Let us continue the IPL Party with SRH All-Time XI!
Ever since Deccan Chargers became SRH, they have been ultra consistent. With the likes of Shikhar Dhawan, David Warner, and Kane Williamson, their top order has been in safe hands.
Their most unique characteristic, though, is their bowling. Regularly in slow Hyderabad pitches, they have defended scores between 140-150. Most Indian fast bowling internationals have been acquired by SRH at some point or another – Irfan Pathan, Ishant Sharma, Ashish Nehra, and Bhuvneshwar Kumar as well as the up and coming Siddharth Kaul, Barinder Sran, Khaleel Ahmed, and Basil Thampi.
With so many choices available, who makes it in YOUR SRH All-Time XI? VOTE BELOW AND SHARE YOUR XI WITH YOUR FRIENDS!
*Note: We are NOT including players from Deccan Chargers since SRH has been pretty successful since 2013 (even though players like Rohit Sharma, Andrew Symonds, Adam Gilchrist, and RP Singh were instrumental in their 2009 win).
The Catch
As mentioned above, great top order, foreign players, and fast bowlers – but what about the Indian batsmen? Manish Pandey/Vijay Shankar/Yusuf Pathan maybe?
Warner, Williamson, Bairstow? Shakib, Nabi, Rashid Khan, and the Fizz? All great international players. Pick 4 now. The struggle SRH still faces—the problem of plenty.
Image Courtesy: Bhuvneshvar Kumar – Dee03 / CC BY-SA 3.0; Kane Williamson – Mark Lockett / CC BY-SA 2.0; Jonny Bairstow – Mcadge / CC BY-SA 4.0; David Warner – Original photograph: NAPARAZZICrop: Ham105 / CC BY-SA 2.0
Today, Glenn Maxwell and Alex Carey forged a remarkable partnership to seal a memorable win for Australia, resulting in England’s team first ODI loss at home in 4 years.
Guess what? Maxwell will be representing Kings XI Punjab this season, while Carey will be playing for the Delhi Capitals, so let us talk about them today.
KXIP and DC – Who Are They?
DC and KXIP – these teams are an enigma. They have some of the best players but never manage to go far in the tournament barring a season here or there.
Delhi Capitals, formerly the Delhi Daredevils have had players like ABD, Dilshan, David Warner, even Andre Russell and Gautam Gambhir, Dinesh Karthik from the Indian contingent. For some reason, they performed well afterthey were released by Delhi.
Alright, Ready for the VOTING?Tip: Both teams have bought great players on paper in the past, but can you remember if they actually performed well with KXIP or DC?
The Catch:
Amla, Sangakkara, and Jayawardene all had good records at KXIP but did they play enough?
Virender Sehwag and Irfan Pathan are present in both lists, will you pick them in either? Does Yuvi even make it for Punjab?
Chris Gayle was a star for RCB, but has he done enough for KXIP?
Kings XI Punjab
Highlights: 2014 (Runners-Up), 2008 (3rd)
Audience Poll – KXIP – All Time XI
Pick 11 players from the list – with 4 foreign players maximum. You need to have a wicketkeeper and at least 5 bowling options.
My Kings XI Punjab – All Time XI
Well, here is our All-Time XI for KXIP. We have highlighted the 4 foreign players in our XI.
