MS Dhoni named captain of R Ashwin’s all-time IPL XI; Chris Gayle snubbed

R Ashwin also went for two overseas spinners in his all-time XI.

India spinner R Ashwin has unveiled his all-time Indian Premier League (IPL XI). The senior player picked Chennai Super Kings skipper MS Dhoni as the captain of the team named by him.

Ashwin chose Rohit Sharma as the team's opener. The Mumbai Indians hitter is one of the league's best run scorers and has helped his team win five IPL titles.

Along with Rohit, R Ashwin chose Virat Kohli as the second opener. The Indian batsman has had tremendous success with Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the IPL. He is the only player in the tournament to have scored over 8000 runs and the most tons in the league. He also has the most centuries in the league.

CSK legend and Mr. IPL Suresh Raina has been slotted at no.3 by Ashwin. Raina played a huge role in CSK becoming a dominant franchise and is part of the few batters to have more than 5,000 runs to his name in IPL.

Ashwin has then chosen innovative stroke makers Suryakumar Yadav and AB de Villiers at no.4 and 5 respectively. Suryakumar Yadav has gained notoriety for his pioneering shot-making and has over 3600 runs in the tournament. AB de Villiers is a bonafide legend of IPL, scoring over 5000 runs in IPL while playing for Delhi and Bengaluru franchises.

Five-time IPL-winning CSK captain MS Dhoni will lead Ashwin’s all-time XI. Dhoni is undoubtedly one of the greatest players to ever play IPL and one of the sharpest minds in world cricket.

Sunil Narine and Rashid Khan are the spinners in Ashwin’s all-time XI. Sunil Narine boasts 180 wickets in 177 IPL games playing exclusively for Kolkata Knight Riders. On the other hand, Rashid Khan of Afghanistan is a sensational leg-spinner and has 149 wickets in only 121 IPL matches.

As for the pacers, Ashwin has gone for three legends of the IPL Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, and Lasith Malinga.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar has played 171 IPL matches to take 181 wickets and has 2 fifers to his name. Jasprit Bumrah, on the other hand, has 165 scalps in 133 games with an economy of 7.30. MI legend Lasith Malinga played 122 IPL games and scalped 170 wickets at an economy of 7.14. He also groomed Bumrah in the MI franchise.      

R Ashwin’s all-time IPL XI:

Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, Suryakumar Yadav, AB de Villiers, MS Dhoni (C & WK), Sunil Narine, Rashid Khan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah and Lasith Malinga