Shane Warne reveals his all-time IPL XI

Former Australian spinner Shane Warne revealed his “All time Indian Premier League XI” as the tenth season of the same is well underway. Warne was the captain of the Rajasthan Royal franchise in the first edition of the cash-rich league and also successfully lifted the title that year.

He unveiled his “best XI” in reply to a question on Facebook on 22nd April (Saturday). The legend has featured in 55 matches in the IPL and picked up 57 wickets with best bowling figures of 4/21.

He was asked on his Facebook page “Sportsmate – cricket live & I have a question for you. What is your all time playing 11 from the #IPL over the last 10 years ? Remember you are only allowed 4 overseas players !!!!!!”

Warne in reply unveiled his all time XI which includes some wonderful players. There was no surprise as far as the openers are concerned as he chose Chris Gayle and Brendon McCullum to open the bowling. Gayle became the first player ever to reach the 10,000 run mark in T20 cricket and is an obvious inclusion in any T20 side. McCullum, on the other hand, is no less and we all remember his 158 against the Royal Challengers Bangalore in the inaugural match of the IPL in 2008.

The middle order looks mighty solid as it is occupied by the likes of Jacques Kallis, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Yuvraj Singh and Mahendra Singh Dhoni. With such a batting line up a team would fancy winning all the games it plays. Dhoni was also picked as the captain of the side as he is known to be one of the most decorated captains in the world.

The bowling department doesn’t look bad either with high profile cricketers like Ravindra Jadeja, Lasith Malinga, Harbhajan Singh and Umesh Yadav. Malinga has over the years mastered the art of bowling in this format with his perfect yorkers whereas Harbhajan and Jadeja have been successful players for their respective franchises and can play cameos with the bat as well.

Shane Warne’s all-time IPL XI:

Chris Gayle, Brendon McCullum, Jacques Kallis, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Yuvraj Singh, MS Dhoni (C), Ravindra Jadeja, Lasith Malinga, Harbhajan Singh, Umesh Yadav