Shane Warne, one of the greatest leg spinners of all time, recently picked his all-time India XI. While Warne picked some of the legendary players, he excluded some of the modern-day greats.
Shane Warne picked former Indian captain and current BCCI secretary Sourav Ganguly as the skipper of his all-time Indian XI. The list also included Sachin Tendulkar, arguably the greatest player to ever play the game.
However, Warne left out MS Dhoni, the only captain to win all three ICC titles. The former Aussie spinner also excluded Virat Kohli, who is a current modern-day great. While explaining the reason behind their exclusion, from the team, Shane Warne said that he is only naming the players he has played against. He said:
“I am only picking players that I played against and that’s why MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli are not going to be a part of the side. While Dhoni is probably the greatest wicketkeeper-batsman to have played the game, Kohli is one of the greatest batsmen across formats.”
Shane Warne also didn’t pick VVS Laxman in his all-time India XI. While explaining the reason behind his decision, Warne stated that Laxman faced the axe so as to accommodate Sourav Ganguly in his team. He said”
“I went for Ganguly because I wanted him to be the captain of my side, that is why Laxman missed out.”
Further, the Australian leg spinner picked former Indian cricketer Navjot Singh Sidhu and hard-hitting Virender Sehwag as the two’ openers in his playing XI, which also includes the likes of Mohammad Azharuddin, Rahul Dravid, legendary all-rounder Kapil Dev, among others.
While explaining the reason why he picked Navjot Singh Sidhu in his playing XI, Shane Warne said:
“I had to pick Navjot Singh Sidhu because he was the best player against spin I have ever played against. All the other spinners I have played with, they have also told me that Sidhu was brilliant against them.”
Nayan Mongia, who represented 140 ODIs and 44 Tests made into the playing XI as the wicket-keeper, while Harbhajan Singh, Javagal Srinath and Anil Kumble were picked as the leaders of the bowling attack.
Shane Warne’s all-time India XI: Virender Sehwag, Navjot Singh Sidhu, Sachin Tendulkar, Mohammad Azharuddin Sourav Ganguly (captain) Rahul Dravid, Kapil Dev, Nayan Mongia (wicketkeeper), Harbhajan Singh, Javagal Srinath, Anil Kumble.
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