Strongest Indian ODI XI featuring both Men and Women
The Indian Men's cricket team played its first ever ODI match in 1971 against England at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. It was the start of a journey which would see so many legends and more importantly, role models for the future and heading into its 47th year, it continues to produce several champions, both with bat and ball.
The men are often the celebrated half of the sphere, which comprises also of the women. They started their journey, much later in 1978 against England in Kolkata and with passing time, have given much joy to their supporters, none more than their spectacular run in the World Cup last year, when they narrowly missed out on winning the coveted crown.
Both teams in their respective histories have produced some champion performers and here's an All-time team albeit completely hypothetical comprising of some of the best players from both sides:
Notable mentions: Virender Sehwag, Sourav Ganguly, Smriti Mandhana, Shanta Rangaswamy, Diana Edulji
Openers
Sachin Tendulkar
Few would dispute the inclusion of Tendulkar as an opener in the side. In a 24-year chequered career, the right-hander amassed 18426 runs in 463 matches with 49 hundreds to his credit. The Mumbaikar was undoubtedly India's most reliable player in the 1990s when he dominated almost every bowling attack in the world with his magical strokeplay.
At the fag end of his career, he achieved his lifelong dream of winning the World Cup in front of his home fans in Mumbai in 2011 and eventually retired from the format in December 2012 as the leading run-getter as well as the leading century-maker in the 50-over format.
Anjum Chopra
One of the best players to emerge out for India in the limited-overs format, Anjum Chopra has a very impressive record to boast of in 50-overs cricket for India. In a 17-year career, which began in 1995, she played in 127 ODIs and scored 2856 runs at an average of 31.38 with 18 fifties and one hundred.
She was part of the side that reached the final of the 2005 World Cup in South Africa and was part of the shortlisted candidates for the ICC's Women's Player of the Year in 2006.