[Andrin Issac]

Sifter's pick is now and after that me

[sifter132]

I'm picking Ajantha Mendis...


Narine is the 'mystery' spinner of the moment, but Mendis was the man who initially showed the value of a T20 bowler who is difficult to pick. Mendis has a few different deliveries, all designed to deceive the batsman and make him uncertain of the direction the ball will turn. Sure there are stories around now that batsmen have mastered him - Pakistanis brag about it , but his overall record is excellent - particularly his international record.

Can't wait for him to return to health and bowl again, as he's a very interesting guy to watch. I watched him bamboozle Australia with his variations and changes of pace a couple of times: during the 2009 World T20 and again at Palleke in 2011 to take 6/16 -still the best ever T20I figures.

Looking at the stats, I think he's got the best T20I bowling record in history (yes, the short history of T20Is thus far...). He averages 11.12(!) with 40 wickets in 21 games. 10 of those wickets might be considered cheap (4 games vs Canada, Ireland and Zimbabwe), but even if you take those out, the other 30 wickets have come at 12.73! Also has a RPO below 6: 5.63 - a pretty exclusive achievement.

Format	Matches	Wickets	Average	Economy	Strikerate	BB
T20I	21	40	11.12	5.63	11.8	6/16
T20	58	85	15.76	6.30	15.0	6/16

1 Chris Gayle
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10 Ajantha Mendis
11

[Andrin Issac]

Gautam Gambhir



Gautam Gambhir is an Indian cricketer. A left-handed batsman, he made his One Day International debut for India in 2003.

Full name :Gautam Gambhir

Born :October 14, 1981, Delhi

Current age : 30 years 306 days

Major teams India, Delhi, Delhi Daredevils, India Red, Indian Board President's XI, Kolkata Knight Riders, Rajasthan Cricket Association President's XI

Playing role Top-order batsman

Batting style Left-hand bat

Bowling style Legbreak

[cricket_icon]

Wheres he average, SR and runs scored?

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Interesting that a number of players have been picked on domestic records, which I guess makes a little sense since t20 cricket is relatively new and some players have yet to prove themselves on the biggest stage.

[send2yaari]

My pick is Graeme Swann.

[Dennis Mennis]

Man you guys are biased! Not a single player from the Number One team in the world? Pathetic!

[Fenil]

Thanks guys for letting my pick remain untouched.

----------

Originally Posted by User2010

So, Fenil takes KP, I guess?

I've not watched most of his T20I innings. In fact, I've not seen him play for year or so. Went purely by stats. I was thinking to pick Mendis firstly but thought his mysteries are solved and is no more a bowler he once was.

[sifter132]

Originally Posted by cricket_icon

Interesting that a number of players have been picked on domestic records, which I guess makes a little sense since t20 cricket is relatively new and some players have yet to prove themselves on the biggest stage.

There's also a lot more domestic T20s played than internationals. It's not like Test cricket vs first class where the modern player will have 75% (or more!) of his first class runs/wickets being from Tests. For T20s, internationals seems to be only about 20% of a players T20 stats.

The other thing with picking guys on domestic stats is that it's much easier if you KNOW the player is good anyway eg. Shane Warne - obviously a quality player, so picking him on domestic stats is not a problem in my view.

Originally Posted by Fenil

No. I've not watched most of his T20I innings. In fact, I've not seen him play for year or so. Went purely by stats. I was thinking to pick Mendis firstly but thought his mysteries are solved and is no more a bowler he once was.

That was my suspicion too when thinking about Mendis, but it hasn't shown up in his record yet. His 2nd last T20I was vs Australia 12mths ago where he flummoxed them with 6/16 - safe to say they hadn't solved the Mendis mysteries And his last game was vs Pakistan, his supposed bogey team and he took 1/20 off 3 - so if they've worked him out they haven't really punished him. I think Mendis just hasn't played enough recently to definitively say that he's been worked out.

The other factor is that T20 works in his favour ie. the batsmen need to attack him. If you've only half worked out Mendis' variations, then the longer formats would be easier to see him off, but in T20 you have to go for it and if you aren't picking him 100% you are going to sky a catch or get bowled/LBW.

Originally Posted by Dennis Mennis

Man you guys are biased! Not a single player from the Number One team in the world? Pathetic!

Oh yeah? How many trophies have they won lately? Nah, it's interesting though...who is the standout SA T20 player? Who deserves to be picked this early? I'm not sure I can name anyone good enough. They have HEAPS of good players, just not any great T20 players in my view.


So we've got Farhan on the clock now to finish round 2, and then we launch into the Pakistan round with User up first for that.

[sifter132]

Well Farhan's time is almost up, and I think it's unlikely he'll be picking a Pakistani anyway - so User when you are on next, make your Pakistan pick so we can rip into round 3

Farhan, make your pick at any time - you don't lose it if you miss your time window.

[User2010]

Azhar Mahmood

A classy all rounder! He can hit it hard and far with the bat and is very handy with his medium pacers. He can come in at the business end of the innings and get you a crucial 20-30 very quickly. And, can put a stop on the scoring by chipping in with wickets while bowling. Azhar Mahmood is pretty experienced when it comes to T20 format and has played T20 all over the world being a part of various domestic sides. He is very good in the field. A complete all round package, much needed for the T20 format.

Matches: 136
Inns: 123
Runs: 2653 @ 27.92
SR: 139.63
100s: 2, 50s: 10
HS: 106*

Inns: 136
Wkts: 144 @ 24.52
SR: 19.2
ER: 7.64
4w: 2
BB: 4/20

[Fenil]

Azhar is an English now if I'm not wrong.

[Bevab]

Yeah, he's fully eligible for England, but well he played 143 ODI's for Pakistan so I guess its fine.

[User2010]

Originally Posted by sifter132

*For players who haven't played T20 for their country, first look at other formats (Tests and ODIs) to see which country they've represented, then if they haven't played internatioanlly at all, base their country off their Cricinfo profile.

I think he should be fine as a Pakistan player.

[Fenil]

Originally Posted by Bevab

Yeah, he's fully eligible for England, but well he played 143 ODI's for Pakistan so I guess its fine.

Yes, right.

By the way, my pick is Abdul Razzaq. Will do the write-up tomorrow.

[Sedition]

Haha! Got the man I wanted.

Rana Naved-ul-Hasan (Naved-ul-Hasan on cricinfo)

I'd seen Mr. Naved here and there over the last couple of years, but it wasn't until his performances in the BBL that I stood up and took notice. For a game in which most bowlers rely on luck, Rana is one of a handful that actually do possess skill at the T20 format (along with Sunil Narine and whoever else I pick later ).

I would pick him on his bowling alone, but throw his batting ability into the mix and you've got one devastating T20 specialist. I suspect that if Pakistanis had been allowed to play the last few IPLs, Mr. Rana Naved-ul-Hasan would be a household name.


International + Domestic (105 games played, only 4 international):

Batting:

Average: 21
SR: 136

Bowling:

Wickets: 131
Average: 20
Economy: 7.17
SR: 16.7