Veteran Bollywood actor Naseeruddin Shah, during his illustrious career, has worked in many cricket-based movies including Iqbal, Maalamaal, where he even shared the screen with the former Indian cricketer Sunil Gavaskar. However, not many are aware of the fact that besides being an established actor, Naseeruddin Shah is also a cricket fanatic, who is well-aware of the game’s history and recent happenings around the cricket world.
Recently, in an interview with the Film Companion, Naseeruddin Shah picked his all-time favorite India XI. While naming his favorite India XI, he also named R Ashwin as his favorite cricketer of the current generation.
Well, R Ashwin is undoubtedly among the best spinners of the modern-day cricket, who has represented team India in 71 Tests, 111 ODIs, and 46 T20Is so far.
While picking his team India XI, Naseeruddin Shah chose Vinoo Mankad and Farokh Engineer as the opening pairs. They were followed by Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid at no. 3 and no. 4 positions, respectively.
Further, Naseeruddin picked Mansur Ali Khan, Polly Umrigar, G Vishwanath, and Kapil Dev in his squad. For the position of finishers, Shah picked Mohd Nissar/Amar Singh, Bishan Singh Bedi, and Baloo Pawlankar as his preferred bowlers.
During the interview, Naseeruddin was asked to pick between Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid, responding to the question, Naseeruddin Shah picked Rahul Dravid. He said: “Dravid any day.”
Naseeruddin Shah’s all-time Playing XI:
Vinoo Mankad, Farrokh Engineer, Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Mansur Ali Khan, Polly Umrigar, G Vishwanath, Kapil Dev, Mohd Nissar/Amar Singh, Bishan Singh Bedi, Baloo Pawlankar
