Reputed cricket writers have given their verdict while choosing a dream team that India’s master blaster and world’s best batsman Sachin Tendulkar is “incomparable”.

A favourite eleven of cricket writers has been put together with the onus on established class. Well, it will be interesting to see how many of this side can perform well enough to earn a place in our post-World Cup line-up.

Sanath Jayasuriya (Sri Lanka): The world’s most explosive batsman, he overturned one-day theory single-handedly during Sri Lanka's victorious 1996 World Cup campaign. Given carte blanche to attack, he takes advantage of fielding restrictions in the opening overs to demolish bowlers by hitting over the top. Has the forearms of a lumberjack. He is not always a big scorer but invariably gets the innings away to a rapid start - as he did against England in the last World Cup, when scoring 82 off 44 balls. He has the added advantage of being a left-hander and of bowling niggardly left-arm spin.
Reserve: Saeed Anwar (Pakistan)

Mark Waugh (Australia): Known as “Junior” after being born four minutes after his twin Steve, he made a century on his Test debut against England in 1990-91 and has never looked back. An elegant right-hander, he began opening in one-dayers at the 1996 World Cup and made three centuries. Against England and Sri Lanka this January, he scored half-centuries in six consecutive innings. Can score quickly but relies on classical strokeplay, making him Jayasuriya's perfect foil. A fine slip fielder, he can also bowl respectable off-spin.
Reserve: Gary Kirsten (South Africa)

Adam Gilchrist (Australia): Australia’s find of the past season, the 27-year-old wicketkeeper from New South Wales has yet to play a Test. But his spectacular form with the bat has already won him the one-day slot. A left-hander with a full array of shots, he opens for Australia but here comes in at number three to act as a second pinch-hitter behind Jayasuriya. He has still to improve his glove work standing up to the spinners but his batting - he scored an Australian record of 154 off 129 balls against Sri Lanka in February 1999 - is too exciting to resist.
Reserve: Alec Stewart (England)

Sachin Tendulkar (India): Universally regarded as the world's best batsman and now commonly mentioned in the same breath as the legendary Sir Donald Bradman. Tendulkar, who made his international debut 10 years ago at 16, is a right-hander who blends the textbook with calculated power. For India, he opens in one-dayers. Here, his job will be to adapt to stabilise the innings. Last year he overtook Desmond Haynes' world record of 17 one-day centuries and now has 21. His short reign as Indian captain between August 1996 and the end of 1997 proved a failure but he is expected to regain the honour soon. One of the real gentlemen of the game, he is also an improving wrist spinner.
Reserve: No one - Tendulkar is incomparable.

Brian Lara (West Indies): Yet another left-hander, giving the top order the perfect mix. The flamboyant Trinidadian has just emerged from a 12-month slump in dramatic fashion, by scoring 213, 153 not out and 100 against the Australians in consecutive Tests. He also holds the world record for the highest Test score (375) and highest first-class innings (501), both made within a few weeks of each other in 1994. Often credited with the same depth of talent as Tendulkar, the two are chalk and cheese as players. Lara demolishes where Tendulkar dismantles. The West Indian also has a troubled disciplinary record but argues he is maturing at last.
Reserve: Aravinda de Silva (Sri Lanka)

Hansie Cronje (South Africa, captain): Cronje often looks a clumsy player but it is an illusion. A right-hand batsman, what he lacks in elegance is made up for in effectiveness, particularly against spinners who he likes to cart to the midwicket fence. Against Sri Lanka in March he savaged Sri Lanka's slow men for a 31-ball half-century, the second fastest in Test history. His medium-paced ‘skidders’ are also effective partnership-breakers but it is Cronje's leadership qualities that make him the obvious selection. Under him, South Africa have won 75 percent of their last 100 one-dayers, a ratio no one else can match.
Reserve: Steve Waugh (Australia)

Jonty Rhodes (South Africa): The only fielder-batsman all-rounder in the game, he has become a cult figure, reputedly worth around 30 runs an innings to his side as he prowls the crucial backward point area. The 29-year-old specialises in acrobatic diving catches and direct run-outs from point. Few chance singles to him. His batting, once seen as an Achilles heel, has become as effective as it is unconventional. Lightning between the wickets, he invariably scrambles 30s and 40s while marshalling the lower order. Rhodes is also a hockey international.
Reserve: Jacques Kallis (South Africa)

Shaun Pollock (South Africa): Son of the famous Peter and nephew of the legendary Graeme, Pollock is more than just a chip of two old blocks. He is today accepted as the best all-rounder in the game. Principally a strike bowler, relying on movement off the seam, sharp bounce and immaculate control, he is also a batsman of growing stature. In one-dayers, the 25-year-old from Port Elizabeth concedes less than four runs an over and has a strike rate of a wicket every six overs. His batting is worth a one-day average of 30, despite the limited opportunities he gets to make big scores.
Reserve: Curtly Ambrose (West Indies)

Wasim Akram (Pakistan): Aged 32 and still going strong. Another pace-bowling all-rounder like Pollock, his left-arm style provides the perfect balance to the attack. He is also a thunderous left-arm batsman. His being tainted by scandal - he was sacked as Pakistan captain and 'retired' following match-fixing allegations last year only to be reappointed in January - cannot hide his supreme qualities as a player. The only bowler to have taken over 350 wickets in Tests and one-day internationals, his recent return to form was confirmed by two hat-tricks against Sri Lanka in successive Tests in March.
Reserve: Allan Donald (South Africa)

Saqlain Mushtaq (Pakistan): An off-spinner and the best one-day bowler in the world, even if his rivals Shane Warne and Muttiah Muralitharan seem to hog the limelight. The statistics this time, however, do not lie. Saqlain has taken 187 one-day wickets in 98 matches at 19.42 runs apiece, a better strike rate and at less cost than any of his illustrious rivals. The 22-year-old from Lahore turns the ball prodigious distances for a finger spinner but his chief weapons are control and a disguised "slider" that drifts the other way, from leg to off.
Reserve: Muttiah Muralitharan (Sri Lanka)

Glenn McGrath (Australia): The lanky McGrath, nicknamed “Pigeon”, is a worthy inheritor of the Australian pace legacy of Dennis Lillee, Jeff Thomson and Craig McDermott. He is quick, bowls close to the stumps, can move the ball in and away and his height - 6ft 5ins - gives him the additional weapon of wicked bounce. Oddly, his achievements - more than 200 Test and 100 one-day wickets - have not won the public recognition they deserve. Opening batsmen, however, are well aware of his qualities. McGrath's batting, in contrast, rarely troubles anyone, least of all the scorers.
Reserve: Darren Gough (England).

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