MS Dhoni or Rohit Sharma? Pragyan Ojha Picks Captain For All-Time IPL XI

JioCinema’s
Hindi
panelists
had
a
fascinating
discussion
on
another
episode
of

‘Legends
Lounge’,
an
original
featuring
stalwarts
of
the
game
to
select
an
All-Time
IPL
XI.

Apart
from
Ojha,
the
panel
featured
former
Indian
cricketers
Robin
Uthappa,
Suresh
Raina,
Parthiv
Patel,
RP
Singh
and
Aakash
Chopra.
The
select
group
deliberated
hard
across
a
two-part
episode
to
compile
an
Al-time
XI
team
of
IPL.

This
was
the
second
such
show
after
the
English
panel
that
also
included
Uthappa
alongside
Anil
Kumble,
Chris
Gayle,
Parthiv
Patel
and
Scott
Styris
formed
their
IPL
All-time
XI
earlier
this
week.

Virat
Kohli
and
Chris
Gayle
got
their
spot
at
the
top
of
the
order.
Though
Chopra
and
Singh
wanted
to
include
KL
Rahul,
which
led
to
Uthappa
explaining
why
his
fellow
Karnataka
batter
missed
the
bus
here.

“When
you’re
selecting
these
players,
the
test
of
time
is
also
a
factor.
KL
has
a
lot
of
time
left
and
has
a
lot
of
cricket
still
to
play,”
said
Uthappa.

Raina,
an
expert
on
the
panel
itself,
was
an
easy
pick
for
No.
3,
but
he
said
he
would
prefer
Kohli
for
that
slot.

Chopra
and
Singh
were
outvoted
for
the
player
to
be
included
at
No.
4,
as
they
picked
AB
de
Villiers.
The
others
chose
Rohit
Sharma.

This
resulted
in
a
heated
discussion
but
ultimately
led
to
Sharma
being
voted
in
at
No.
4
and
de
Villiers
occupying
the
No.
5
spot.
The
panel
agreed
on
MS
Dhoni
as
an
unanimous
selection
at
No.
6.

AB
De
Villiers
Doesn’t
Get
Anil
Kumble
Vote
As
Former
Stars
Pick
IPL
All-Time
XI

Dhoni
was
also
selected
as
the
captain
of
the
XI,
though
Ojha
explained
why
he
would
have
Rohit
leading
the
team
instead.

“If
you
are
trying
to
compare
them,
they’re
quite
similar.
They’re
both
bowlers’ captains.
I
am
only
going
by
titles
because
in
this
comparison,
Sharma
has
more
titles
than
MSD.
When
you’re
talking
about
all-time
greats,
winning
five
titles
in
15
years
is
no
mean
feat.”

Former
Chennai
Super
Kings
star
Raina,
however,
backed
Dhoni
as
a
captain
for
obvious
reasons.

“He
brings
a
lot
of
positivity
and
is
one
of
the
best
finishers
in
the
world.
To
extract
the
best
from
a
player
is
an
incredibly
beautiful
skill
that
MSD
possesses.
If
Dhoni
didn’t
lead
us
to
the
2007
T20
World
Cup,
the
IPL
may
have
never
gotten
the
momentum
it
needed
to
start
in
2008.”

For
the
all-rounder
at
No.
7,
all
six
couldn’t
come
to
an
agreement
as
Hardik
Pandya,
Dwayne
Bravo,
Sunil
Narine,
Ravindra
Jadeja,
and
Andre
Russell
were
discussed.

Ultimately,
Bravo
sneaked
past
Jadeja
who
came
closest
competitor
for
that
position.
Raina,
however
felt
that
it
was
very
important
for
Jadeja
to
be
in
the
team.

“There’s
no
better
fielder
than
him.
So,
it
is
very
important
for
Jadeja
to
be
in
the
team,
irrespective
of
the
position,
especially
since
IPL
is
happening
in
India,”
said
Raina.

The
panel
jumped
to
No.
10
and
11
since
there
was
a
unanimous
choice
of
pairing
Japrit
Bumrah
with
Lasith
Malinga,
closing
the
overseas
quota.

Yuzvendra
Chahal
at
No.9
almost
got
a
majority
as
the
second
spinner
behind
Harbhajan
Singh
at
No.
8.
Harbhajan
didn’t
make
it
to
the
team
easy
as
there
was
a
split
between
him
and
Jadeja.

Raina
said
that
Harbhajan,
who
has
150
IPL
wickets
in
163
matches,
would
have
had
many
more
wickets
had
he
played
more
in
wickets
like
Chennai.

“It
is
difficult
to
bowl
in
Wankhede,
yet
he
bowled
well.
Even
when
we
won
in
Chennai,
he
bowled
well.
It
is
difficult
for
any
batsman
to
play
there,
after
6
overs.
That’s
why
Ashwin
has
more
wickets
there,”
said
Raina.

The
final
team
had
Gayle
and
Kohli
as
the
two
openers
with
Raina
as
the
trustworthy
No.
3.
Rohit
Sharma
and
de
Villiers
occupied
No.
4
and
No.
5.

Meanwhile
MS
Dhoni
came
in
at
6.
Dwayne
Bravo
was
selected
at
No.
7
and
Harbhajan
Singh
at
No.
8.
Chahal,
Bumrah,
and
Malinga
were
the
final
three
players
to
round
off
a
deadly
bowling
attack.

Those
players
who
were
hotly
debated
but
missed
out
were
Kieron
Pollard,
Bhuvneshwar
Kumar,
Andre
Russell,
Sunil
Narine
and
Yuvraj
Singh.

Chopra
concluded
the
show
saying
this
XI
may
never
play
together,
but
were
they
to
be
fielded,
they
would
lose
to
no
one.

Legends
Lounge
Hindi
Panel
IPL
All-Time
XI