Greatest non-Asia ODI XI of all-time

Picking an all-time greatest side is never a walk in the park as there is always a large pool of great players to choose from. The major non-Asian countries that play cricket are Australia, England, New Zealand, West Indies and South Africa.

There is no dearth of great players from these countries, which makes this entire exercise a gruelling one. Here is the list of all-time great players from the non-Asian countries in ODI cricket. Not surprisingly, Australia, which has been the best team for the major part of ODI history, dominates this list.

Openers :

Adam Gilchrist(wk)

Adam Gilchrist's selection is a no-brainer. Think of wicketkeepers who can be in their respective teams by virtue of their batting ability alone and one can easily reel out a good number of names - Mahendra Singh Dhoni, AB de Villiers among them.

But it was not so till Gilchrist burst onto the international scene. Gilchrist's tremendous success with the bat irreversibly redefined the role of wicket-keeper and made it mandatory for the future keepers to be extremely good at batting too to merit a place in the team.

In ODIs, Gilchrist opened the batting for the Kangaroos and often gave them flying starts with his aggressive batting. His destructive ability with the bat was a crucial ingredient of the gigantic success of the world-beating Kangaroos.

In 287 matches, the Australian pouched 417 catches and inflicted 55 stumpings. With the willow, he scored over 9600 runs at a blistering Strike Rate of 96.94. Gilly, who is widely regarded as the greatest wicket-keeper in the entire history of the game, will be our gloveman.

Chris Gayle

Chris Gayle battered bowling attacks without any mercy

With a height in excess of 6 feet and a slightly wide frame, Chris Gayle cuts an imposing figure. The bowlers though will have to endure a far more intimidating aspect of Gayle - his big hitting prowess. Without an iota of doubt, Gayle is peerless in T20 cricket and is one of the best in ODIs.

His record of 9394 runs in 273 matches at a strike rate of 85 and an average of 37 is commendable. And then there is the small matter of 252 sixes.

Gayle's selection may raise a few eyebrows and illustrious names like Matthew Hayden, Gordon Greenidge, Shane Watson, Herschelle Gibbs are worth considering.

But Gayle's off spin, which helped him fetch 163 wickets, clinches the tight contest in his favour. It is important to have the extra spinning option because the lack of it would prove to be a setback on spin friendly pitches. With two blazing guns at the top in the form of Chris Gayle and Adam Gilchrist, it is going to be a real nightmare for the bowlers.

Middle order :

Ricky Ponting (c)

Ricky Ponting was a stylish batsman and had a huge appetite for runs

Ricky Ponting was the greatest Australian batsman of his time and few would disagree that he is one of the greatest ever too.

His aggregate of 13,704 runs in 375 ODIs at an average of 42 and a Strike Rate of 80 easily puts him among the pantheon of all-time batting greats in ODI cricket. He was a voracious batsman who excelled in playing all kinds of shots but his pull shot in particular was a treat to watch.

Few contemporary batsmen pulled and hooked more fiercely than this Aussie legend. He was a big match player with fine performances in the World Cups, the most notable one being the majestic 140 that helped a rampaging Aussie team steamroller India in the 2003 World Cup final.

While his test captaincy record might have been marred by Ashes defeats, he did not face many setbacks as the ODI captain. He led the Kangaroos to two World Cup titles. Who other than Ponting to lead this formidable side? He is an automatic choice and finds no competition.

Vivian Richards

Sir Vivian Richards - the greatest batsman ever?

Even in today's cricket, a strike rate of 90 is considered a splendid one for a batsman, but think of a batsman scoring at that rate in the 1970s and 1980s when the Strike Rates of most of his contemporary greats hovered around just 70. Sir Vivian Richards did exactly that and was undoubtedly the most devastating batsman of his era. He did not just score runs rapidly but got them in truckloads too.

While discussing Richards' greatness, his bowling skills often slip under the radar mainly due to his stupendous batting ability. He was good at bowling too as his record of 118 wickets in 131 innings demonstrates.

With players like Clive Lloyd, Desmond Haynes and Gordon Greenidge in its ranks, the all-conquering Windies team of the 1980s experienced no shortage of batting greatness but Richards was always a cut above his fellow greats.

The giant from Antigua, who relentlessly destroyed the bowling attacks of his day and did so, striking much terror in the hearts of the bowlers, is an easy choice for our side. If any frontline pacer has an off day, Richards could be called in to send in a few overs.

Brian Lara

Brian Charles Lara's batting was poetry in motion

While the West Indian team of Vivian Richards' era was invincible and decimated all the opposition, the team of Brian Lara's era was its antithesis. It followed the path of a steady and swift decline, plummeting to incredible lows. However, 'the Prince of Trinidad' kept on scaling peak after peak of batting greatness and rose in stature. He was one of the premier batsmen of his time. It is not an exaggeration to say that, for a significant part of his career, the West Indian team was a one-man army with the indefatigable Lara being that lone soldier. Perhaps, no other country's hopes relied on single player as much as the West Indian hopes did on this man.

Lara is the only West Indian batsman to breach the 10,000-run mark in ODIs. When in his elements, he can pulverise any bowling attack in the world effortlessly and set the scoreboard galloping. The elegant southpaw will be a vital cog in our middle order and will bat at no. 5.

AB de Villiers

De Villiers is the most entertaining batsman in today's cricket

Hitting sixes is one thing and hitting them like AB de Villiers is another! De Villiers can smash sixes in the most inconceivable manner and to the most unexpected corners of the park. It is not a hyperbole to claim that there is not a single area in the ground that de Villiers cannot hit a six over, if he wishes to. And this is precisely this ability, that earned him the nickname - 'Mr. 360', set him apart from fellow greats and made him a crowd favourite.

