Check out the all time IPL XI by Warne, Ponting, Aakash Chopra :- Indian Premier League has had a glorious decade and has proved to be a very successful event. Started in 2008, the tournament has arguably given its viewers the greatest amount of entertainment possible. Each year this Summer Bonanza draws the interest of millions of fans all around the world.
IPL has given tremendous exposure to not only the young domestic players but has also lead to the development of large fan bases of numerous International cricketers as well. People pick their favourites and build up their own squads.
With one match to go for the closure of the 10th season of IPL, cricketing legends selected their all-time IPL XI teams for various publications. This was done as part of the celebration of the completion of 10 years of the league.
They had the liberty to choose whoever they wanted. The only rule of this activity was that they could include only four Foreign Players in their teams similar to the rule in all the IPL games. Keeping in mind every aspect of the game, they picked their elevens.
Some common names that appeared in each of the teams were those of Virat Kohli, Chris Gayle, Rohit Sharma and Lasith Malinga. These players have indeed contributed immensely to the teams they have been a part of and their inclusion was not much of a surprise.
Although exclusion of certain big names from certain IPL teams did spark up debates and discussions on the social media. For instance – Ajit Agarkar, the gem of Indian bowling selected a team that had neither MS Dhoni nor Yuvraj Singh. Likewise Warner too did not find a place in 3 of the 4 Elevens. Ravichandran Ashwin was totally excluded.
Below are the picked up Playing XIs-
Ajit Agarkar’s XI: Chris Gayle, Virender Sehwag, Suresh Raina, Virat Kohli (captain), Rohit Sharma, AB de Villiers (wicketkeeper), Sunil Narine, Lasith Malinga, Jasprit Bumrah, Harbhajan Singh, Ashish Nehra
Ricky Ponting’s XI: Chris Gayle, David Warner, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Suresh Raina, MS Dhoni (captain, wicketkeeper), Dwayne Bravo, Amit Mishra, Harbhajan Singh, Lasith Malinga, Ashish Nehra
Shane Warne’s XI: Chris Gayle, Brendon McCullum, Jacques Kallis, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Yuvraj Singh, MS Dhoni (captain, wicketkeeper), Ravindra Jadeja, Harbhajan Singh, Lasith Malinga, Umesh Yadav.
Aakash Chopra XI: Chris Gayle, Gautam Gambhir, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Suresh Raina, MS Dhoni, Dwayne Bravo, Sunil Narine, Amit Mishra, Lasith Malinga, Bhuvneshwar Kumar
Indian Premier League ends tonight with the Finals being played between the two Maharashtrian giants – Rising Pune Supergiants and Mumbai Indians at Hyderabad.
– by Akshata Tilwankar