Former England cricketer Kevin Pietersen snubbed Rohit Sharma from his IPL XI, while adding that the Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s release of Yuzvendra Chahal was the biggest blunder in the tournament’s
history.
Picking an all-time IPL XI is never straightforward, with even legendary names bound to miss out. Pietersen faced the same dilemma while selecting his team alongside Jos Buttler.
On For the Love of Cricket, the England duo of Pietersen and Buttler picked their all-time IPL XI, featuring multiple bona fide greats, but not without leaving out some big names.
Pietersen’s IPL XI: Chris Gayle, Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers, Suresh Raina, MS Dhoni (c & wk), Andre Russell, Ravindra Jadeja, Sunil Narine, Yuzvendra Chahal, Lasith Malinga, Jasprit Bumrah
Pietersen overlooked the four-overseas-cricketer rule as well, packing his XI with five international stars. Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav and Hardik Pandya missed out, with the decorated Mumbai Indians trio unable to turn their title success into selection.
Buttler, an IPL great himself, asked Pietersen to choose two openers from Kohli, Gayle, David Warner and Rohit and Pietersen did not hesitate, locking in the two RCB legends.
De Villiers was an automatic pick for Pietersen, who slotted the Proteas great alongside Raina in the middle order. But he left out names like KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant, Glenn Maxwell and Kieron Pollard.
Ahead of locking in his middle order, Pietersen made a quick detour before returning to Dhoni, calling him the ‘only non-negotiable’ pick. In the all-rounders’ slot, he snubbed Hardik Pandya in favour of Russell and Narine, insisting the latter would walk into every IPL XI.
Pietersen’s final all-rounder pick was Jadeja, who completed the balance before the bowling unit. He then chose Chahal over Rashid Khan, calling Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s decision to release him ‘the worst in IPL history’.
