Most artistic XIs of all time?

[Harsh Thakor]

These are my teams of the most artistic cricketers of all of the World,Asia and left-handers.They are not the most classy,technically perfect or statistically best but judged on merit of sheer aestheticism.

World XI-Most artistic players

Victor Trumper
Majid Khan
David Gower
Zaheer Abbas
Frank Worrell (C)
Gundappa Vishwanath/ Mohammad Azharrudin
Gary Sobers
Alan Knott (W)
Wasim Akram
Michael Holding
Bedi/Qadir


2nd XI
Arthur Morris
Des Haynes
Rohan Kanhai (C)
Mark Waugh
Martin Crowe
Lawrence Rowe/Alvin Kalicharan
Adam Gilchrist (W)
Richard Hadlee
Malcolm Marshall
Dennis Lillee
Subhash Gupte



Asian most artistic XI

Mohammad Yousuf /Saed Anwar
Majid Khan
Zaheer Abbas
Gundappa Vishwanath
Mohammad Azharuddin
Kumar Sangakaara (W)
Yuvraj Singh
Kapil Dev
Imran Khan (C)
Abdul Qadir
Bishen Bedi


World all-time most artistic left-handers XI

Saed Anwar
Vinoo Mankad
Brian Lara
David Gower
Alvin Kalicharan /Graeme Pollock
Gary Sobers (C)
Kumar Sangakaara (W)
Alan Davidson
Wasim Akram
Mitchelle Johnson
Bishen Bedi




Who can forget the majestic artistry of Trumper on the wettest tracks The deftest touches of Majid ,Gower ,Azhar,Vishy or Zaheer sent the ball scuttling to the ropes,taking and grace to regions of the sublime.Worrel was like poetry in motion being batting's ultimate connosieur..Vishy was batting's ultimate magician with his best strokes resembling a musical composition.Arguably Azharuddin was mores stylish than Vishy with his glorious leg glance .Who can forget the lazy elegance of Gower or the sublime touch of Zaheer ,Azhar or Majid who simply caressed a cricket ball.Vishy's cuts and flicks resembled Michelangelo sculpting.Wasim took pace bowling creativity or wizardry to regions of divinty .Holding was fast bowling's ultimate poetry in motion.Qadir was the Wasim of leg-spin bowling.Bedi was like the Holding of spin bowling with the most graceful of bowling actions.Finally Sobers took all-round cricketing artistry to regions untraversed or another dimension.Gary could bowl pace,spin and china man in addition to his great range of batting strokes and abilty to pull of the most superlative catches.

Sadly had to leave the likes of artists like Kanhai,Gupte,Marshall,Lillee,Mark Waugh,Martin Crowe or Lawrence Rowe from the 1st team who all on their day were poetry in motion at depths few could ever describe.

[Harsh Thakor]

Please come here @ MMHS @Ab Fan @Junaids @Robert Must also admit VVS Laxman was Arguably mistakenly omitted from Asian artistic XI .

[Majid Khan]

A batsman who rarely gets a mention these days, but Saleem Malik at his best was such a stylish stroke maker and played such graceful and almost effortless shots that were usually timed and placed to perfection.

Malik had a very artistic and unique batting style in my view , his cover drives and cuts just looked so different in style from everyone else, and most of all he made it look so easy.

[Harsh Thakor]

A batsman who rarely gets a mention these days, but Saleem Malik at his best was such a stylish stroke maker and played such graceful and almost effortless shots that were usually timed and placed to perfection.

Malik had a very artistic and unique batting style in my view , his cover drives and cuts just looked so different in style from everyone else, and most of all he made it look so easy.

You virtually spoke my heart Truly a great at his best.I love to write on he is discredited here because of match fixing unfortunately.

[Majid Khan]

You virtually spoke my heart Truly a great at his best.I love to write on he is discredited here because of match fixing unfortunately.

It’s a great thread and you have chosen an interesting topic for me, as I have always had an admiration for quality over quantity in cricket , and artistic and stylish batsmen in particular.