Shaun Marsh (2008-2017)
KL Rahul (2018-2019)
Glenn Maxwell (2014-2017)
George Bailey (2014-2015) – Captain
David Miller (2012-2019)
Wriddhiman Saha (2014-2017) – WK
Axar Patel (2014-2018)
Ravichandran Ashwin (2018-2019)
Piyush Chawla (2008-2013)
Parvinder Awana (2012-2014)
Sandeep Sharma (2013-2017)
Honorable Mentions: Kumar Sangakkara (2008-2010), Adam Gilchrist (2011-2013), Praveen Kumar (2011-2013), Andrew Tye (2018-2019)
Audience Poll Results
KL Rahul
Virender Sehwag
Shaun Marsh
George Bailey– Captain
Glenn Maxwell
Yuvraj Singh
Wriddhiman Saha – WK
Axar Patel
Sandeep Sharma
Andrew Tye/ Mitchell Johnson (Tie)
Piyush Chawla
Some Votes:Adam Gilchrist, Manan Vohra, Irfan Pathan, Ravichandran Ashwin
Less than 2 Votes: Kumar Sangakkara, Mandeep Singh, Paul Valthaty, Parvinder Awana, Praveen Kumar
Audience Poll – DC
Highlights: 2009, 2012, 2019 (3rd), 2008 (4th)
My DD/DC – All Time XI
Virender Sehwag (2008-2013) – Captain
David Warner (2009-2013)
Sanju Samson (2016-2017)
Shreyas Iyer (2015-2019)
Rishabh Pant (2016-2019) – WK
JP Duminy (2014-2016)
Chris Morris (2016-2019)
Amit Mishra (2008-2019)
Umesh Yadav (2010-2013)
Morne Morkel (2011-2013)
Shahbaz Nadeem (2011-2018)
Honorable Mentions: Kagiso Rabada (2017-2019), Mohammad Shami (2014-2018), Kedar Jadhav (2010-2015), Quinton de Kock (2014-2016)
DC XI – Audience Poll
David Warner
Virender Sehwag – Captain
Shikhar Dhawan/ Prithvi Shaw (Tie)
Ab De Villiers/ Kevin Pietersen (Tie)
Shreyas Iyer – Wicketkeeper
Rishabh Pant
JP Duminy/ Chris Morris/Morne Morkel (Tie)
Amit Mishra
Kagiso Rabada
Umesh Yadav/Irfan Pathan (Tie)
Shahbaz Nadeem
Less than 2 Votes:TM Dilshan, Mahela Jayawardene, Gautam Gambhir, Quinton de Kock, Dinesh Karthik, Sanju Samson, Kedar Jadhav, Ashish Nehra, Dirk Nannes
COMMENT BELOW to share your XI or if we missed a player you would have liked. Share, subscribe to the blog, and enjoy!
And visit this post if you missed our All-time XI with RR and KKR and RCB.
Well, well, well, the IPL is here. It is that time of the year. Okay not quite, 2020 is weird. Anyway, six months delayed, but IPL-13 is finally here.
Cricket has restarted and England has done their part in hosting West Indies, Pakistan, and Australia. Now it is time to jump ship across to the U.A.E. for the Indian Premier League.
ESPNCricinfo recently did a series on all-time IPL XI teams. Although we agree on some players, I have a different take on most teams. So for the next few days, we will be doing IPL All-Time XI, 2 teams each day.
Why not start with the teams that inspired the IPL craze? Yes, I am talking about the winners of the 1st IPL, Rajasthan Royals, and Kolkata Knight Riders for whom Brendon McCullum blazed 158 in the first game of the IPL.
All-Time XI – Rules
First, we will first give you a chance to vote on who you think should be in the All-Time XI and then display our All-Time XI.
Limit to 11 players per team (you can play around with the balance of the team)
Maximum of 4 foreign players in the XI
Needs to be able to field a team (a wicket-keeper and 5 bowling options at least)
Note, with major auctions every three years, several players may be in multiple All-Time XI teams.
Lasith Malinga. 3 ODI hat-tricks of which 2 came in World Cups. 2 T20I hat-tricks. 4 wickets in a row twice, once each in ODI and T20I. Enough said.
Alright, let me break that down a little more.
Taking 4 wickets in a match is considered good. He has done that in 4 consecutive deliveries multiple times. One hat-trick in a lifetime is a golden achievement. He has taken 3 wickets in 3 deliveries on five separate occasions.
Lasith Malinga has hat-tricks for breakfast. He is just that good.
Sri Lankan cricket has been struggling since the golden generation of Jayasuriya-Dilshan-Sangakkara-Jayawardane-Vaas-Muralitharan-Malinga came to an end. With Sri Lanka recently folding out for 91 in a T20I match against England, we cannot help but look back at one of the stars of the golden days of Sri Lankan cricket.
Malinga turned 37 last year. He has been playing international cricket for 16 years. It seems he has been playing cricket forever.
Same rocking hairstyle, same slinging action, and the same drive to excel. Lasith Malinga has not changed one bit.
The Beginning
Mali, as he is affectionately called, debuted way back in 2004 in a test match against Australia, picking six wickets in the match.
Among a rising golden generation of Sri Lankan cricket that followed the ’96 generation with mellow characters like Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardene, Muttiah Muralitharan, Chaminda Vaas, and Tillakaratne Dilshan, Sri Lanka had found a rockstar.
He was just so different from the rest. That rockstar hair, the left-eye piercing, the in-swinging yorker, and of course, the slinging action.
Different turned into unique, which became something truly special.
With the introduction of Ajantha Mendis and Angelo Mathews, the new entrants to the M-factor: Malinga, Mendis, Muralitharan, and Mathews, Sri Lanka’s golden generation was complete.
