Suresh Raina and Rohit Sharma pick MI-CSK combined XI with them as part of coaching staff

The 13th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) was supposed to be in its final two weeks by now if it had commenced according to its schedule. But the Coronavirus pandemic disrupted everything and no cricket is being played across the world. The players who are stuck at home have now resorted to Instagram live to interact with their teammates and fans.

It was exactly a year ago (May 12) when the Mumbai Indians (MI) defeated the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in a thriller to win the fourth IPL title. And on the same day, Rohit Sharma and Suresh Raina went live on Instagram to discuss the various aspect of the game and also reminisced the times when they played together for India.

No wonder, the two IPL legends spoke about the T20 extravaganza during the chat and also rekindled the MI-CSK rivalry over the last 12 years. Both the teams have had some extremely prolific players while a few have been playing for the same franchise since the inaugural season. With a lot of current and former players picking best XIs these days, even this duo decided to do the same.

Sachin and Hayden to open in MI-CSK combined XI

While picking the star-studded combined XI for the MI and CSK, Rohit Sharma and Suresh Raina decided they will be the part of coaching staff for this team. While the former took over the assistant coach’s role, the latter decided to be the batting and fielding coach. Sachin Tendulkar and Matthew Hayden were picked as the openers of the team which undoubtedly forms one of the best pairs in the IPL.

They selected Faf du Plessis and Ambati Rayudu for the crucial middle-order slots with Kieron Pollard and the skipper MS Dhoni to follow. This quartet has been simply brilliant in the T20 competition. While Du Plessis and Dhoni have been the part of the CSK always during the franchise’s existence, Pollard has only been with MI since making his debut in 2010.

Interestingly, Ambati Rayudu has played for both teams and is currently part of the Men in Yellow like Harbhajan Singh who is also the part of this XI. Raina and Rohit then went for the bowling line-up comprising of Jasprit Bumrah, Dwayne Bravo and Ravindra Jadeja with Bhajji being the other spinner. Hardik Pandya is another all-rounder in the team who will bat at seven while Pollard is the sixth bowling option.

Surprisingly, Lasith Malinga was left out of the team as only four overseas players are allowed in an IPL XI. Having said that, even this side looks unbeatable with all-time great Dhoni leading the pack.

Rohit Sharma and Suresh Raina’s MI-CSK combined XI: Sachin Tendulkar, Matthew Hayden, Faf du Plessis, Ambati Rayudu, MS Dhoni (C & WK), Kieron Pollard, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Dwayne Bravo, Harbhajan Singh, Jasprit Bumrah.