Harbhajan Singh chooses his all-time XI with MS Dhoni as skipper

Harbhajan Singh has had a storied career which began in 1998 at the age of 17 and has seen him reach new heights. He was the first Indian bowler to take a hat-trick in Test matches and played a pivotal role in Indian team’s win over Australia in the iconic 2001 Test series which was dubbed as the final frontier for the Baggy Greens.

Singh was recently featured in Lord’s- Home of Cricket all-time XI series and he unveiled his team that featured some of the greats of the game. The 38-year-old, who has the experience of 103 Tests and 236 ODIs, has faced many of the former greats of the game in their prime and even some new entrants. Harbhajan’s all-time XI saw four of the best Indian players making the cut.

Virat, Rohit, and Tendulkar picked as top three by Harbhajan

Rohit Sharma, Sachin Tendulkar, and Virat Kohli were picked as the top three batsmen with Rohit and Sachin opening the innings. Virat Kohli takes the no.3 spot in the batting order and he is followed by two-time World cup winning captain Ricky Ponting who has experience of 375 ODIs. Harbhajan Singh then went for two of the all-time greatest all-rounders in England’s Andrew Flintoff and South Africa’s Jacques Kallis at no. 6 and no.5 respectively.

Kallis was an excellently technical batsman with over 11,000 ODI runs to his name and more than capable bowler in his time with 273 wickets to vouch for. Andrew Flintoff was a great character on the field and someone who didn’t give it up until the last ball was bowled. He has over 3,000 runs in ODIs and 169 wickets to boot for, making him an asset to have in the team.

Harbhajan named India’s two-time World Cup-winning captain MS Dhoni, the wicket-keeper and skipper of his all-time XI. Under him, India won T20 World Cup in 2007, 50-over World Cup in 2011 and ICC Champions Trophy in 2013. Dhoni’s influence on world cricket is massive, given his victories for the Indian team all over the globe.

Muttiah Muralitharan and Shane Warne are the two spinners in Harbhajan’s team. Muralitharan is the highest wicket-taker in both Tests (800) and ODIs (534) and is a legend of the game, who was highly effective in any format he bowled in. Shane Warne can be credited for making leg-spin bowling popular again and saved it from dying with his amazing abilities with the ball.

The two fast bowlers in Harbhajan’s team are Lasith Malinga from Sri Lanka and Wasim Akram from Pakistan. Malinga’s unique bowling action and high pace in his prime made him extremely difficult to get away with either the new ball or the old ball, which he made to reverse swing. Wasim Akram needs no introduction as the left-hander was the first bowler to take 500 wickets in ODIs and first to take over 400 wickets in both forms of the game.

Here is Harbhajan’s all-time XI:

Sachin Tendulkar, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Ricky Ponting, Jacques Kallis, Andrew Flintoff, MS Dhoni (C&WK), Shane Warne, Wasim Akram, Lasith Malinga, Muttiah Muralithran.