Wasim Jaffer unveils his Test and ODI lefthanders' XIs a day after International Lefthanders Day

Although Wasim Jaffer, the celebrated Indian cricketer and commentator, posted his left-handers' XIs a day after International Left-Handers' Day which was celebrated on August 13, 2024, his selection evoked profound nostalgia across the social media landscape. 

The rosters, populated with many international legends from various countries, showcased formidable squads for both Test and ODI formats, encapsulating an era of cricketing excellence.

A day late but here's my Test and ODI left handers XI. What's yours? #LeftHandersDay pic.twitter.com/4BjGkNJ5Jh

— Wasim Jaffer (@WasimJaffer14) August 14, 2024

As anticipated, there were several recurring names across the two squads, including the dynamic Matthew Hayden, who was designated as the opener in both the Test and ODI XIs. Kumar Sangakkara and Brian Lara also featured prominently, though their positions differed slightly between formats; they were positioned at No. 3 and No. 4 in the ODIs, whereas they occupied different roles in the Test lineup.

The legendary Sri Lankan Sangakkara, and the flamboyant Lara, with a tally of 79 fifties and hundreds, were assigned the roles of wicketkeeper and captain in the ODI squad. However, those roles were nowhere to be seen in Jaffer's Test squad, which instead included Australian icons Adam Gilchrist, renowned for his impressive career strike rate of 81.95 in Tests, and Allan Border, whose record of 11,174 runs stood unbeaten until Lara surpassed it.

The Indian cricketers who made it into Jaffer's squads included the virtuoso of the knuckleball, Zaheer Khan, and the contemporary wrist-spinner, Kuldeep Yadav. Additionally, the ODI squad saw the inclusion of one more distinguished player: Yuvraj Singh, the Player of the Tournament in the 2011 Cricket World Cup, who was selected to join the ranks.

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The illustrious all-rounders included the iconic Gary Sobers, renowned for being the second-fastest to amass 6,000 Test runs and for holding the second-best economy rate in an innings in the Test squad. Accompanying him were legendary all-rounders Michael Bevan and Lance Klusener, invaluable assets to the Aussies and Proteas, respectively. 

As far as fast bowlers are concerned, Wasim Akram, the Sultan of Swing, was an unsurprising inclusion, given the profound legacy he had imprinted on the game, whether wielding a pristine new ball or an attritional old one. Representing Sri Lanka, Chaminda Vaas was also selected; however, in the Test XI, he found himself competing alongside the likes of Mitchell Johnson and Trent Boult, whereas in the ODI XI, he was pitted against Mitchell Starc.