Suresh Raina shockingly kicks aside MS Dhoni, Virat Kohli as he picks his World XI
Published - 19 Jul 2025, 06:12 PM | Updated - 19 Jul 2025, 06:13 PM
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Former Indian World Cup winner Suresh Raina has unveiled his World Playing XI on the sideline of the ongoing World Championship of Legends 2025 (WCL 2025). Surprisingly, Suresh Raina overlooked his former captain and one of his closest friends, MS Dhoni, for his dream World Playing XI.
Even the modern-era legend Virat Kohli, who has now retired from Test and T20I cricket, was not also picked by his former teammate Raina in his World Playing XI. Raina went old-school with his picks, selecting the legendary West Indian Brian Lara and all-time great Sachin Tendulkar as his openers.
Suresh Rain ignored MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli in his World Playing XI
The former Indian batter’s star-studded middle order features the West Indies legends Sir Vivian Richards and Garry Sobers, as well as India’s legendary all-rounder Yuvraj Singh. Raina also picked two English all-rounders to provide balance to his dream World XI.
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Ian Botham and Andrew Flintoff were handed the all-round duties by Raina. Interestingly, the ICC Champions Trophy winner has picked a heavy spin attack, featuring late Australian spinner Shane Warne, Indian greats Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh, and Pakistan’s spin wizard Saqlain Mushtaq.
To complete the squad, Raina has picked the former South African wrist-spinner Paul Adams as the impact player in his World Playing XI. However, he has not specified who would be his captain, either a specialist wicketkeeper.
He could have easily picked MS Dhoni, who is considered the world’s best man behind the stumps, but he ignored the Indian legend alongside Virat Kohli.
Suresh Raina's World Playing XI:
Brian Lara, Sachin Tendulkar, Vivian Richards, Garry Sobers, Yuvraj Singh, Ian Botham, Andrew Flintoff, Shane Warne, Harbhajan Singh, Anil Kumble, Saqlain Mushtaq, Paul Adams (Impact Player)
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Suresh Raina to return to field with Yuvraj Singh and Co. in WCL 2025
Meanwhile, Suresh Raina is all set to return to the action in the ongoing World Championship of Legends 2025 (WCL 2025). The tournament features six teams made up of retired legends from cricketing powerhouses—India, Australia, England, Pakistan, the West Indies, and South Africa.
Raina will be playing for the India Champions team, which is packed with big names from Indian cricket. The India Champions squad features Yuvraj Singh, Shikhar Dhawan, Harbhajan Singh, Irfan and Yusuf Pathan, Robin Uthappa, Ambati Rayudu, Piyush Chawla, Stuart Binny, Varun Aaron, Vinay Kumar, Abhimanyu Mithun, Siddharth Kaul, and Gurkeerat Mann.
Suresh Raina's career in numbers
The handy spinner retired from international cricket in 2020 after representing his country in 18 Tests, 226 ODIs, and 78 T20Is. The former Indian batter was a key member of the squads that won the 2011 World Cup and 2013 Champions Trophy.
He has over 8000 international runs to his name. Raina was also a star performer in the Indian Premier League (IPL). He represented Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in over 200 matches and won four IPL titles with them. Raina remains one of the highest run-scorers in IPL history with 5528 runs, a century, and 39 fifties to his name.
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