Dashing opener Virender Sehwag was paired with another Indian opening great Sunil Gavaskar, while Sachin Tendulkar occupied his customary number four slot. All-rounder Kapil Dev completed the tally in a squad that also has four Australians, two West Indians and one Pakistani.
In fact, Sehwag and Tendulkar are the only two cricketers who are presently active in international cricket.
Fans voted on the ICC’s official website, using a shortlist provided by the game’s governing body, to pick their leading eleven as part of the activities to commemorate the 2000th Test match which will be played at Lord’s between England and India on Thursday.
International Cricket Council CEO Haroon Largot, while announcing the squad at Lord’s on Monday, said: “The huge interest generated during the past month was amazing as media and supporters worldwide speculated and then selected their greatest Test team of all time.
“It supports our view of the everlasting popularity of Test match cricket.” There was no surprise among the Australians picks. Batting legend the late Sir Donald Bradman led the list followed by leg-spinner Shane Warne, wicketkeeper-batsman Adam Gilchrist and paceman Glenn McGrath. Among the West Indians, former left-handed batsman Brian Lara and right-arm quick Curtly Ambrose made it to the list along with the lone Pakistani being left-arm fast-bowling great Wasim Akram.
Some of the notable omissions from the list were Caribbean greats Sir Garfield Sobers and Sir Vivian Richards. The ICC, however, avoided naming the captain of the squad. There was also no player voted into the team from South Africa, New Zealand and Sri Lanka.
“Selecting from such greats was no easy job,” pointed out Lorgat, trying to throw some light on why the likes of Sobers and Richards could have missed out. “Not surprisingly, the selection mainly reflects modern players seen by present day supporters. There are many greats from the past who would have easily merited selection in this team, but it is nevertheless interesting to see fans’ view on their greatest eleven of all time.” The ICC has planned a series of activities during this week in the build-up and during the England-India Test match to celebrate the 2000th Test.
The team: Virender Sehwag, Sunil Gavaskar, Donald Bradman, Sachin Tendulkar, Brian Lara, Kapil Dev, Adam Gilchrist (wk), Shane Warne, Wasim Akram, Curlty Ambrose and Glenn McGrath.