Michael Vaughan, former England captain, along with former Australia keeper-batter Adam Gilchrist were asked to take the IPL challenge of “keep one, bench one, and sell one” featuring Virat Kohli, MS Dhoni, and Rohit Sharma.
Three of Indian cricket’s top personalities have been in the league from its beginning, and they are currently among the biggest crowd pullers for their respective clubs, despite being on the same squad.
During a podcast with Cricket.com, former England captain Michael Vaughan and great Australian wicketkeeper-batsman Adam Gilchrist discussed this improbable possibility. But, as the saying goes, “the impossible is nothing,” and Vaughan appeared to believe it wholeheartedly.
The former England batsman had no problem in selecting Dhoni as the player. He also named the two-time World Cup-winning Indian cricket legend as captain of his team.
“I’m playing MS Dhoni. I don’t think anyone’s been better. No (Virat doesn’t find a place). MS is the captain. He’s playing,” Vaughan said.
Chennai Super Kings icon Dhoni, the IPL’s joint-most successful skipper alongside Rohit Sharma, is widely regarded as one of the best players in IPL history. With 264 games, he is the most-capped player in the IPL and has the most dismissals as a keeper (190).
He is the league’s sixth-leading run scorer, with 5243 runs at an average of 39 and a strike rate of 137.
“I’ll sell Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma will be sub for MS Dhoni”- Michael Vaughan
When asked to choose between Rohit and Kohli, the former England skipper went for the Royal Challengers Bengaluru batter’s name.
Kohli, the only cricketer in IPL history to play every season since 2008 for the same franchise, has failed to win the championship. However, when it comes to run scoring, he outperforms everyone else. Kohli is the IPL’s most-run scorer, with 8004 runs in 251 matches. The next greatest is Shikhar Dhawan’s 6769 in 222 games.
Vaughan said selling Kohli to another franchise would be “good business” as it can fetch him a good transfer fee.
“I can get a good load of cash for him. He’ll go somewhere else for a huge amount of money. That’s good business,” he added.
Vaughan said Mumbai Indians legend and the current Indian captain Rohit Sharma will be kept on the bench as a replacement for Dhoni.
Gilchrist agreed with Vaughan but added that it was tough on all of the game’s legends.
He said: “That’s well thought through (by Vaughan). You’re splitting hair, it’s tough on all, but that’s the job of a manager, isn’t it?”
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