Veteran Indian spinner Ravichandran Ashwin recently picked his all-time IPL XI and left out some of the greatest players that the league has ever seen.
Over the 17 years of the IPL, the world’s best cricketers have played in the richest cricket league across the globe and left a mark that will be remembered for ages to come. Unsurprisingly, Ashwin’s all-time XI saw some notable omissions which has sparked debate.
Speaking on former Indian batter, Kris Srikanth’s YouTube channel, Ashwin left out great openers like Shikhar Dhawan, Chris Gayle and David Warner and opted for the 5-time IPL winning captain Rohit Sharma along with the Royal Challengers Bangalore’s (RCB) greatest-ever player, Virat Kohli as his opening pair.
The number 3 spot was reserved for Suresh Raina, who played a key role in helping Chennai Super Kings (CSK) win the IPL four times. Then he picked Suryakumar Yadav who has been the backbone of the Mumbai Indians’ (MI) batting order for several seasons now at number 4. RCB legend Ab de Villiers completed his star-studded middle-order.
Ashwin’s former captain in CSK, MS Dhoni occupied the number 6 spot and was also picked as the wicketkeeper for his side. When it comes to the all-rounders, the likes of Kieron Pollard, Shane Watson, Dwayne Bravo and Andre Russell weren’t given a place as Ashwin picked Sunil Narine and Rashid Khan, both of whom are spin-bowling all-rounders.
Among pacers, Ashwin picked the legendary MI duo of Jasprit Bumrah and Lasith Malinga, who are widely known as the two best pacers in IPL history. The 11th spot was reserved for Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who is the highest wicket-taker among Indian pacers since the start of the IPL.
It is worth noting that Ashwin stuck to IPL’s playing XI rules and hence only 4 overseas players found a place.
Ravichandran Ashwin all-time playing XI: Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, Suryakumar Yadav, Ab de Villiers, MS Dhoni (C/WK), Sunil Narine, Rashid Khan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Lasith Malinga
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