New Delhi: India head coach Gautam Gambhir made some surprise picks as he revealed his all-time India playing XI. Gambhir named a star-studded XI consisting of some of the legends of Indian cricket. However, he ignored a couple of big names as well in the team which comprised a number of his teammates from India’s 2011 ODI World Cup-winning squad.
Gambhir revealed his all-time India XI during an interaction with Sportskeeda. The former India opener picked himself as the opener in his XI alongside the explosive Virender Sehwag while snubbing current India captain Rohit Sharma. Gambhir also ignored fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah, who many have rated as one of the best fast bowlers India have ever produced.
Gambhir picked Rahul Dravid at number three while going for the legendary Sachin Tendulkar at no.4. Tendulkar, who is considered one of the greatest batters of all time, batted mostly at no.4 in his Test career. The current India head coach also picked Virat Kohli in his XI and slotted him into the middle order. The only batter with 50 centuries in ODIs, Kohli has been one of India’s most consistent performers across formats over the years.
There were no surprises as Gambhir picked the legendary MS Dhoni as the wicket-keeper batter in his side. Gambhir, who has often hailed Dhoni as India’s greatest captain of all time, won the 2007 T20 World Cup and 2011 ODI World Cup under his leadership. The former India opener picked Yuvraj Singh as the key all-rounder in his side.
Gambhir picks Yuvraj, Irfan as two all-rounders in his XI
Yuvraj played an instrumental role in India’s victories in the 2007 T20 World Cup and the 2011 ODI World Cup. The left-hander was named the Player of the Tournament in the 2011 ODI World Cup for smashing 362 runs and picking up 15 wickets in the tournament. Gambhir went with two specialist spinners in his XI as he picked Anil Kumble and R Ashwin.
Kumble is India’s leading wicket-taker in international cricket with 944 scalps with Ashwin right behind in the 2nd spot with 744 wickets to his name. Gambhir picked Irfan Pathan and Zaheer Khan as the two fast bowlers in his team. Irfan, a pace all-rounder, was part of India’s T20 World Cup-winning squad in 2007 while Zaheer played a key role in India’s 2011 ODI World Cup triumph.
Gautam Gambhir’s all-time India XI:
Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh, MS Dhoni (wk), Anil Kumble, Ravichandran Ashwin, Irfan Pathan, Zaheer Khan
Team India head coach Gautam Gambhir recently named his all-time India playing XI. The former India batter picked up a number of his teammates from the 2011 ODI World Cup-winning squad while snubbing a couple of big names. Cricket Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