Does a batsman need to sacrifice Strike Rate in the quest for higher batting average? No, ask de Villiers. His batting average of 53 and a Strike Rate of 100 are both phenomenal by any yardstick. If many South Africans rate de Villiers as the greatest batsman ever to emerge from their country, they may not be mistaken.

How else can you keep a batsman of such calibre out of this team? The creative genius and the daredevil from Pretoria needs only 30 or 40 balls to wreak incalculable damage on the bowlers and will be our no.6.

He is a wonderful wicket-keeper too but with Gilly donning the gloves, de Villiers will not be entrusted with wicket-keeping duties.

All-rounder

Shaun Pollock

Shaun Pollock's line and length was flawless

Perhaps Shaun Pollock never got as much recognition as he deserved for his achievements. His all-round feats are no less glorious than those of his compatriot Jacques Kallis with the only difference being in their strong suits (for Pollock, it was bowling and for Kallis, batting). Yet, Pollock's name is not spoken of with the same frequency and intensity as that of Kallis in the debates about great allrounders of the modern era.

With the ball, Pollock was the South African version of Glenn McGrath. His wicket-taking rate was lower than McGrath's but he had a slightly superior economy rate (3.67 to McGrath's 3.88).

Just like the Aussie great, Pollock maintained nagging line and length and tormented the batsmen. Pollock was one of the leading bowlers of his time and ended his career with 393 wickets in 303 ODIs. Along with Allan Donald, he formed one of the most fearsome bowling combinations of the modern era.

As his average of 26.45 demonstrates, Pollock was an extremely capable batsman too and could score runs at a very brisk pace. At no.7, Pollock can provide the surge needed in the death overs. He is the main allrounder of our team.

Other contenders for this spot include Chris Cairns from New Zealand and Andrew Flintoff from England.

Pacers

Glenn McGrath

Glenn McGrath was a key factor behind the Aussie dominance

Glenn McGrath was the personification of accuracy with the ball. One often hears of the importance of sticking to good 'line and length' to succeed as a bowler and McGrath's bowling could be used as a textbook example for it. With an unwavering rhythm, McGrath severely restricted the batsmen's scoring opportunities provoking a false shot that often led to their dismissal. Even for the most belligerent batsmen of his era, his bowling remained a tough nut to crack.

McGrath grabbed 381 wickets in 250 ODIs at a stunning economy rate of 3.88 and an average of 22. Add to it, a whopping 563 wickets in 124 tests and a strong case could be made that he is the greatest pacer ever at least among the men who wore the baggy green. 'Pigeon' was the leader of the Aussie pace attack in both formats throughout the course of his career and will spearhead our pace attack as well.

#9 Allan Donald

In his heyday, Allan Donald was the scourge of the batsmen

Dale Steyn, the darling of the South African cricket now, may be crowned as the country's greatest pace bowler ever, at least in Test cricket. But till not very long ago, it was unthinkable to mention anybody's name as a rival to Allan Donald as the greatest South African bowler, regardless of the format.

Donald is one of the towering figures in the history of South African cricket and was the lynchpin of their bowling attack throughout the 1990s and the early 2000s. At his best, Donald had few rivals and heaped untold misery on the batting lineups. He had good pace and was capable of extracting movement that could be disconcerting to the best of the batsmen.

Donald took 272 wickets in 164 matches in ODI cricket and 330 wickets in 72 matches in test cricket. Fabulous stats! When he is on song, there is little respite for the batsmen. Who better than 'the White Lightning' to open the bowling with Glenn McGrath?

Brett Lee

Brett Lee was one of the fastest ever and could hit the 160 kmph mark

How can any all-time great XI be complete without the presence of an express pace bowler in its bowling unit ? After all, a fast bowler hitting the batsmen's stumps and sending them flying is the most delightful sight for any spectator.

The tag of 'fast bowler' is often used too liberally and is sometimes attached even to medium pacers, but genuine fast bowlers are probably the rarest commodity in any generation in cricket. Brett Lee belongs to that rare breed of 'out and out' quicks.

Brett Lee was fast, furious and lethal. On many occasions, he got the better of the batsmen with his sheer pace and when he added swing to it, he was virtually unplayable. Just like all great fast bowlers, he was a master at bowling yorkers.

The Aussie wicket-taking machine picked up 380 wickets in just 221 matches, which amounts to an astonishing 1.7 wickets per match. Not many in the entire history of ODIs took wickets at a faster rate.

Spinners

Shane Warne

Warne was a magician who pulled the wool over the eyes of many batsmen

The art of leg-spin is a difficult one and this claim is borne out by the fact that there are far more finger spinners than leg spinners. But, Shane Warne mastered it like no other player could in the entire history of the game.

He did not merely revive the dying art but glamourised it too. He was the consummate leg spinner and had a wide repertoire. His conventional leg-breaks turned prodigiously and far more than those of any other leg spinner did, making life difficult for the batsmen. As if that is not enough, he unleashed flippers, googlies and all the other weapons that are present in a leg-spinner's arsenal.

Because of self-inflicted problems and the emergence of Brad Hogg, Warne's ODI career was curtailed by a few years. However, by then, he had already accomplished enough to be regarded as one of the greatest bowlers in the format. In 194 matches, the leg-spin wizard grabbed a mind-blowing 293 wickets.

Since this is a non-Asian XI, there is no Muttiah Muralitharan for us to think of the famous 'Warne vs Murali' rivalry. Warne's closest competitor is New Zealand's Daniel Vettori but then, there is no doubt as to who the better bowler is. With Murali not in the contest, Warne wins the spinner's slot hands down.