Legendary off spinner and World record holder Muttiah Muralitharan was the only Sri Lankan to feature among the Greatest All time One Day International Team chosen by cricket fans around the globe in a vote conducted by the International Cricket Council to coincide with the 40th anniversary of the first ever One-Day International.
Muralitharan who retired from Test cricket with a haul of 800 wickets was selected as the only spinner in the team ahead of Australia’s legendary leg spinner Shane Warne by cricket fans from almost 100 countries around the world who cast their votes on the ICC website for what they consider to be the all-time ODI team.
Apart from Muralitharan six other Sri Lankans namely Aravinda de Silva, Sanath Jayasuriya, Romesh Kaluwitharana, Chaminda Vaas and Kumar Sangakkara had been shortlisted by the ICC to receive votes for the final XI.
In total, fans from 97 countries cast almost 600,000 votes on www.icc-cricket.com between 22 December and 2 January to make their views known as to who have been the best ODI players of the past 40 years in the key categories of opening batsmen, middle-order batsmen, wicketkeeper, spin bowlers and fast bowlers.
Three players from Australia and India, two from the West Indies and one each from South Africa, Sri Lanka and Pakistan have made the final dream 11 with another Aussie named as 12th man while the momentous “438” game between South Africa and Australia in Johannesburg in 2006 has been voted the best ODI yet.
Supporters had the chance to select the dream team from a shortlist of 48 players in different categories and they could pick their favorite game from a choice of 10 memorable matches.
The match they chose was a run-feast in Johannesburg’s famous Wanderers Stadium in March 2006. Batting first, Australia made a record 434-4 in 50 overs with skipper Ricky Ponting setting the day alight with 164 off just 105 balls.
The mood of the capacity crowd did not improve when SA lost a wicket with just three runs on the board. But then an innings of magic from Herschelle Gibbs (175 off 111) backed up by cameos by Graeme Smith (90 off 55), Mark Boucher (50 not out) and Johan van der Wath (35) saw the Proteas to a scarcely possible winning score of 438 with nine wickets down and one ball remaining.
It was a wonderful occasion and truly an ODI never to be forgotten. The first ever ODI was played between Australia and England on 5 January 1971 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
The 40th anniversary of the ODI is being marked in the build-up to cricket’s flagship event, the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011, which begins in Dhaka, Bangladesh on 19 February.
As with all nine previous editions of the tournament, fans around the globe will no doubt be treated to amazing feats of individual and team brilliance that will live long in the memory.
The All-Time ODI Dream Team (as voted for by visitors to www.icc-cricket.com) is:
Opening batsmen: Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag (India)
Middle order: Brian Lara, Vivian Richards (West Indies) and Ricky Ponting (Australia)
All-rounder: Kapil Dev (India)
Wicketkeeper: Adam Gilchrist (Australia)
Spinner: Muttiah Muralidaran (Sri Lanka)
Fast bowlers: Wasim Akram (Pakistan), Glenn McGrath (Australia) and Allan Donald (South Africa)
12th man: Michael Bevan (Australia)
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