Who makes it to our Asian World Cup-winning dream team?
And how do we resolve the matter of who should be captain, and whether Imran Khan and Kapil Dev both deserve a place in the XI?
Sreshth Shah
18-Apr-2020
Few things tickle the imagination of cricket fans like conjuring up fantasy XIs, with the liberty of letting the mind wander across generations, eras, borders and nationalities. And what better time to indulge ourselves with a dose of fantasy than now? Welcome to Dream Team, a new series where we let our writers loose on a theme.
First up, an all-Asian dream XI to be picked from the World Cup-winning sides of 1983, 1992, 1996 and 2011 by an all-Asian selection panel of Sharda Ugra, Osman Samiuddin and Andrew Fernando. You can watch the full discussion in the video above.
Kapil Dev or Imran Khan?
Should that even be a question? Shouldn't both just waltz into the team? Just like India wouldn't have qualified for the knockout stage without Kapil's epic solo against Zimbabwe in 1983, it's hard to imagine Pakistan's 1992 campaign without the towering presence of Khan. But remember, our selectors have to balance the side and they also have to judge each player on the basis of their performance in one World Cup. So not so clear-cut then.
Should that even be a question? Shouldn't both just waltz into the team? Just like India wouldn't have qualified for the knockout stage without Kapil's epic solo against Zimbabwe in 1983, it's hard to imagine Pakistan's 1992 campaign without the towering presence of Khan. But remember, our selectors have to balance the side and they also have to judge each player on the basis of their performance in one World Cup. So not so clear-cut then.
The captaincy conundrum
We are spoilt for choice here. MS Dhoni, Arjuna Ranatunga, Khan and Kapil - all iconic leaders, inspirational in their different ways, and each of them had critical hands in their campaigns. Two of them - Kapil and Ranatunga - led teams with underdog tags to the title, while Khan roused his players from the brink of elimination, and Dhoni kept his side insulated from the noise as India went on to become the first team to win a World Cup at home.
We are spoilt for choice here. MS Dhoni, Arjuna Ranatunga, Khan and Kapil - all iconic leaders, inspirational in their different ways, and each of them had critical hands in their campaigns. Two of them - Kapil and Ranatunga - led teams with underdog tags to the title, while Khan roused his players from the brink of elimination, and Dhoni kept his side insulated from the noise as India went on to become the first team to win a World Cup at home.
The Yuvraj Singh dilemma
Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir all scored more runs than him in 2011, but Singh took 15 wickets, second only to Zaheer Khan's 21 in the World Cup and was the Player of the Tournament. However, the question is: does this team need him? Where will he bat? And will he be needed to bowl his ten overs?
Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir all scored more runs than him in 2011, but Singh took 15 wickets, second only to Zaheer Khan's 21 in the World Cup and was the Player of the Tournament. However, the question is: does this team need him? Where will he bat? And will he be needed to bowl his ten overs?
For more Dream Teams, click here
Sreshth Shah is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo