Ian Bishop picks four Indian cricketers in his all-time ODI XI

Ian Bishop, the former Windies cricketers, is presently a part of the commentary panel in the 2019 edition of the World Cup in England and Wales. In between his hectic schedule, the veteran has picked his all-time ODI XI as well. To start with, he picked the legendary Sachin Tendulkar and Rohit Sharma as his opening batsmen. He also hailed the 32-year-old Rohit as one of the modern-day greats.

“I have an opening pair from the same country. Sachin Tendulkar, who has been a high volume scorer in one-day internationals and one of the modern greats Rohit Sharma,” the 51-year-old was quoted as saying in a video for the International Cricket Council (ICC).

At number three, he went for the swashbuckling Sir Viv Richards, who played ODI cricket at a strike-rate of over 90, which was deemed exemplary in his generation. For the number four slot, he picked Virat Kohli, who is currently leading India in the World Cup. Kohli is also the fastest batsman to notch 10,000 ODI runs during the ODI series against the Windies last year in October.

Only one Windies cricketer in his team

Then Bishop picked retired South African batsman AB de Villiers in his eleven. With over 18,000 runs at the highest level, ABD can be regarded as one of their greatest batsmen. Bishop went for Lance Klusener as the genuine all-rounder. It didn’t spring a surprise that MS Dhoni, the 2011 Indian World Cup-winning captain, made his eleven.

Dhoni is presently a part of the Men in Blue for the mega event. However, Joel Garner is the only Windies player in his lineup. Garner racked up 146 ODI wickets in his 98-match career. Former Australian fast bowler Glenn McGrath and Wasim Akram, the retired Pakistan speedster, are the pacers.

McGrath and Akram have 381 and 502 wickets respectively in the ODI format. Saqlain Mushtaq, who picked up a hat-trick in the 1999 World Cup against Zimbabwe is the lone spin bowling option in his eleven.

Here is Bishop’s XI

Sachin Tendulkar, Rohit Sharma, Viv Richards, Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers, Lance Klusener, MS Dhoni, Wasim Akram, Saqlain Mushtaq, Joel Garner, Glenn McGrath.

“He’s already for me, a modern day great of 50-over cricket.”

West Indies legend Ian Bishop has named his star-studded @GoDaddy Greatest ODI XI! pic.twitter.com/s2VCl1kSAt

— ICC (@ICC) June 7, 2019