Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers pick their combined India-South Africa ODI XI

Amid Coronavirus outbreak, the cricketers have given air to a new trend of giving out their preferred XI’s based on different scenarios. Earlier, many players like Aakash Chopra, Shane Warne, Azhar Ali, and others gave their team for the respective formats, On Friday, Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers joined the bandwagon, who put forward their combined ODI XI for India and South Africa during the Instagram interaction.

It is known that AB de Villiers and Virat Kohli share a strong bond on and off the field. They are rated as the high profile superstars of modern-day cricket. However, currently, both the players are spending time with their families while in quarantine due to the pandemic.

Sachin and Rohit to open the innings

On Friday, they discussed several topics related to cricket and exchanged their views on the current conditions in their respective countries. In the meantime, they also picked their combined ODI XI for India and South Africa from last 7-8 years. The duo picked Sachin Tendulkar and Rohit Sharma as the set of openers, who are rated as one of the best at that position in the history of Indian cricket.

They decided to include themselves for the third and fourth position respectively and also picked Jacques Kallis and Yuvraj Singh as the set of all-rounders at number five and six. MS Dhoni was given the responsibility to take the gloves behind the stumps. Moreover, he was appointed as the skipper of the team as well by Kohli and de Villiers.

Afterwards, they picked a lethal bowling trio of Dale Steyn, Jasprit Bumrah and Kagiso Rabada. Meanwhile, Yuzvendra Chahal also got a place in the team, who will lead the spin bowling attack. While picking MS Dhoni as the wicket-keeper and captain of the team, the former Proteas cricketer heaped praise for the 38-year-old Indian cricketer.

De Villiers said that he respects Dhoni a lot. As per him, it is great how he carries himself under such pressure as well. “I am happy with that choice. I have never played under MS. But I have a world of respect for him. The way he carries himself on and off the field. I mean, he is always calm and he knows the game well. So I am happy with that,” AB de Villiers said during the Instagram session with Virat Kohli.

Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers’ India-South Africa combined XI: Sachin Tendulkar, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohl, AB de Villiers, Jacques Kallis, Yuvraj Singh, MS Dhoni (captain/wicketkeeper), Yuzvendra Chahal, Dale Steyn, Jasprit Bumrah, Kagiso Rabada