Together, Sri Lanka would win the 2014 T20 World Cup, make it to the finals of 2007 & 2011 ODI World Cup as well as the 2009 & 2012 T20 World Cup along with semi-final appearances in the 2003 ODI WC and 2010 T20 WC.
Sri Lanka have been struggling recently. We cannot help but look back at the golden generation.
The Memory
Although I had seen Malinga a few times before, the first moment which caught my eyes was that match against South Africa in the 2007 CWC.
Chasing 210, South Africa were cruising 206-5 in 44.4 overs. Enter Lasith Malinga.
206-6. 206-7. 207-8. 207-9.
First person to take four wickets in four consecutive deliveries in an ODI.
South Africa squeezed to victory with just 10 balls remaining. Although South Africa narrowly escaped, this was the type of spell that would be associated with Malinga.
If Mali gets into his zone, a flurry of wickets, a moment of inspiration, and a comeback is right around the corner.
The Statistics
Due to knee troubles, Malinga had to take a premature retirement from Test match cricket, playing his final test in 2010, at the age of 26. Still ended up with 101 Test wickets.
But when one door closes, another opens. He utilized his short bursts effectively in T20 cricket, becoming arguably the best T20 bowler of all-time in this new era.
Furthermore, Malinga saved his best for the ODI World Cups. Apart from the two hat-tricks, he took 56 world cup wickets, 3rd highest of all time.
The shorter the format, the more lethal Malinga is, as the statistics demonstrate below:
Tests: 30 matches, 101 wickets, 33.15 average, Best Innings – 5/50, Best Match – 9/210
He featured in Cricinfo’s Team of the Tournament in the 2011 World Cup, the 2011 IPL (where he was also the Purple Cap holder), and the 2011 Champions League among others.
The cherry on top of the cake would occur in 2014, when he would captain Sri Lanka to 2014 T20 World Cup glory.
The IPL
No discussion on Malinga is complete without the IPL. Malinga is the highest wicket-taker in all IPLs,even while playing one season less than the next 4 on the list.
Only one of few players to have played for one team, Malinga is synonymous with the rise of Mumbai Indians as he was an instrumental force in their championship wins- 2013, 2015, 2017, and 2019.
Even after a not-that-great IPL, he would comeback and defend an amazing final over in the IPL Final 2019.
Apart from being their bowling spearhead, he has played a crucial role in mentoring the next generation of fast bowlers from around the world. Most notably, Jasprit Bumrah’s rise has been credited with Malinga’s influence at MI.
Later in his career, he has been seen on numerous occasions meeting players from opposition camps and giving them tips. Sign of a truly great player and leader.
What Makes Malinga So Great?
The consistency, accuracy, and longevity.
Bowling a yorker is hard. A bouncer even harder. Four World campaigns later, bowling consistently with recurring injury issues for 16 long years? A miracle.
Malinga’s skill set is an envy of the world. Slower yorker, fast yorker, in-swinging yorker, out-swinging yorker, wide-yorker, slower bouncer, fast-bouncer—he has it all. The astonishing part is he can bowl any of these at will. The Australians will testify to that.
Malinga’s bowling has become an art form. He perfected his yorkers by aiming just at a shoe in the nets. Slingy bowling style does not help the batsmen either.
More than the bowling style, it has been his ability to out-think the batsman. In the age of technology and video recordings, everyone knows what Malinga can bowl. They just do not seem to figure out when he will bowl what and still end up getting tricked.
The Legacy
One of the less talked about characteristics of Malinga has been his commitment to the Sri Lankan cricket team. Since the retirement of the golden generation, Sri Lanka’s fortunes have nosedived. Once guaranteed semi-finalists, Sri Lanka now ranks 7th and 8th in T20I and ODI respectively.
Amidst the nosedive, Mali stayed with the national team. He captained them in dire circumstances, even starring in their 2019 World Cup campaign and a little after to help in the transition.
Did he have to do that? Not really. With bad knees and paunch belly showing up, he could have retired from international cricket and enjoyed successes with various T20 leagues around the world.
But Mali being Mali, he decided to stay and give back to the team that has taken him to greatness.
That is what Lasith Malinga teaches us.
There will good times and tough times. Ups and downs will occur, but you need to stay true to your sport, art or profession. Never give up, continue to improve and develop new skills, and most importantly, mentor and help anyone and everyone out. Give back to the sport and your country.
Happy Birthday, Mali. You have given us great memories to cherish.
Rock that IPL 2020 (whenever you get there), and give it one final shot.
The Moments
Apart from the links above in the article, here are some of the hat-trick clips and other favorite memories of Malinga.
