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As the India National Cricket Team completed 600 Test matches, former India cricketer Dodda Ganesh selected an all-time playing XI with Virat Kohli as the captain. The playing combination selected by Ganesh combines former and active Indian cricketers.
Needless to say, the selection of an all-time best playing XI is not an easy job to do, as for years the nation has produced many quality cricketers who have produced countless unforgettable moments. There are a few choices in Dodda Ganesh's playing eleven that sound a bit controversial.
Virat Kohli is selected captain over legendary Kapil Dev in India's all-time playing XI
The decision to name Virat Kohli as the captain itself can attract a lot of controversy, as the team has Kapil Dev, the man who captained India to their maiden World Cup trophy in 1983. Virat Kohli is undoubtedly a legend, and when he was the captain of the national team, he took the side to a different level in Test cricket.
Under Virat's leadership of Virat, the Men in Blue elevated their performance in the longest format of the game. But in terms of winning trophies, multiple other former captains took the team to glory on multiple occasions.
Dodda Ganesh pushed Virat Kohli to No.5 batting position
However, with Virat as the captain, the former Karnataka cricketer picked legendary Sunil Gavaskar and Virender Sehwag as the two openers and Rahul Dravid as the No.3 batter of the line-up. Sachin Tendulkar is in the team at the number four batting position. Because of the presence of Dravid and Tendulkar, Dodda Ganesh placed his skipper Virat Kohli at number five.
In another interesting choice, the former cricketer named Rishabh Pant as his keeper-batter over the legendary keeper-batters like MS Dhoni and Syed Kirmani. Ganesh only wrote down the names of players, without any description behind the selection. So, why he chose Rishabh Pant in his all-time playing XI remains unknown.
The surprising selection could be because of his batting style. In modern-day Test cricket, Pant is considered one of the most unpredictable batters for his unorthodox batting style.
Ravichandran Ashwin is in India's all-time playing XI, but not Ravindra Jadeja
For the all-round department, Dodda Ganesh selected Kapil Dev and Ravichandran Ashwin. While Kapil Dev is a pace-bowling all-rounder, Ashwin is a spin-bowling all-rounder. With two all-rounders with two completely different characteristics, it will make the team more dynamic. But, should it be Ravindra Jadeja over Ravichandran Ashwin? This also looks like a debatable decision.
For the pure bowling slots, there are the legendary spinner Anil Kumble, legendary pacer Javagal Srinath, and modern-day great Jasprit Bumrah in Dodda Ganesh's playing eleven. As the team is mostly stacked with batters and a couple of all-rounders, room for the regular bowlers is very limited. The selection of Srinath and Bumrah makes sense in the specially selected playing XI.
All-time Indian playing XI selected by Dodda Ganesh:
Sunil Gavaskar, Virender Sehwag, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli (c), Rishabh Pant (wk), Kapil Dev, Ravichandran Ashwin, Anil Kumble, Javagal Srinath, Jasprit Bumrah
