COC presents a lefty Test XI on the occasion of World Left-handers Day

COC presents a worthy Test XI comprising of the best left-handed players of the last 25 years.

Left-handers in cricket are highly appreciated given that they break the monotony of seeing right-handed players get all the glory. It is a noted fact that left-handed batsmen are prettier to look at and are possibly the best players of cover drive shot (or atleast look better playing the shot).

Today, on August 13, which is celebrated worldwide as the left-handers day, Team COC presents to you our chosen Lefty Test XI, featuring some of the best left-handed players the world has seen in the last 25 years or so.

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The openers of the team are two left-handers of strikingly different styles of batting. One is England’s highest run-getter in Test cricket in Sir Alastair Cook and another is the holder of the second-highest individual Test score by a batsman, Australia’s Matthew Hayden.

Cook made his debut in 2006 against India and scored a century on debut and also played his last Test against India in 2018 and scored a century in it as well. In between, he played a total of 161 Test matches, making 12472 runs at an average of 45.35 with 33 centuries and the highest score of 294. He also captained England in a record 59 Tests, winning 24 of those.

Matthew Hayden had made his debut in 1994 against South Africa but really got into the groove from 2001 onwards going on to play 103 Tests, making 8625 runs at an average of 50.73 with 30 centuries to his name, including a previous world record score of 380. The big burly Queenslander redefined opening batting thanks to his intimidatory style of dominating the bowlers.

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The middle-order sees two most stylish left-handers along with one batsman whose stance is still talked about.

Kumar Sangakkara of Sri Lanka was amazing and eye soothing to look at while batting and made 12400 runs in 134 Tests with 38 centuries to his name at an average of 57.40. His highest score was 319 and he is one of two players to score a triple century and century in the same Test.  

Next is the Prince of Trinidad, Brian Lara, considered to be one of the best batsmen in the world during his playing days. He played 131 Tests and made 11953 runs at an average of 52.88 with 34 centuries. His style of batting with that high backlift inspired a generation of young cricketers.

He holds the world record highest individual score of 400* and is one of the four players to score two triple tons in Tests. Lara is also the only batsman to reclaim the record of highest individual Test score after Hayden broke his record of 375 in 2003. He is also the captain of this COC Lefty XI.

Next comes Lara’s deputy in many ways, and a batsman on a completely opposite spectrum, Shivnarine Chanderpaul.

Chanderpaul played second fiddle to Lara most of the time and while Lara slashed his way to glory, Chanderpaul grittily paved his way to 11867 runs in 164 Tests with 30 centuries at an average of 51.37. Chanderpaul rescued West Indies most of the time when Lara couldn’t do the job and he carried the West Indies batting after Lara's retirement.

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Adam Gilchrist of Australia actually changed the way the wicketkeeper’s role was looked at given his tremendous ability to counterattack from no.7 batting position leaving other teams wanting a wicketkeeper who could actually bat.

He played 96 Tests and made 5570 runs at an average of 47.60 with 17 centuries to his name and made 417 victims behind the stumps. His highest score of 204* is one of the fastest double-centuries in Tests.

Next comes one of the best spin all-rounders in modern times, Bangladesh’s Shakib-Al-Hasan. The talented cricketer has played 56 Tests making 3862 runs and picking 210 wickets. He has 5 Test hundreds to his name with the highest score of 217 and his best bowling figures are 7/36.

His best performance was in his country’s first Test win over Australia at home, when he made 84 and picked 10 wickets in the match.

Apart from Shakib-Al-Hasan, another left-handed all-rounder was considered in England's Ben Stokes, but the fact that he bowls right-handed disqualified him from our Lefty XI. Though there are other batsmen in the list like Hayden, Lara, Cook, and Chanderpaul, who also bowl right-handed, it is assumed that they won't be called on to perform any bowling duties.

Next is New Zealand’s Daniel Vettori, who was widely considered as the best left-arm spinner for a long time during his career. He made his Test debut at 17 in 1997 and went onto play 113 Tests picking up 362 wickets and made 4531 runs with 6 centuries and the best score of 140. He also captained the Kiwis in 32 Tests.

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Now it’s the time for the fast bowlers to make their appearance and none other than Pakistani great Wasim Akram comes first. Considered to be the best left-arm fast bowler of all-time, Akram had a stellar career from 1984-2003.

In 104 Tests, Akram picked 414 wickets including two hat-tricks to his name. He was also no mug with the bat, making 2898 runs with 3 centuries and a record score of 257* which contains a world-record haul of 12 sixes. Akram learnt from the best in Imran Khan and went on to become a true great of the game.

Australia’s Mitchell Johnson put the fear of god in opponents when he had the red cherry in his hands. A pure speed demon played 73 Tests from 2007-2015 and picked 313 wickets with a best of 8/61.

His most amazing and memorable performances came against England in Ashes 2013/14, when he picked 37 wickets in 5 Test matches including best figures of 7/40.

Last but not the least comes India’s Zaheer Khan, probably the best Indian fast bowler alongside Kapil Dev and Javagal Srinath. An expert exponent of reverse swing art, Zaheer managed to play 92 Test matches having made his debut in 2000 against Bangladesh.

He picked 311 wickets with a best of 7/87 and was one of the reasons why India did well outside the Asian subcontinent.

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His most notable performance was against England during the Trent Bridge Test of the 2007 series, which saw the now infamous jelly bean incident, where the home side managed to make the fast bowler mad when he came out to bat by throwing jelly beans at the pitch to distract him.

He went on to rout the England team with five wickets in second innings, helping India win the Test.

Reserves

Apart from these amazing left-handers, we decided to pick four reserve players as well who can come in for any of the legends mentioned in the XI as and when needed, looking at the situation and playing conditions.

Sri Lanka’s Rangana Herath and Chaminda Vaas are perhaps the best bet if the Lefty XI plays in the subcontinent conditions where the pitches assist the spinners and Vaas had all the arrows in his quiver to take advantages of slow surfaces. Herath will be an automatic selection if the team plays on dust bowls of Asia.  

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Graeme Smith and Andy Flower are the other two reserves. The South African legend captained his team for more than 100 Tests, the only player to achieve this feat, and made over 9000 runs as an opener with 27 Test centuries to his name and the highest score of 277.

Andy Flower was inarguably Zimbabwe’s best batsman by a distance and had a dream run in the 2000s, including a Test series against India in 2001 where he scored 183*, 70, 55 and 232* in four innings, that’s 540 runs at an average of 270.  

COC Lefty Test XI:
Sir Alastair Cook (ENG), Matthew Hayden (AUS), Kumar Sangakkara (SL), Brian Lara (C-WI), Shivnarine Chanderpaul (WI), Adam Gilchrist (WK-AUS), Shakib-Al-Hasan (BAN), Daniel Vettori (NZ), Wasim Akram (PAK), Mitchell Johnson (AUS), Zaheer Khan (IND)

Reserves – Rangana Herath (SL), Graeme Smith (SA), Andy Flower (ZIM), Chaminda Vaas (SL)