IPL 2021: AB de Villiers picks his all-time IPL XI, names MS Dhoni as leader of the star-studded line-up

Just like any IPL playing XI, De Villiers went with the composition of four overseas and seven Indians cricketers.

Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) batsman AB de Villiers on Thursday (April 1) announced his all-time IPL XI. His choices were based on the clinical performances displayed by cricketers in the T20 league over the years.

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Just like any IPL playing XI, De Villiers went with the composition of four overseas and seven Indians cricketers.

He picked CSK skipper MS Dhoni as the leader of the star-studded line-up, which includes Virender Sehwag and Rohit Sharma as openers.

"Last night I was thinking that if I pick my IPL XI and I include myself, how bad would that look. So, opening the batting, I would pick someone whom I started with at Delhi, Viru (Virender Sehwag) at 1 and someone who I think has played some of the best cricket in the world in the last five years, Rohit at No. 2," De Villiers told Cricbuzz in an interaction.

The former South Africa cricket slotted his RCB captain Virat Kohli to bat at No. 3 while the two candidates he considered for the No. 4 spot along with himself are Steve Smith and Kane Williamson, calling them his 'replacements' if need be.  

De Villiers selected England’s ace all-rounder Ben Stokes to bat at No. 5 followed by Dhoni. Ravindra Jadeja features in his team as a spinning all-rounder while Rashid Khan is the premier spinner.

Coming to the fast bowling department, De Villiers named Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Kagiso Rabada and Jasprit Bumrah in his XI.

"Then obviously Virat at No. 3, followed by I’d say either Williamson, or Smith, or myself… these are the two replacements. Ben Stokes at 5, MS at six as captain, and at No. 7, I’d put Jaddu, Mr. Jadeja. Rashid Khan at 8, Bhuvi at 9, Kagiso Rabada at 10 and Bumrah at 11," he added.

AB de Villiers also explained the reason behind Stokes' inclusion over other all-round options such as Dwayne Bravo, Kieron Pollard, Hardik Pandya, among others.

"I’d put Stokes because obviously we know what he can do with the bat, but also considering that extra seaming option. Got the two spinners and then Bumrah, Rabada and Bhuvi as fast bowlers. So that pretty much covers everything," he remarked.