Indian National Cricket Team head coach Gautam Gambhir has named his all-time best XI for the Men in Blue. What caught the attention of many was that he left out current captain Rohit Sharma, who was rated as the best wicket-keeper, and Jasprit Bumrah, who was named as the team’s best fast bowler.
Gautam Gambhir chose himself as the team’s opener along with Virender Sehwag. The two are among the best ever to have played for the Indian National Cricket Team. They have made valuable contributions to the team in all three formats of the game and helped the team win major competitions.
Picked by Gambhir at #3 Rahul Dravid. Wall was certainly one of the power hitters and was the backbone of the team during his playing days. He rescued the Indian National Cricket Team from various slumps and played a major role for the team in Tests and ODIs.
Gautam Gambhir then picked Sachin Tendulkar and Virat Kohli at No. 4 and No. 5 respectively.
The two are the best batsmen produced by the Indian National Cricket Team. While Tendulkar is hailed as the god of cricket, Kohli is seen as his successor and they are the two batsmen who have scored the most centuries in cricket.
Yuvraj Singh was selected as the spin bowling all-rounder in the team. He is arguably one of the best all-rounders the team has produced. Singh played a crucial role for India and helped them win the T20 World Cup 2007 and the 2011 World Cup where he was the Player of the Tournament.
MS Dhoni found a place in Gambhir’s all-time best Indian XI as a wicketkeeper in the team. There is no doubt that Dhoni has been the best wicketkeeper for the Indian team. He is also the most successful captain for the team, guiding them to all the white ball ICC titles and also making the team number 1 in Tests.
Anil Kumble and Ravichandran Ashwin are the two spinners who found a place in Gautam Gambhir’s best ever Indian XI. Kumble is the leading wicket-taker for the team in Test cricket with 619 scalps and has also been decent for the team in ODI cricket.
On the other hand, Ravichandran Ashwin was also at par with Anil Kumble. He is the second leading wicket-taker in Tests for India and has contributed immensely to the team in ODIs as well as T20Is. He was also part of the team that won the 2011 World Cup.
Irfan Pathan and Zaheer Khan were the two fast bowlers picked by Gambhir in his all-time best Indian XI.
Both the left-handed batsmen have contributed immensely to the team across the three formats. Pathan was also handy for the team with the bat as he played a vital hand for the team.
Gautam Gambhir has picked the best Indian XI of all time
Here is Gambhir’s best India XI of all time:
Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh, MS Dhoni (wk), Anil Kumble, Ravichandran Ashwin, Irfan Pathan, Zaheer Khan
