Karn Sharma picks his all-time IPL XI, names his best foreign players of spin as well

Karn Sharma, the veteran Indian leg-spinner, has named his all-time eleven in the Indian Premier League (IPL). As the openers, he went for the right-left combo of Rohit Sharma and Chris Gayle. Rohit is currently the most successful skipper in the IPL, having led the Mumbai Indians to four titles from 2013 to 2019. The 33-year-old has been mightily effective with the bat as well.

Gayle, on the other hand, has the highest individual IPL score of 175 off 66 balls that he achieved in 2013 against the Pune Warriors. In the middle-order, Sharma picked up Virat Kohli and Suresh Raina, who both are the top two run-scorers in the IPL, playing in the cash-rich league since 2008. Kohli also has five centuries, four of which came in 2016, a season where he nearly scored 1,000 runs.

No Malinga in Karn Sharma’s XI either 

Sharma put forth his opinions during an interaction with Dr Yash Kashikar on Say Yash To Sports Show. Sharma zeroed in on MS Dhoni as the captain of his eleven. Dhoni has captained the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) to title glories in 2010, 2011 and 2018 and has been an indispensable member of their setup. Hardik Pandya and Dwayne Bravo are Sharma’s genuine all-rounders.

Sharma, who has played 63 IPL games, picked up Harbhajan Singh and Amit Mishra as the specialist spinners. Both Mishra and Harbhajan have picked up wickets since their maiden season in 2008. As the fast bowlers, Sharma went for Jasprit Bumrah and Bhuvneshwar Kumar. However, that he didn’t pick Lasith Malinga, the leading wicket-taker in the history of the IPL, can raise a lot of eyebrows.

Here’s Sharma’s All-time IPL XI: –

Chris Gayle, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, MS Dhoni (Capt. & WK), Hardik Pandya, Dwayne Bravo, Amit Mishra, Harbhajan Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar.

Sharma also said that Mishra is the best leg-spinner in world cricket at the present point in time. In 147 IPL games, Mishra has 157 wickets and is second in the list of all-time wicket-takers in the cash-rich league. He has also played 22 Tests, 36 ODIs and 10 T20Is, picking 156 wickets.

Moreover, Sharma named Steve Smith and AB de Villiers as the ones among foreign players, who play spin effectively. De Villiers has shone for the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and Steve Smith as an incredible Test and ODI record in Indian conditions.