Shane Warne reveals why he didn't pick Sachin Tendulkar, Suresh Raina and Gautam Gambhir in his IPL XI

Shane Warne, the former Australia spinner recently hogged the spotlight for not including players like Sachin Tendulkar, Gautam Gambhir, and Bhuvneshwar Kumar in his all-time IPL XI comprising only Indian players. Now, Warne has come out with a clarification that why he didn’t pick the aforementioned players in his team.

The 50-year-old played for Rajasthan Royals in IPL from 2008 to 2011. Surprisingly, he guided his inexperienced side to win the maiden season of the cash-rich league. He grabbed 57 wickets in 55 games in his successful IPL career. Later on, Warne also mentored Royals in the tournament and he still has his shares invested with the former IPL champions.

Shane Warne justifies his IPL XI

Recently, in an Instagram live session, Warne revealed his all-time IPL XI where he picked only Indian players. He picked Rohit Sharma and Virender Sehwag as the pair of openers in the team. For middle-order, he included Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh, Yusuf Pathan, MS Dhoni followed by a spin all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja. The former player drafted only one main spinner in his team– Harbhajan Singh. Meanwhile, the fast bowling line-up comprised of  Munaf Patel, Siddharth Trivedi and Zaheer Khan.

During the live Instagram session, he also praised the performances of Yusuf Pathan. Warne said that Pathan scored against Mumbai Indians at Wankhede Stadium in 2008 followed by his brilliant knock of 56 runs off 39 balls in the final against Chennai Super Kings helped Rajasthan Royals in winning the inaugural season of  IPL.

After Warne revealed his IPL XI, the fans trolled him for not including players like Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Sachin Tendulkar and Gautam Gambhir. Even some questioned Shane Warne on Twitter that why he didn’t pick some of the best players of Indian Premier League in his preferred XI.

Now, Shane Warne has come out clarifying his selection. The former Aussie player said that he played in IPL from 2008 to 2011. So, he has picked only those cricketers that he found best in that particular period. The 50-year-old took to his Twitter handle and wrote, “FYI – In the 4 yrs I played IPL between 2008-11 & didn’t include any internationals!.”

Here is the tweet:

FYI – In the 4 yrs I played IPL between 2008-11 & didn’t include any internationals ! https://t.co/BXbEnIFcJV

— Shane Warne (@ShaneWarne) April 8, 2020