With no cricket taking place around the world because of the Coronavirus pandemic, cricket experts and cricketers around the world are keeping everyone entertained with their interactive activities on social media. Several cricketers and cricket experts are coming up with their all-time favorite playing XI of different formats and leagues around the world.
Former South African skipper AB de Villiers has joined the bandwagon and come up with his all-time favorite Indian Premier League XI. Picking his favorite players from all the franchises, AB de Villiers decided to pick MS dhoni as the skipper of his all-time favorite IPL XI.
MS Dhoni and Rohit Sharma are two of the most successful skippers of any IPL franchise, having won the title of Indian Premier League thrice and 4 times, respectively. For the position of skipper in his all-time IPL XI, AB de Villiers picked MS Dhoni, who is regarded as the best skipper around the world.
Recently, in a conversation with commentator Harsha Bhogle for Cricbuzz, AB de Villiers picked Virender Sehwag and Rohit Sharma as the openers of his team. Praising Rohit Sharma, he said:
“some of the best cricket in the world in the last five years”
Interestingly, AB de Villiers decided to leave out his former RCB teammate Chris Gayle from his IPL XI, despite the giant run-getter being the common pick for most cricketers in their all-time XI.
For the position of number 3, AB de Villiers picked his RCB skipper Virat Kohli. The stunning partnership of AB de Villiers and Virat Kohli is the common sight in the middle order for the cricket fans. Therefore, when De Villiers was told that he had to pick himself as one of the four overseas players, he said:
“At number four either Williamson or Smith or myself.” He added: “But I have given you the two replacement options.”
England’s maverick all-rounder Ben Stokes comes in at five after De Villiers and the Chennai Super Kings skipper MS Dhoni follows him. For the all-rounder position, AB de Villiers picked team India and CSK’s star all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja and Afghanistan’s talented all-rounder Rashid Khan.
For the batting attack, AB de Villiers picked some of the best bowlers in the world including India’s Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Kagiso Rabada and Jasprit Bumrah.
AB de Villiers’ all-time IPL XI: Virender Sehwag, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers, Ben Stokes, MS Dhoni (c) (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Rashid Khan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Kagiso Rabada, Jasprit Bumrah
