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Cricket's greatest XI: Which team would play for pride, with emotion?

How would they perform not as individual geniuses but as a team? It was obvious that this was actually the most important question

Brian Lara and Sachin Tendulkar stride out to bat for the International XI against Pakistan in an earthquake relief fund charity match in 2006. This columnist’s World XI, however, has space only for Lara. Photo: Reuters
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Brian Lara and Sachin Tendulkar stride out to bat for the International XI against Pakistan in an earthquake relief fund charity match in 2006. This columnist’s World XI, however, has space only for Lara. Photo: Reuters

Aakar Patel
For many days now, I have been thinking of what an all-time cricketing World XI would look like. At first, I decided I would pick out the players from our times whose feats I was familiar with. And those I would add to the names, actually only two, whom I had not seen but who everyone agrees are the two best cricketers in history. 

Those two are, of course, Donald Bradman and Garry Sobers, both knighted. Bradman, a right-hander, batted, in this team of mine, at number 3 and Sobers, a leftie, at number 6. Most of us are familiar