West Indies vs Pakistan – The Series That Wasn’t

It was almost as if it never happened. The Pakistani’s quietly took away a 3-2 victory over the West Indies, and with a minimum of fuss and exposure, we will move on to the test series soon. Blink and you’d have missed it, particularly since cricket headlines have been surrounded with “Gayle Smashes Unbelievable Ton!” and the like.

But lets wonder for a minute, what if both the West Indies and Pakistan had picked the absolute best teams available to them? What if the cricket world was free of injuries, the IPL, spot fixing, and dodgy selections?

And the odd spontaneous trip to London. © Associated Press

The Real Pakistan

1. Salman Butt (c)
2. Mohammad Hafeez
3. Ahmed Shahzad
4. Mohammad Yousuf
5. Misbah Ul-Haq
6. Shahid Afridi
7. Abdul Razzaq
8. Zulqarnain Haider (w)
9. Mohammad Aamir
10. Umar Gul
11. Mohammad Asif

Unlucky: Saeed Ajmal, very good backup at least.
Unwanted: The trigger happy Akmals and Younis Khan, who looks more and more weary all the time.

Look at that bowling line-up, easily the best in the world in fact if they fielded that squad. Afridi is a little over animated (if there is such a thing) as captain, and would prefer Butt to take the reins.

The Real West Indies

1. Chris Gayle (c)
2. Adrian Barath
3. Darren Bravo
4. Ramnaresh Sarwan
5. Shiv Chanderpaul
6. Kieron Pollard
7. Dwayne Bravo
8. Devon Thomas (w)
9. Kemar Roach
10. Jerome Taylor
11. Devendra Bishoo

Unlucky: Darren Sammy. I like the guy, but he just doesn’t quite contribute enough, more like a poor man’s Vettori at this stage. Fidel Edwards, Ravi Rampaul and Andre Russell wait in the wings as adequate backup. I like Dwayne Smith, he could slot in as a backup Pollard, who I don’t like but admit has talent.

Unwanted: Suliemann Benn, full marks for attitude, but not much for impact.

No extra points for tossing players around either. © Getty

Who would win that series? It doesn’t matter! Look at those line-ups, and even if Pakistan came away 3-2 just like it transpired, the matches would have been infinitely more interesting than what looked like a Pakistan A tour of West Indies A. We would have the dream bowling attack versus the most colorful and explosive batting line-up.

Of the teams listed, only four from either side were in the current teams. In a perfect world the players would be free of politics, greed and corruption, and we would be treated to cricket at its highest quality.

Too bad then that we don’t live in a perfect world.

Contributed by Varun Prasad
Original Post : The Cricket Musings