Veteran Indian leg-spinner and cricket commentator Piyush Chawla prepared his all-time India ODI XI on 13 September, picking up Mahendra Singh Dhoni as skipper.
In a podcast with Shubhankar Mishra, Chawla revealed the names of other featured players on his all-time list.
Chawla picked legendary batter Sachin Tendulkar and current India captain Rohit Sharma as openers. However, he didn’t choose star batter Virat Kohli for the number three position. Instead, he picked Virender Sehwag and demoted Virat Kohli to the number four position.
For his all-rounders, Chawla picked World Cup winners Yuvraj Singh and 1983 World Cup-winning skipper Kapil Dev. At number seven, Chawla kept 2011 World Cup-winning skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni.
In the bowling department, Chawla picked two spinners and to pacers. Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh are his choices for two spinners, while he chose 2024 T20 World Cup winner Jasprit Bumrah to partner with 2011 World Cup winner Zaheer Khan.
On bond with Rohit:
Chawla also revealed his bond with 2024 T20 World Cup winning skipper Rohit Sharma. He said as NDTV quoted Shubhankar Mishra’s podcast, “I’ve played so much cricket with him that we’ve reached a comfort level. We sit off the field as well. Once, at 2:30 in the night, he texted me and asked, “you up?” He drew a field on paper and discussed with me about potentially dismissing Warner. Even at that time, he was thinking about how he could get the best out of me.”
“There’s a captain, then there’s a leader. He isn’t a captain, he is a leader. Whether it was 2023 ODI WC, or the 2024 T20 WC, the way he batted, he sets the tone in such a way that he made it easy for next batters. He’s a true leader. He gives you a free hand,” he added.
Chawla’s all-time India ODI XI:
Sachin Tendulkar, Rohit Sharma, Virender Sehwag, Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh, MS Dhoni, Kapil Dev, Anil Kumble, Harbhajan Singh, Jasprit Bumrah And Zaheer Khan