Michael Clarke clarifies the reason for picking Rohit Sharma in his All-Time India Test XI

Gavaskar and Sehwag will open the innings in Clarke's XI.

Published - 22 Jan 2019, 10:15 IST | Updated - 22 Jan 2019, 10:15 IST

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India has witnessed a lot of brilliant cricketers over the years, especially in the Test format. Everyone’s all-time Test XI will be a lot different and the topic will surely be debatable. The former Australia cricketer Michael Clarke tried to give a shot at it and has created a little of spur among the fans by picking Rohit Sharma in his all-time Test XI for India.

Clarke included the likes of MS Dhoni, Sunil Gavaskar and Virender Sehwag among many and clearly, those picks aren’t an issue as all of them deserve a special mention in the Indian cricket for their contribution. But Rohit’s inclusion and that too ahead of VVS Laxman has irked the fans a lot. Even Rohit’s die-hard fans would agree that India’s limited-overs vice-captain is not a Test material and still has a long way to go in the format.

One of the fans was vocal about the matter and criticised Michael Clarke for picking Rohit Sharma. He pointed out that the latter doesn’t even deserve the place in the Test team, let alone in the all-time XI.

Fan questions and Clarke Obliges

The video is presented by Hublot, the watch company, of which Rohit Sharma is the brand ambassador and the fan correctly asked Clarke if he had to include him due to that. The Aussie, however, was cheeky in his response and indirectly obliged to the fan’s question.

As far as the other members in the team are concerned, Rahul Dravid made it to the number three while Sachin Tendulkar played at four. Virat Kohli, the current Indian captain, will bat at five in Clarke’s XI while the legendary Kapil Dev has also been included along with Zaheer Khan as the second pace bowler. Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh are the two spinners but the major name missing in the line-up is of Laxman and clearly, Rohit has got his place.

Here’s Clarke’s all-time India Test XI: Sunil Gavaskar, Virender Sehwag, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, MS Dhoni, Kapil Dev, Anil Kumble, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan.

Here’s what the fan had to say:

Seriously @MClarke23 ? Rohit in All time Test XI? Even Rohit would be laughing at this. I'm a big Rohit's fan but he surely doesn't deserve a place in Test team (let alone all time XI). Is it because the video is presented by Hublot and Rohit's Brand ambassador for it?#conspiracy pic.twitter.com/jyIFqmVlyX
— Sarath (@sarath_751) January 21, 2019