Aakash Chopra names Imran Khan skipper in his India-Pakistan combined ODI XI

Aakash Chopra, the former Indian cricketer, has picked his best India-Pakistan combined eleven in one day internationals. In his team, he picked Imran Khan, MS Dhoni and Kapil Dev, all of whom are World Cup winning captains. However, the cricketer turned commentator, went for Imran, who’s also the current Prime Minister of Pakistan, as the skipper of his elite playing eleven.

Imran carried the Men in Green to their maiden World title in 1992, beating England in the final. He was also deemed as one of the greatest all-rounders to have graced the game. Dhoni and Kapil won India the World Cup in 2011 and 1983 respectively. In his eleven, Chopra went for the legendary Sachin Tendulkar, and Rohit Sharma, India’s current stalwart in the One Day team.

Only one spinner in Aakash Chopra’s eleven

Even as Sachin is already retired, Rohit still has quite a few years of cricket left ahead of him. Chopra picked Virat Kohli, the current Indian skipper, for the number three slot. Kohli is currently third in the list of most hundreds scored at the international level. Javed Miandad is Chopra’s number four. Miandad once finished off a game against the Men in Blue with a six in the last ball.

Chopra went for the calm and collected Inzamam-ul-Haq at number five. Dhoni was slotted in at number six followed by Imran Khan and Kapil Dev. In their careers, both Kapil and Imran tormented oppositions with both bat and ball. Chopra picked Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis as the specialist fast bowler. Akram was no mug with the bat either as he has a double ton to his name.

Waqar along with Wasim ruffled quite a few feathers with their pace and swing. Saqlain Mushtaq was Chopra’s sole spinner in the lineup. In the 1999 World Cup, Saqlain managed to pick up a hat-trick. As his 12th man, Aakash zeroed in on Yuvraj. The Punjab all-rounder was the Player of the Tournament in the 2011 edition of the 50-over World Cup in India.

Here is Aakash Chopra’s eleven: –

Sachin Tendulkar, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Javed Miandad, Inzamam-Ul-Haq, MS Dhoni (WK), Imran Khan (C), Kapil Dev, Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis, Saqlain Mushtaq, Yuvraj Singh (12th Man)