Former Indian batsman Mohammad Kaif has named his all-time IPL Xi. It was interesting to note that it included six foreign players.
His squad consisted of three West Indies, one each from South Africa, Sri Lanka, and Afghanistan. He named the all-time XI during a press conference with Sportkreeda.
The opening pair of the team was Rohit Sharma with Caribbean destructive batsman Chris Gayle. Former India captain Virat Kohli was picked for number three. Kaif had introduced the three batsmen as follows.
“Gayle is a very dangerous IPL batter. Whenever he has done well, he has been a game-changer and has scored a lot of runs. Rohit Sharma has been playing for many years and has won five trophies as captain. An excellent short-format player. Virat Kohli is King Kohli. Has scored plenty of runs in the IPL.”
Suresh Raina, South Africa’s Dangerous batsman Ab de Villiers, and MS Dhoni have been selected for the middle order. The wicket-keeping and captaincy of the team were given to senior player MS Dhoni. Also, Caribbean player Andrew Russell was selected for a devastating batting. Kaif commented on Dhoni:
“He laid the foundation of T20 cricket in India by leading the country to victory in the 2007 World Cup. He has lifted four IPL titles as well. He is a big player in T20 and a mature captain.”
The bowlers in the squad were Caribbean Bowler Sunil Narayan, jasprit bumrha, and Sri Lanka’s Lasith Malinga.
The all-time IPL Xi team named by Mohamed Kaif is as follows. Chris Gayle, Rohith Sharma, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, Ab De Villiers, MS Dhoni (c&wk), Andre Russell, Rashid Khan, Sunil Narine, Jasprit Bumrah, and Lasith Maling