There were times I remember watching cricket in 80s / 90s where quite a few of the batsmen from teams like England / Australia / New Zealand all looked the same when playing their strokes , everything done to text book technique and discipline, predictable batting stances, footwork and follow throughs etc.

And in the 90s I wondered if this was a bias as a Pakistan fan , but despite their fragility and inconsistency no batting line up looked as stylish as the Pakistan Top 5/6 with every single batsman playing with a very unique style and flare :

1. Saeed Anwar (one word - glorious)
2. Amir Sohail (flamboyant)
3. Ijaz Ahmad (call him unique or strange , he was different and sometimes played quite outrageous looking strokes )
4. Inzamam ul Haq (majestic)
5. Saleem Malik (effortless beauty)

And later Mohammed Yusuf replaced Malik, talk about graceful stroke play.

I would pay money to watch these batsmen, as a 100 from any one of these and it was a treat to watch such high quality stroke play.

[Saj]

Azharrudin was a magician with the bat.

Not many batsmen could literally play any ball through mid-wicket, but this guy could.

Wristy, played the ball so late, pace or spin it didn't matter to him.

[Harsh Thakor]

Please come here @MMHS @Robert @Junaids @Ab Fan

[Harsh Thakor]

Azharrudin was a magician with the bat.

Not many batsmen could literally play any ball through mid-wicket, but this guy could.

Wristy, played the ball so late, pace or spin it didn't matter to him.

In total agreement. Like a musical composer .

[MMHS]

Please come here @ MMHS @Ab Fan @Junaids @Robert Must also admit VVS Laxman was Arguably mistakenly omitted from Asian artistic XI .

I'll take Rohan & Lara in first team, probably dropping Worrell & Trumper (never saw him in video clip). Rest are fine - instead of Bedi, you can think of Gupte.

Other lists are too complicated - in Asian XI, you made a blunder of dropping Wasim, who actually made works 1st XI & rightly so. May be, you should drop Imran and UV for this list for Wasim & Shakib - on his day, Shakib is simply a treat to watch.... Even while fielding.

[Harsh Thakor]

I'll take Rohan & Lara in first team, probably dropping Worrell & Trumper (never saw him in video clip). Rest are fine - instead of Bedi, you can think of Gupte.

Other lists are too complicated - in Asian XI, you made a blunder of dropping Wasim, who actually made works 1st XI & rightly so. May be, you should drop Imran and UV for this list for Wasim & Shakib - on his day, Shakib is simply a treat to watch.... Even while fielding.

Very sorry that was my mistake on forgetting Wasim in Asia XI who was an automatic choice when I selected him for world Xl So will then drop Bedi or Qadir .Ok?

[Harsh Thakor]

I'll take Rohan & Lara in first team, probably dropping Worrell & Trumper (never saw him in video clip). Rest are fine - instead of Bedi, you can think of Gupte.

Other lists are too complicated - in Asian XI, you made a blunder of dropping Wasim, who actually made works 1st XI & rightly so. May be, you should drop Imran and UV for this list for Wasim & Shakib - on his day, Shakib is simply a treat to watch.... Even while fielding.

With my correction of Wasim in Asia XI who was accidentally omitted are the lists balanced?

[Cric_lover4487]

Does Lara make it to Artisty 11?. I mean Lara also played lots of power strokes. I assume Damien Martin, VVS are more suited to the genre.

[jeeteshssaxena]

Artistic X1(only those cricketers whom i watched i. e post 2003) :
1.Marcus Trescothick
2.Ian bell
3.Sangakkara
4.Lara
5.Martyn
6.Laxman
7.Irfan pathan
8.Warne(Cap)
9.Mitchell Johnson
10.Mohd Asif
11.Ryan Harris.

[Harsh Thakor]

Does Lara make it to Artisty 11?. I mean Lara also played lots of power strokes. I assume Damien Martin, VVS are more suited to the genre.

Agree completely

[Last Monetarist]

Of those that I watched:

Saeed
Vaughan
Laxman
M. Waugh
Hooper
Martyn
Russell (obviously not his crabby batting stance, but he kept like an angel and dabbles in art for real)
Warne
Wasim
Asif
Anderson