Karn Sharma Appoints MS Dhoni As Captain In His All-Time IPL XI

Indian domestic veteran Karn Sharma has revealed his all-time IPL playing eleven in a conversation with Dr Yash Kashikar on his Instagram live show ‘Say Yash To Sports’. Karn Sharma is a leg-spinner and one of the few players, who has donned the jerseys of multiple franchises in the Indian Premier League (IPL). He has played for Mumbai Indians, Royal Challengers Bangalore, Sunrisers Hyderabad, and currently is a part of Chennai Super Kings.

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Karn Sharma began with Rohit Sharma and Chris Gayle as his opening combination. Rohit Sharma is not only one of the potent opening batsmen but also the most successful captain in the tournament history, guiding Mumbai Indians to four titles. On the other hand, Chris Gayle’s accolades and destruction needs little introduction.

Gayle has 4484 runs in 125 games and holds the record for the highest individual score of 175, hammered against Pune Warriors in 2013. The Jamaican also has six centuries in his illustrious career. The 32-year-old picked Virat Kohli and Suresh Raina as his number three and four batsmen. The Indian prodigies occupy the first and second spot with regards to the most number of runs in IPL.

The 63-game IPL veteran appointed MS Dhoni as the captain of the eleven, who has captained Chennai Super Kings to three titles and guided them to playoffs in every season. Hardik Pandya and Dwayne Bravo occupy the next two spots as the specialist pace-bowling all-rounders.

Sharma picked one leg-spinner in Amit Mishra while an off-spinner in Harbhajan Singh. Both the Indian players are one of the most experienced bowlers and have nearly 300 caps between them. As for the pace-bowling department, the Meerut-born stuck with Jasprit Bumrah and Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who are the best exponents of yorkers and swing bowling.

Here’s Karn Sharma’s all-time IPL XI:

Chris Gayle, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, MS Dhoni (Capt. & WK), Hardik Pandya, Dwayne Bravo, Amit Mishra, Harbhajan Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar

Karn Sharma feels that Amit Mishra is the best leggie in world cricket at present, having picked 157 scalps in 147 fixtures. It makes him the second-highest wicket-taker in the extravaganza. At the highest level, the 37-year-old has represented India in 22 Tests, 36 ODIs, and 10 T20Is.

Karn further reckoned that the former Australian captain Steve Smith and Proteas’ Ab de Villiers are amongst those who play spin very well. De Villiers has dazzled in the IPL while Steve Smith has supreme numbers in Test and ODI cricket in India and was the highest run-getter in the three-match ODI series earlier this year.

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