Rory Burns picks his all time XI without any Indian

County cricketer Rory Burns recently picked up his eleven players which he deems perfect to fit into the list of all-time XI. Surprisingly though, no Indian players feature in the list of the left-handed batsman – not even Sachin Tendulkar or Virat Kohli.

Burns is a regular face in the England domestic county series and has a decent record with the bat and has been an influential wicketkeeper too. Needless to say, he is in the reckoning for the national side call up as well. Burns picked up his all time XI and his selection was made public in a video posted by the official YouTube handle of the Lord’s Ground.

Burns picked up the South African duo of Hashim Amla and Graeme Smith to open the innings. Smith, the former South African captain, was instrumental in taking South Africa to the number one rankings during his playing days. His record as a batsman was no less either. Amla is currently the pillar stone of the South African batting lineup.

At number 3, Burns picked former Sri Lankan captain Kumar Sangakkara. Sangakkara has been one of the best left-handed batsmen to have ever graced the cricket circuit. He has been in a phenomenal form even after his retirement and continues to feature in T20 leagues around the world.

Ricky Ponting follows him at number 4. Ponting is one of the few batsmen who have an equally good record in both Tests and ODIs. Next one in the list is English cricketer Kevin Pietersen. KP has been a perfect blend of orthodox and modern day cricket. Though he has not been a part of the national setup for quite some time now, he still continues to impress all with his domestic performances.

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Shivnarine Chanderpaul – arguably the best West Indies batsman of modern era along with Brian Lare – is the next batsman in the list. All-rounder Moises Henriques in one of the few young cricketers to feature in Burns’ all-time XI. The pace bowling department boasts of pacers like Wahab Riaz, Graham Onions and Andre Adams.

Not many would know who Andre Adams is. But the Kiwi pacer had picked up 6 wickets in the only match that he played. Wahab Riaz has been a fiery addition to the Pakistan team and his attacking spell of bowling to Shane Watson during the ICC World Cup 2015 remains afresh in the minds of the cricket fans.

Graham Onions has played only 9 Tests for England but managed to be very effective with 32 wickets to his name. He has only been unlucky to be in and out of the national side. The only spinner to feature in the list is Saeed Ajmal. The Pakistani spinner has been an inspiration to an entire generation of young spinners in Pakistan. He has a staggering record of 178 Test wickets in just 35 matches.

Well, by the look of things and the omission of some big names of the cricket world, it can only be said that Burns has picked up his all time XI based on his experiences in the county championships and definitely has had very unique parameters for selection of his team.

Rory Burns All-Time XI: Graeme Smith, Hashim Amla, Kumar Sangakkara (wk), Ricky Ponting, Kevin Pietersen, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Moises Henriques, Andre Adams, Wahab Riaz, Saeed Ajmal, Graham Onions.