Published: Aug 07, 2016, 01:16 PM (IST)
Edited: Aug 07, 2016, 01:16 PM (IST)
Spin legend Shane Warne, former Pakistan captain Rameez Raja and former English captain Mike Atherton had their task cut out recently when the official broadcasters of England – Pakistan Test series, Sky Sports gave them a challenging assignment. The three wise-men, who are a part of Sky Sports’ commentary team for the series being played in England, accepted this tricky challenge and came up with their 90s and current World XIs. ALSO READ: Virat Kohli to lead Shane Warne, Mike Atherton, Rameez Raja’s current World Test XI.
The three cricketers, after thorough deliberations, came up with their two XIs. The current World XI had David Warner and Alastair Cook as openers, with batting sensations Joe Root and Virat Kohli at three and four. Australian skipper Steve Smith and South African captain AB de Villiers follow at five and six, with AB also taking additional responsibility of wicketkeeping. The bowlers and all-rounders’ slots are taken by Ben Stokes, Ravichandran Ashwin, James Anderson, Yasir Shah and Mitchell Starc, with Morne Morkel being the 12th man. ALSO READ: Ricky Ponting to captain Sourav Ganguly’s All-Time XI.
While this seemed to be a comparatively easier job, picking a 90s XI was more challenging, given the three players come from that era. But they did a fair job in picking the side, which had Michael Slater and Saeed Anwar as openers and Ricky Ponting, Sachin Tendulkar and Brian Lara in the middle order. South African great Jacques Kallis and Sri Lankan legend Kumar Sangakkara take sixth and seventh spot with the latter being the keeper as well. Wasim Akram, Muttiah Muralitharan, Curtley Ambrose and Warne himself form the bowling unit, with Glenn McGrath as the 12th man.
Warne announced these sides by posting the sheet carrying names of these XIs through his official Instagram account. He also asked his fans whether they agree or disagree with the teams, while saying Hashim Amla and Kane Williamson were unlucky to miss out in his opinion. Warne also said that this is the squad and the final XI would be picked depending on conditions. Check it here:
