Kohli buried, Dhoni and Rohit's fates decided: Michael Vaughan’s shocking 'play, sell, bench' picks revealed
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International cricket legends Michael Vaughan and Adam Gilchrist played a unique sort of game recently where they had to play, sell, and bench one out of MS Dhoni, Virat Kohli, and Rohit Sharma.
Dhoni, Kohli, and Rohit are the three pillars of Indian cricket. All three of them are huge crowd-pullers as they have a huge fan following. The three of them have achieved unprecedented feats in international cricket as well as in the IPL.
While it will be a dream to have an IPL team where all these three players are playing together, it seems impossible. However, it's not an easy job to select just one out of these players.
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Play, sell, and bench with MS Dhoni, Virat Kohli, and Rohit Sharma
During a chat on Cricket.com, Michael Vaughan picked the former Chennai Super Kings captain MS Dhoni to play for his team. Interestingly, he sold Virat Kohli and benched Rohit Sharma. Vaughan also picked up Dhoni as the team's captain.
"I'm playing MS Dhoni. I don't think anyone's been better. No (Virat Kohli doesn't find a place). MS is the captain. He's playing," Michael Vaughan said.
"What was the other thing? selling? I'm getting rid of Virat (Kohli). I'm getting rid of him because he's never won the IPL. Rohit (Sharma) is a six-time winner. MS how many? Five! So I'm playing MS, I'm selling Virat. What was the other one? Yeah, so Rohit is my MS substitute," he added.
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MS Dhoni is the joint-most successful captain in the Indian Premier League (IPL) history along with Rohit Sharma. He has led Chennai Super Kings for a record five IPL titles. Dhoni is also the most-capped IPL player with 264 matches to his name.
Dhoni has scored 5243 runs at an average of 39 and a strike rate of 37 in IPL. Although he has batted quite less in the last few years since his international retirement, he still remains one of the most impactful players in the league because of his ability to score quick runs towards the end.
Rohit Sharma is also regarded as one of the greatest captains in the IPL. Rohit has led Mumbai Indians to five IPL title wins between 2013 and 2020. Overall, Rohit has been a part of six IPL-winning teams as he was also a part of the Deccan Chargers team which won the IPL in 2009.
Michael Vaughan sells Virat Kohli
However, Virat Kohli was surprisingly sold by Michael Vaughan as he is yet to win an IPL title. Kohli has been associated with Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the IPL from its inception. But neither Kohli nor RCB have been able to win an IPL trophy so far.
Vaughan claimed that selling Virat Kohli would fetch him loads of money because of his stature. He termed this as a good business idea.
"I can get a good load of cash for him. He'll go somewhere else for a huge amount of money. That's good business," the former England captain Michael Vaughan claimed.
Adam Gilchrist backs Michael Vaughan
Meanwhile, legendary Australia wicketkeeper Adam Gilchrist lauded Vaughan for planning out the game so well. However, he accepted that the game was tough to play for them.
"That's well thought through (by Vaughan). You're splitting hair, it's tough on all, but that's the job of a manager, isn't it?" Gilchrist said.
MS Dhoni, Virat Kohli, and Rohit Sharma have been the legends of the IPL over the years. They will be expected to play in the upcoming IPL season as well for their respective franchises.
While Dhoni has already retired from international cricket, Kohli and Rohit have only retired from T20Is so far. Recently, both of them were part of India's T20 World Cup 2024-winning squad.
