Kapil Dev Picks His All-Time Indian ODI XI

Legendary Indian all-rounder and the country’s first World Cup-winning captain, Kapil Dev, recently picked his best possible Indian ODI XI, where he named a whole host of superstars from the past as well as from the modern era.

Kapil Dev recently featured on Bollywood actress Neha Dhupia’s chat show ‘No Filter with Neha’, where he was asked to pick the best XI Indian ODI cricketers of all time.

The legendary all-rounder picked Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar and swashbuckler Virender Sehwag as his two openers. The duo was followed by modern-great and the current Indian captain, Virat Kohli, at the No.3 spot followed by ‘The Wall’ Rahul Dravid and 2011 World Cup-winning all-rounder, Yuvraj Singh.

“There’s a test match is different, there’s a one day cricket is different. ODI…if I have to pick, I would say definitely Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Virat Kohli, will be there, Rahul Dravid will be there, Yuvraj will be there,” Kapil Dev said on the show No Filter with Neha.

Kapil Dev had a few options to choose from for the batting as well as the bowling department but when it came to the wicketkeeper’s slot, the former all-rounder said that ‘nobody can touch MS Dhoni’s spot’.

MS Dhoni-led India to their second World Cup heist in 2011, joining Kapil Dev in the coveted list of Indian captains, who have led the Men in Blue to World Cup glory. Apart from being a shrewd captain and an outstanding stumper, Dhoni remains one of the greatest finishers the 50-over format has ever seen.

As far as bowling is concerned, Kapil Dev picked the lone Indian pacer to rack up 300-plus ODI wickets and the heartbeat of the pace attack in the 1990s, Javagal Srinath followed by Zaheer Khan and current sensation, Jasprit Bumrah. In the spinners department, Dev picked the legendary duo of Anil Kumble- India’s leading wicket-taker in Tests and ODIs-  and Harbhajan Singh, who claimed close to 700 international wickets across formats.

“Wicket Keeper is only Dhoni. Nobody can touch his spot. You have Zaheer Khan, you have Srinath. Recently Bumrah, I can say. He’s done extremely well. Anil Kumble, all-time great spinner, and Harbhajan. These are the cricketers who come to my mind very much there,” Kapil Dev added.

 

Kapil Dev’s all-time India ODI XI –

Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Virat Kohli, Rahul Dravid, Yuvraj Singh, MS Dhoni, Javagal Srinath, Harbhajan Singh, Anil Kumble, Zaheer Khan, Jasprit Bumrah