was a goalkeeper for his team.While growing up he idolised Amitabh Bachchan,Lata Mangeshkar,Adam Gilchrist & the man he would help cherish his dream of winning the ultimate trophy of his illustrious hall of hame career,the Master Blaster himself Sachin Tendulkar.

ODI Cricket has seen many mavericks with the bat lyk Sir Viv Richards,Sachin Tendulkar,Saurav Ganguly,Mark Waugh,Michael Bevan,Saeed Anwar,Ricky Ponting & Brian Lara besides many others but Dhoni has surely booked a place for himself in the list of the game's greatest ever.It is unfair to compare MS Dhoni with Sir Viv or Sachin or any other player for the matter of fact but it can be said that Dhoni has been one of ODI cricket's finest ever.His amazing display of powerful shots besides calmness while playing under pressure is that of profound significance.He has been one of the greatest finishers the game has ever seen.The man has won it all u name it ICC T20 World cup,ICC Champions Trophy,ICC Cricket World Cup,Tri Series win down under against the Aussies besides also help India be the World no.1 Team in both the ODI as well as the Test Format.He had his share of quite large amount of criticism some people even questioning his place in the squad,his unorthodox batting style his captaincy but he has time & again proved his metal with the bat.In 200 ODI innings he has amassed 7358  runs @ an astounding average of 51.45 with 57 not outs besides scoring 8 Hundreds & 48 Half Centuries.He bats quite lower down the order, sometimes even promotes himself up the order.He performs when it matters the most,crunch time.He is clutch when the teams needs to chase.He has time & again won the match for the Indian Team especially his innings of 183* against Sri Lanka @ Jaipur,148 against Pak @ Vizag,impeccable 91 in the world cup finals,or for the matter of fact his most recent knock of 45 in the finals against Sri Lanka,he won the match with India needing 15 of the very last over.He has amassed bowlers like Mohammed Sami,Brett Lee,Malinga,Dale Steyn,James Anderson for plenty.He has been an impact player,he has won countless matches for the team.Personally i feel he will one day go down as the  one of the greatest ODI batsman of all time.People might disagree they may say it has to be Sir Viv Or Sachin but i feel the impact that Dhoni has,the matches he has won when the chips are down,a complete match winner.That's what matters,winning.Take a bow MS Dhoni your a thorough legend perhaps one of the most dominant & greatest ever#respect.