7 Indians in fray for dream team

Dubai, Dec. 22: Indian batting icon Sachin Tendulkar, along with Virender Sehwag, on Wednesday found a place in the list of players nominated for an ICC online poll to pick the all-time greatest team as part of one-day cricket’s 40th anniversary celebrations.

The retired Sourav Ganguly is also part of the list of openers, from which only two would make the final dream team.

“To mark the 40th anniversary of One-Day cricket, the ICC’s official website is asking supporters from across the globe to select their choice of the greatest ODI match and team of all-time,” the ICC said in a statement released on Wednesday.

Website www.icc-cricket.com [1] is asking fans to select a dream team from a shortlist of 48 players and pick their favourite game from a choice of 10.

Fans can select dream team and favourite game till January 2, with the choices set to be announced on January 5 to coincide with the 40th anniversary of the first-ever ODI match between Australia and England.

The Australian ODI team from 1971 will also be presented to the crowd during the innings break of the first ODI match of the series between Australia and England at the MCG on January 16.

The shortlist

Opening batsmen (2) – Saeed Anwar, Sourav Ganguly, Gordon Greenidge, Matthew Hayden, Sanath Jayasuriya, Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar, Glenn Turner.
Middle-order batsmen (3) – Michael Bevan, Martin Crowe, Aravinda de Silva, Inzamam-ul Haq, Brian Lara, Javed Miandad, Ricky Ponting, Viv Richards.
All-rounder (1) – Ian Botham, Kapil Dev, Andrew Flintoff, Richard Hadlee, Jacques Kallis, Imran Khan, Lance Klusener, Shaun Pollock.
Wicketkeeper (1) – Mark Boucher, MS Dhoni, Andy Flower Adam Gilchrist, Romesh Kaluwitharana, Moin Khan, Alec Stewart, Kumar Sangakkara.
Fast bowlers (3) – Wasim Akram, Allan Donald, Joel Garner, Michael Holding, Dennis Lillee, Glenn McGrath, Chaminda Vaas, Waqar Younis.
Spinners (1) – Shahid Afridi, Carl Hooper, Anil Kumble, Muttiah Muralitharan, Saqlain Mushtaq, Harbhajan, Shane Warne, Daniel Vettori.