Former India cricket Aakash Chopra has revealed his Indian Premier League (IPL) all time XI.
The IPL is now eleven years old and will soon cross the 12-year old. What started as a bold experiment in 2008 has now become the most lucrative and successful cricket league across the globe. Almost every big name from around the world can be seen lighting up the fields in India every summer. Over the years, the league has been graced by some of the biggest names in the history of the game.
From former stalwarts like Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Ricky Ponting, Matthew Hayden, present stars like Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers, MS Dhoni, Chris Gayle, Jasprit Bumrah, Steve Smith, to upcoming stars like Prithvi Shaw, Shimron Hetmyer and Shubman Gill, the league has never seen a dearth of talent.
No surprises then that it is very tough to pick just eleven players to form an all-time eleven of the IPL.
However, Aakash Chopra has managed to come up with his own team. And he has notably left out the likes of David Warner, Gautam Gambhir, Lasith Malinga and other big names from the team.
The team includes current India and Royal Challengers Bangalore skipper Virat Kohli. The 30-year old is the only player to have played for the same team since the inaugural season. Kohli has scored nearly 5,000 runs in the IPL with the help of four centuries which all of them coming in 2016 when he nearly scored 1,000 runs. MS Dhoni is also in the list. One of the most successful captains in the history of the league, the Chennai Super Kings skipper has led his team to two IPL titles.
Hard-hitters Chris Gayle, the highest T20 scorer of all-time, and Rohit Sharma will open the innings for Chopra’s team. Virat Kohli will bat at number three while his RCB teammate AB de Villiers will come at number four. Suresh Raina, one of the most decorated batsmen in the IPL, will bat at number five followed by MS Dhoni at number six. Allrounder Dwayne Bravo will bat at number six.
In the bowling department, West Indies spinner Sunil Narine makes it to the list. The remaining three bowlers are from India – Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Harbhajan Singh.
Aakash Chopra’s all time IPL XI:
Chris Gayle, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers, Suresh Raina, MS Dhoni, Dwayne Bravo, Sunil Narine, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Harbhajan Singh.