Rohit Sharma Absent, No Babar Azam As Wasim Akram Picks His India-Pakistan Combined XI

Former Pakistan pacer Wasim Akram has picked his all-time India-Pakistan combined XI for ODIs and the team looks like a beast army. India and Pakistan are arch-rivals when it comes to any sport, but cricket just becomes something more than a game. India and Pakistan have given a lot of gems to the cricketing world and a combination of India and Pakistan players from all time excites everyone.

Wasim Akram took the time, to make his combined all-time XI consisting of India-Pakistan players and he made one hell of a team. He took Saeed Anwar and Virender Sehwag to open the innings, maintaining a left-right combination. Saeed Anwar is one of the most prolific left-hand batsmen of all time and Virender Sehwag is just destructive at his peak.

Wasim Akram surprised everyone by picking Sachin Tendulkar at No.3 while we all know that the Master Blaster would prefer to open the innings. Virat Kohli, who is one of the best when it comes to batting at No.3 finds himself a place at No.5 in Wasim Akram’s combined XI, while number 4 is given to Javed Miandad.

Wasim Akram Picks Imran Khan As The Captain

Wasim Akram picks the 1992 World Cup-winning captain Imran Khan at number 6 and he will also be this team’s captain. Akram then goes for 1983 World Cup-winning captain Kapil Dev at number 7 as the two all-rounders will add to the team’s balance.

At Number 8, Wasim selects MS Dhoni who will be keeping wickets and his strategic presence behind the wickets will be of great significance. Wasim picks Saqlain Mushtaq at number 9 given the off-spinner’s wonderful record.

At last Wasim Akram chooses Jasprit Bumrah and Waqar Younis as his two mainstream fast bowlers. Waqar Younis with his ability to get the ball to reverse swing and Jasprit Bumrah with his toe-crushing yorkers will be a deadly pair to start the spell. The only thing this team lacks is a leg-spinner but given they have Sachin Tendulkar, it can be overlooked as the master has a decent record as a spin-bowler as well and he can fairly turn the ball.

Wasim Akram’s Combined Indo-Pak ODI XI:

1. Saeed Anwar
2. Virender Sehwag
3. Sachin Tendulkar
4. Javed Miandad
5. Virat Kohli
6. Imran Khan (C)
7. Kapil Dev
8. MS Dhoni (WK)
9. Saqlain Mushtaq
10. Jasprit Bumrah
11. Waqar Younis