Sanjay Bangar picks India's all-time T20 XI; names Virat Kohli as captain

Sanjay Bangar named the legendary Virat Kohli as the captain of his all-time T20 XI. The side picked by the former India all-rounder looks strong on paper, even with the presence of some discarded players.

India are set to play a five-match T20I series against New Zealand, starting from Wednesday, January 21. This will be an ideal dress rehearsal for the two teams ahead of next month's T20 World Cup.

Ahead of the T20Is between India and New Zealand, Bangar named his all-time Indian team for the shortest format of the game during a segment on ESPNcricinfo.

Bangar named Kohli and Shubman Gill as his openers. The latter hasn't been able to live up to his potential in T20I cricket. He was also left out of India's squad for the T20I versus New Zealand and the subsequent T20 World Cup.

KL Rahul grabbed the No. 3 spot in the team. This is another interesting pick as the Karnataka wicketkeeper-batter hasn't played T20I cricket since November 2022.

Bangar's pick for the No. 4 slot was understandable, as he named current Indian T20I skipper Suryakumar Yadav. Yuvraj Singh, Shivam Dube, and Deepak Chahar were the all-rounders who got the nod from the cricketer-turned-expert.

In the bowling department, Mohammed Shami and Ashish Nehra were picked as the specialist pacers. Meanwhile, Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal were the spinners who got selected.

Aakash Chopra names Jasprit Bumrah as his first pick

There was a toss between Aakash Chopra and Sanjay Bangar, which the former won. This allowed the former India opener to pick the first player while naming India's all-time T20I XI. Chopra went for the talismanic Jasprit Bumrah as his first name in the side.

Rohit Sharma and Virender Sehwag were named as the openers on his side. Suresh Raina, Yusuf Pathan, and MS Dhoni formed a formidable trio in the middle. All-rounders Hardik Pandya and Axar Patel were placed in the lower order. Varun Chakaravarthy was named as the sole specialist spinner in the side, while Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Bumrah, and Arshdeep Singh forged a formidable seam-bowling troika.