Legendary Australian cricketer Ricky Ponting is hailed as one of the greatest skippers in the world. Ponting, who has captained Mumbai Indians in the past, enjoys a huge fan following in India. Currently, he is a member of the Delhi Capitals backroom staff. It won’t be wrong to say that Ponting was one of the reasons behind the miraculous turnaround of the Delhi Capitals in IPL 2019.
In an interview with cricket.com.au, Ponting selected his all-time IPL XI, where he named Chennai Super Kings’ skipper MS Dhoni as the captain of his all-time IPL XI. Ricky Ponting, who has captained Mumbai Indians in the past, did not include India and MI’s star bowler Jasprit Bumrah in his XI.
“It was a very tough team to pick because I could only get the four overseas guys in there. So there were a few notable names that have missed out on selection,” Ponting said.
Ponting selected two left-handed openers for his team — Chris Gayle and David Warner. Both the star openers are known for their big-hitting shots and are former Orange Cap winners in the IPL. At number 3, Ponting picked Virat Kohli, the all-time highest run-scorer in IPL, followed by Rohit Sharma who is at number 4.
Chennai Super Kings’ stalwarts Suresh Raina and MS Dhoni were picked for number five and six positions respectively. Dhoni was named as the captain and wicket-keeper of his team.
The primary all-rounder of Ponting’s team is the former IPL Purple Cap winner DJ Bravo, while Harbhajan Singh is at number 8 position. For the pacers, Ponting picked Lasith Malinga and Ashish Nehra, while Amit Mishra is the leading leg-spinner of the team. Ponting also picked Ashish Nehra because of his left-arm pace ‘X-factor.’
Ricky Ponting’s all-time IPL XI:
Chris Gayle, David Warner, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Suresh Raina, MS Dhoni (c and wk), DJ Bravo, Harbhajan Singh, Amit Mishra, Lasith Malinga, and Ashish Nehra.
