BOMBAY, 14 October 2005 — The galaxy came down to earth with a thud and the much advertised Super Series ended in a super flop. The moral of the story is that cricket, like any other big sport, is as much a team game, even as it provides a stage for individual brilliance. A conglomeration of top stars from seven countries could not raise even a faint resistance to Australia in a three-match one-day series and were roundly beaten 3-0.

The Telstra Dome, the biggest indoor venue for any sport in the world, provided a novelty but both the quality of cricket and competition was disappointing. The ground, a multipurpose venue, has a convertible roof that opens and closes in a jiffy. The drop-in pitch provided a 50-50 surface with a fair amount of pace and bounce. The superstars however fumbled repeatedly and did little justice to the high reputation they enjoy in world cricket.

At hind sight, there were many things that went wrong with the World XI, whose composition was announced a good three months before the series of matches were actually held. Surprisingly enough instead of resorting to horses-for-courses approach in selecting the final squad, the selectors fell back on the old please-all policy of quota system.

Ironically enough, some of the countries in the forefront of limited overs cricket, were hardly pleased that their leading players were given the go-by. The most noticeable omission was that of Pakistani captain Inzamam-ul-Haq for both the one-day and the Test teams. It was only after the withdrawal of India’s Sachin Tendulkar, not fully recovered from his tennis elbow ailment, that Haq was called but only for the Test side.

As the matches were played, one’s suspicion that the choice of the World XI captain was not a right one, became more and more apparent. Shaun Pollock does not lead South Africa any more and, in recent past, he was also temporarily dropped from his country’s one-day side. On what basis was he then named the captain of the World one-day side? Pollock’s handling of the side also left a lot to be desired. His final choice of the playing eleven only weakened the side further. One cannot imagine that a player as attacking as Shahid Afridi was given such a shabby treatment. He was not included in the playing eleven, but only as a super-substitute. Even here his services were hardly properly used.

Let any set of selectors today select a world one-day side. It will indeed be difficult for them to leave out such a talent player as Shahid Afridi. He ought to have been an automatic choice in the first eleven. The ICC selectors forgot the fact that Afridi has to his credit the fastest one-day century, which he got off just 37 balls. Afridi also has the second fastest century which he scored against India earlier this year. Also, Afridi is a clever leg-spin bowler and a great fielder.

The biggest disappointment of the world team was Brian Lara. He was picked only on his high reputation as holder of the highest score in both Test and first-class cricket. Otherwise, the West Indies star has not played cricket for the last six months. And he looked completely out of touch.

While Virendra Sehwag gave only a few glimpses of his brilliant stroke-play, Rahul Dravid was a big let down. He looked totally unfit for this form of cricket. After playing two dozen dot balls he tried to steal an impossible single and had Sehwag, for once looking good, unnecessarily run out. Dravid was another misfit in the team.

The World XI side’s fielding was almost pedestrian, both in the air and on the ground. The only success story of the side was the Sri Lankan wicket-keeper-batsman Kumar Sangakkara. While he was seen at his attacking best and in consistent form with the bat, his keeping was of a very high standard. Andrew Flintoff was another consistent player, but he was well below the form that he displayed in the recent battle of the “Ashes”

The composition and the performance of the World XI finally gave rise to an important question and that is whether the team should be composed of just the marquee names or players who are younger and have been performing consistently in the international arena.