Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma headline Piyush Chawla's all-time IPL playing XI
Indian leg spinner Piyush Chawla recently picked his all-time Indian Premier League (IPL) playing XI. The team is headlined by Team India's star batters Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma.
Kohli is the most prolific run-scorer in the tournament's history, having chalked up 8,004 runs in 244 innings. Sharma, on the other hand, is third on the list of leading run-getters, with 6,626 runs across 252 innings.
Chawla picked MS Dhoni as the wicketkeeper of the team. Dhoni scored 5,243 runs from 229 innings. With 148 catches and 42 stumpings, the former Chennai Super Kings (CSK) skipper has the most dismissals in the league.
Interestingly, while picking an Indian left-handed batter, Chawla went with Yuvraj Singh over Suresh Raina, who has earned the moniker of 'Mr IPL' for his fantastic batting exploits in the competition.
Suryakumar Yadav was the other Indian batter to feature in the playing XI, while the list of bowlers was spearheaded by Jasprit Bumrah. For the four overseas players, Chawla selected Chris Gayle, AB de Villiers, Lasith Malinga and Sunil Narine.
He also suggested that he could be a contender for the leg-spinner's spot, highlighting his record of 192 wickets. However, he ultimately chose not to name himself in the XI and left a spot vacant.
The 35-year-old picked the team during his appearance on journalist Shubhankar Mishra's podcast (from 1:07:09).
Piyush Chawla's all-time IPL playing XI: Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, MS Dhoni, Yuvraj Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Chris Gayle, AB de Villiers, Lasith Malinga, Sunil Narine, and a leg spinner
Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma also featured in Piyush Chawla's all-time Indian ODI XI
In the aforementioned video, Piyush Chawla also picked his all-time ODI XI for India. He opined that Rohit Sharma and batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar would be the best fit as the openers.
Not wanting to leave out Virender Sehwag, Chawla opted to slot the swashbuckling opener at No. 3, followed by Virat Kohli at No. 4. MS Dhoni got the nod for the wicketkeeper's role, while Yuvraj Singh and Kapil Dev were the spinner's two all-rounders.
The two fast-bowling options in Chawla's all-time Indian ODI XI were Jasprit Bumrah and Zaheer Khan, while Harbhajan Singh and Anil Kumble were the spin-bowling options.
Piyush Chawla's all-time Indian ODI XI: Sachin Tendulkar, Rohit Sharma, Virender Sehwag, Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh, MS Dhoni, Kapil Dev, Anil Kumble, Harbhajan Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Zaheer Khan