Shane Warne picks his all time West Indies XI

Shane Warne picks his all time West Indies XI: The West Indies cricket team is currently touring Australia and is facing real heat Down Under. The Caribbean side, that was once considered to be the most dominant side of world cricket, has not been anywhere close to its prime in the recent times. They have been struggling in both home and away games. Although the team has not struck form, they have certainly not lost out on popularity. The legendary former leg-spinner from Australia, Shane Warne, recently picked up his all-time West Indies XI, picking up some of the greats of the game from the Caribbean Islands. Gordon Greenidge: Gordon Greenidge. (© Getty Images) One of the most feared opening batsmen, Gordon Greenidge played 108 Tests and 128 ODIs for the West Indies team. Greenidge, who has 19 Test centuries to his name, is best remembered for his batting exploits with his opening partner, Desmond Haynes. The pair has 6482 runs to their name, the highest total for a batting partnership in Test history. Not a very regular bowler, Greenidge has a five-for to his name too in ODIs. A thorough legend of the game who was instrumental in West Indies’ 5-0 whitewash against England in 1984 with back to back double centuries, Greenidge is a certain inclusion in every West Indies all-time XI. Desmond Haynes: Desmond Haynes (L) Gordon Greenidge (R). (Photo Source: PA Photos) The other opener is Greenidge’s partner in crime- Desmond Haynes. Haynes, along with Greenidge, managed 16-century stands and four in excess of 200 runs between them. While Greenidge went for the onslaught, Haynes was more calculative. With 7487 runs in 116 Tests with an average of over 42, Haynes was equally capable in the ODIs. He scored 148 on his ODI debut, a century that remains to be the highest score by a debutant in ODIs and also the fastest century by a batsman on debut. With 55 Man of the Match awards in all forms of the game, Haynes is a true legend. No wonder Warne has him in his side. Vivian Richards: Viv Richards. (© Getty Images) Sir Viv Richards is regarded as one of the greatest batsmen of all time. He singlehandedly dominated the opposition in his era. Having played 121 Tests, Richards scored with an average of 50.23 and has 24 centuries to his name. He also hit 11 ODI tons. In December 2002, he was chosen by Wisden as the greatest ODI batsman of all time and the third best overall after Sachin Tendulkar and Sir Don Bradman. Viv had the privilege to captain the side as well. He captained West Indies in 50 Tests and won 27 out of them, losing just 8. He also has over 36,000 runs in first-class cricket. Brian Lara: Brian Lara. (Photo Source: Getty Images) The most phenomenal player of his era, Brian Charles Lara has two triple hundreds to his name in Test cricket. With a score of 400*, he has the record for highest individual score in Tests, a record that is certainly seeming safe and far from being broken. Lara topped the Test batting rankings on many occasions and also holds the record for highest individual score in first-class cricket with 501* for Warwickshire against Durham. In 131 Tests, Lara mustered 11,953 runs with 34 centuries. He scored 10,405 ODI runs at an average of 40.48. Richie Richardson: West Indies Richie Richardson. (Photo credit: MUNIR UZ ZAMAN/AFP/Getty Images) Having played 86 Tests with 5949 runs at an average of 44.39, Richardson is a former West Indies skipper. The flamboyant batsman is hailed as one of the greatest batsmen of pace bowling. His 224 matches old ODI career saw him amass 6248 runs with 5 centuries and 44 half centuries. A master of his chosen craft, Richardson excelled at batting in adverse conditions. His captaincy reign saw Windies win 11 out of 21 Tests while they ended second in 6. Clive Lloyd (C): Clive Lloyd. (© Getty Images) Warne picked up Clive Lloyd as the skipper of his West Indies XI and rightly so. It was under his reign that West Indies cricket emerged as the most dominating force in world cricket. He captained West Indies from 1974 to 1985, winning the World Cups in 1975 and 1979. West Indies also made it to their third consecutive World Cup final in 1983 under his captaincy. The team did not lose a single match under his captaincy in 27 consecutive matches, a string unmatched. He played 110 matches and amassed 7515 runs at a staggering average of 46.67 and a top score of 242*. Jeff Dujon (wk): Jeff Dujon. (Photo Source: Getty Images) The wicketkeeper of the Shane Warne’s side, Jeff Dujon, played for the Windies in the 1980s. With over 200 first-class matches for Jamaica, Dujon scored over 10,000 runs in his 19-year long career. He was one of the five Wisden Cricketers of the Year in 1989. Dujon has 267 catches and 5 stumpings to his name in 81 Tests to go with 183 catches and 21 stumpings in ODIs. He is regarded as one of the best wicketkeepers West Indies has ever produced. Malcolm Marshall: Malcolm Marshall. (Photo Source: Getty Images) The great fast bowler, who died at the age of 41, Marshall is regarded as one of the fastest pacers to have ever played cricket. He has a bowling average of 20.94, the best among all bowlers who have taken over 200 wickets in Tests. While most of his fellow pacers were tall, Marshall was a short man but tormented the batsmen alike. He was a useful lower-order batsman as well. He has 10 fifties to his name in Tests and 7 centuries in first-class matches. He picked 376 Test wickets in 81 Tests with the best of 7/22. Michael Holding: Michael Holding. (© Getty Images) Yet another legend of the game and a commentator at present, Michael Holding is hailed as one of the greatest fast bowlers. He picked up 249 wickets in 60 Tests with 13 five-wicket hauls. He was known as the ‘whispering death’ by umpires due to his quiet approach to the stumps. Holding holds the record for best bowling figures in a Test match by a West Indies bowler 14/149. His 102 ODI appearances saw him take 142 wickets. Curtly Ambrose: (Photo Source: Getty Images) The fast bowler who was recently seen playing in the All-Stars league, Curtly Ambrose is a legend of the game. He played 98 Test matches and picked up 405 wickets with his pace bowling at an average of 20.99. He has 22 five-wicket hauls in Tests and 4 five-wicket hauls in ODIs. He has his best figures of 8/45 in Test matches. During his career, he was ranked as the best bowler for most of the time and hence is regarded as one of the best bowlers in the history of the game. Joel Garner: Joel Garner. (Photo Source: Getty Images) Known as the ‘Big Bird’, Garner stood 6’8” and bowled with sheer pace to rip apart most of the batting lineups. He played 58 Tests to take 258 wickets at an average just over 20. He was equally effective in ODIs too, and picked up 146 wickets in 98 ODIs, with his economy just running over 3. He took 5/39 in 1979 World Cup final against England and this remains to be the best performance by a bowler in World Cup finals till date. The spell included 5 wickets for just 4 runs. Andy Roberts (12th man): Andy Roberts. (Photo Source: Getty Images) He might have been picked up as the 12th man, but he was equally capable of running through the opposition. Having played 47 Tests, Roberts picked up 202 wickets. He also picked up 87 ODI wickets in 56 matches. The former Pakistan skipper Imran Khan once described a ball from Roberts and the fastest and most terrifying ball he had ever faced. He was the pioneer of slow bouncers that most of the bowlers use in modern day cricket.

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