Sachin Tendulkar only Indian in Tillakaratne Dilshan's all-time ODI XI
Former Sri Lanka captain Tillakaratne Dilshan picked his all-time ODI XI, which features legendary batsman Sachin Tendulkar. Interestingly, Tendulkar is the only Indian who finds a place in Dilshan's team.
In a chat with ESPNcricinfo, Dilshan chose Ricky Ponting as the captain of his team that also includes the likes of Brian Lara and Mahela Jayawardene in the middle-order.
Along with Sachin Tendulkar, he selected his former Sri Lankan teammate Sanath Jayasuriya as the other opening batter. Coincidentally, Tendulkar and Jayasuriya and opened the batting for Mumbai Indians two decades earlier in the IPL.
While the fearsome Jayasuriya holds the record of being the first batsman from the island nation to reach 10,000 runs in ODI cricket, Sachin Tendulkar rests at the top with the most number of runs scored in ODI cricket.
Jayasuriya opened 383 times for Sri Lanka, while Sachin Tendulkar did so 340 times for India. Both batsmen opened the batting 58 times in India vs Sri Lanka encounters, scoring a combined total of 14 centuries. As mentioned above, they partnered together at the top of the order in IPL for the Mumbai Indians, scoring 713 runs at an impressive T20 average of 37.52.
Sachin Tendulkar and Sanath Jayasuriya's highest partnership of 127 came against Kolkata Knight Riders in the second edition of the IPL.
With top names grabbing the limelight, Dilshan's choice of wicket-keeper batsman baffled everyone. Despite having the options of handing the keeping responsibility to the likes of Kumar Sangakkara, Adam Gilchrist or MS Dhoni, he named South Africa's destructive batsman AB de Villiers as his top pick for the slot.
Dilshan posted a strong bowling line-up consisting of Shane Warne and countryman Muttiah Muralitharan. He went with the dangerous Courtney Walsh and swing-king Wasim Akram as his two fast bowling options. South Africa's Jacques Kallis made it as the specialist all-rounder at number six.
Sachin Tendulkar features in Dilshan’s all-time ODI XI:
Sanath Jayasuriya, Sachin Tendulkar, Brian Lara, Mahela Jayawardene, Ricky Ponting (captain), Jacques Kallis, AB de Villiers (wicket-keeper), Wasim Akram, Shane Warne, Muttiah Muralitharan, Courtney Walsh.
