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ICC Super Test 2005: Throwback To The ICC World XI Which Played In The Historic Game

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ICC Super Test 2005

The concept of one successful team taking on another squad comprising the best players from the remaining teams is known. At the Indian domestic level, Irani Trophy is a great example. Similarly, back in 2005, ICC hosted a tournament that included games between the Rest of the World XI and the most triumphant team then – Australia. A total of three ODIs and one Test match was part of the agenda. Australia won all the four matches. The test game was known as the ICC Super Test 2005.

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After New Zealand won the World Test Championship, there have been calls for resuming this practice. While there is no movement in that regard, in this article, let’s take a look at the ICC World XI in that game which eventually lost the encounter to Australia XI.

Openers For World XI In ICC Super Test 2005: Graeme Smith (C) and Virender Sehwag

Graeme Smith was a superstar when it came to Test cricket. Very few captains have been as successful with the bat as the South African has been. Hence, it was of no surprise that he was also the captain of the unit. In what was a coup, ICC named Virender Sehwag as Smith’s opening partner. Both players had contrasting styles of approach, and hence, it was interesting to note how they would go about their business. While Smith was poor in both innings, Viru scored a 76 in the first innings, which helped his side post a decent total.

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Middle-Order: Rahul Dravid, Brian Lara, Inzamam-ul-Haq and Mark Boucher (WK)

Cricketers Virender Sehwag & Rahul Dravid ICC Super Test 2005
Photo: Virender Sehwag/Instagram

The middle-order had the best men in the business at the point in time. The likes of Rahul Dravid, Brian Lara and Inzamam-ul-Haq were all part of the middle-order of this XI. Mark Boucher, who was arguably the best wicket-keeper then, was the gloveman for this XI. That said, this middle-order failed to deliver in this game. A few of them got starts in both innings but somehow did not get going. It eventually led the squad to lose the game. Inzamam-ul-Haq was especially poor as he could score just one run in the entire game.

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All-Rounders For World XI In ICC Super Test 2005: Jacques Kallis and Andrew Flintoff

The ICC World XI had the best all-rounders of that era. Both Jacques Kallis and Andrew Flintoff were part of this squad. Of course, the South African batted higher up the order and Flintoff got to do more bowling duties. In fact, the balance of this XI was such that Flintoff was the second main pacer of the unit. The Englishman collected seven scalps in the encounter. Kallis, though, bowled only a total of ten overs in the game, taking just a solitary wicket.

Bowlers: Daniel Vettori, Steve Harmison and Mutiah Muralidaran

Daniel Vettori was in good form at that time. Despite playing mostly on pacer-friendly tracks, the Kiwi was quite successful in picking wickets consistely. He was joined by Muralidaran in the spin department. The Sri Lankan is the highest international wicket-taker even now and 2005 was around the time when he was at the peak of his career. Steve Harmison was in fine form at that period and he was the leader of this XI’s pace attack.