Former Indian cricketer Nikhil Chopra reveals his all-time favourite IPL XI

Former Indian cricketer Nikhil Chopra picked his all-time favourite IPL XI and named 16 players while doing so. The IPL 2022 edition will come to an end tonight (May 29) with the final being played at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad between the Gujarat Titans and Rajasthan Royals. Ahead of the finals, Chopra went on to note how difficult it is to pick an IPL XI with a lot of players performing consistently over the years.

While speaking on CricTracker’s ‘Not Just Cricket’ show powered by Sky247.net, Chopra started with three openers in the form of Chris Gayle, Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan. As expected, Virat Kohli, the leading run-getter in IPL history, found a place while he was followed by his ex-RCB team-mate AB de Villiers. MS Dhoni was the next pick for his excellent captaincy, wicketkeeping skills and his finishing abilities.

Nikhil Chopra names Rohit and Dhoni as captaincy candidates

Mr IPL, Suresh Raina, who went unsold in this year’s IPL mega auction, was also included, and the two-time trophy winner for KKR, Gautam Gambhir followed him as well. Chopra went with three leg spinners in Amit Mishra, Piyush Chawla, and Yuzvendra Chahal while Harbhajan Singh and Sunil Narine were the other spinners who got picked as well. Finally, Chopra concluded with three of the best death over bowlers in IPL history, Bumrah, Malinga, and Bravo as the final picks for his favourite XI.

The 48-year-old finally named MS Dhoni and Rohit Sharma as the likely contenders to captain his favourite XI. Rohit has been the most successful captain in IPL history with five titles under his belt while Dhoni is second on the list with four titles to his name. He also mentioned that all these players have performed splendidly over the years in the IPL.

Nikhil Chopra’s all-time IPL XI: Chris Gayle, Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers, MS Dhoni, Suresh Raina, Gautam Gambhir, Amit Mishra, Piyush Chawla, Yuzvendra Chahal, Harbhajan Singh, Sunil Narine, Jasprit Bumrah, Lasith Malinga, Dwayne Bravo.