Sports

Sports

The best pack of them all
By Aubrey Kuruppu
India's top six-- Sehwag, Chopra, Dravid, Tendulkar, Lakshman and Ganguly - by common consent are currently the best in the world. How justifiable is this conclusion? For one, Chopra, although he is limpet-like at the crease and has provided in tandem with Sehwag many a solid start, has sketchy claims to greatness. Sehwag has only recently started hitting his straps as an opener and in consequence, doesn't have a long history of success in that position. Dravid, the mister consistent in that line up, has earned his place in the sun. The great Tendulkar has begun to show signs of mortality after fourteen years on the international scene, and having just turned thirty.

Lakshman, of the sublime touch, and is yet to perform against all comers. A big double hundred (281), a 167 at Sydney a few years ago and some wonderful knocks in December/January have propelled him into the limelight. In his defence, he was made tons of runs against the best in the business-Australia. Lest we forget, Lakshman was not part of the Indian team at the 2003 world cup.

Coming to the skipper, he certainly lacks consistency. A big hundred in the first test against Australia was followed by a pretty ordinary series. It was his deputy Dravid who said a mouthful regarding off-side stroke-play: "First there is god, and then there is Saurav".

The Indians are collectively a fabulous top order but how do they compare. What do you make of Bradman's invincibles in 1984? Morris, Barnes, Bradman, Harvey, Hassett and Miller, the top six. A line up having the incomparable Don hardly needs any batters after number six. Yet Lindwall who came in at eight or nine was a test centurion. Not having seen any of these Aussie in the flesh, judgment has to be suspended. But don't bit against this line up. After all didn't they get 720 in a day against Trevor Bailey's Essex side, and didn't they make 404-3 in a day's play to win the test at Leeds?

Whenever there is talk of attractive batsmanship, the dashers from the Caribbean are obviously part of the equation. Cast your mind back to the early 1960' and the West Indian top six of Hunte, McMorris, Kanhai, Sobers, Nurse/Butcher and Worrell-The solidity provided by Hunte, the dash supplied by Kanhai, Nurse's elegance and Worrell's lazy artistry were all allied to the magnificent attracting skills of the then world record holder Sobers. Just as well, that the attacks of the test playing countries in those far-off times were much better than the corresponding attacks today!

The West Indians were dismissed occasionally for moderate totals, but only occasionally, be it noted. Boycott, Luckharst, Edrich, Cowdrey, D'Oliveira and Knott (the improviser) made stocks of runs in the early seventies. Yet for sheer attractiveness and enjoyment, I feel they must yield place to the Pakistani line-up of the mid seventies: Sadiq, Majid, Zaheer, Mustaq, Miandad and Asif Iqbal. Pakistanis don't come better than that!

Back to the Caribbean and Lloyd's all conquering warriors of the early eighties. One of the best opening combinations ever - Greenidge and Haynes - were followed by Kallicharran, Richards, Gomes (the one steady unifying force) and the ring-master himself, Clive Lloyd.

England-poor, forgotten and battered England-can lay claim Gooch, Robinson/Fowler, Gower, Gatting, Lamb and Botham. The controversial Chris Broad comes in to the reckoning, too. A point of interest is that this team's highs coincided with Australia's lows. The Aussies were fist about trying go lift themselves up from their boot-straps under Border, after Kim Hughes' tearful abdication.

The claims of India's top seven in 1985/6 are indeed well founded. That technicians par excellence. Gavaskar, opened with the dashing Srikanth. The rock-solid Mohinder Amaranath (who changed his stance ever so often) was followed by the Azaharuddin, who started off with 3 hundreds in his first three tests, only to fall off the pedestal about one and a half decades later. Shastri came in at six and next was Kapil Dev. Inter alia, Kapil is famous for two fantastic performances. Tunbridge Wells, England and the 1983 World Cup. It was won by India ultimately, but in a round robin match against Duncan Fletcher's Zimbabweans, India was reeling at 17-5 before Kapil belted 175 not out in a typical display of bold leadership.

Again, a year or two before his exit, India needed 24 runs to avert the follow on with the last man joining Kapil. He took the devastatingly simple path to glory, hammering the next four deliveries from Hemmings for four sixes. Such was the quality of the man!

Lords 1984 and Englishman testified to the excellence of Sri Lanka's top six. Sidath Wettimuny, Amal Silva, Dias, Mendis, Ranatunge and Madugalle, almost all of them turned the heat on Botham, Agnew, Ellison and company. Around 10 years later, the Sri Lankans had another excellent top six in Jayasuriya, Mahanama, Gurusingha, Aravinda, Ranatunga and Tillekeratne. Unfortunately, their successors in the early part of this century have not shown the same resilience in adversity.

Fittingly, I have it for the world champions to round off. Back to the last years of Border, and the Aussie top six contained Taylor, Boon, Jones, Mark and Steve Waugh beside the skipper himself. One thinks that is a more formidable line-up than the one that opposed Sri Lanka a couple of weeks back.

Apologise to some selection committees for batting a few players in slightly different positions than they would have envisaged. As for my best six, Ostrich-like, I bury my head in the sand.

Top