There are few captains who are as successful in the Indian Premier League (IPL) as MS Dhoni. The former Indian cricket team skipper led Chennai Super Kings to the trophy three times and his batting performances have already found place in the IPL folklore. As a result, it came as a surprise when he did not make the cut as current BCCI President Sourav Ganguly picked his fantasy IPL team during an event in Kolkata.
Ganguly named himself as the captain of the side and went with Rishabh Pant as the wicket-keeper in place of the veteran Dhoni. “It’s purely for fun, to entertain all. Pant is a young wicketkeeper-batsman. I don’t want any debate for it,” Sourav Ganguly said as quoted by Extra Time.
Ganguly went with Rohit Sharma as his opening partner followed by the illustrious duo of Virat Kohli and David Warner. Andre Russell and Riyan Parag were the all-rounders in the side while Ravindra Jadeja was picked as the lone spinner. In the pace department, Ganguly selected Marcus Stoinis, Jofra Archer and Jasprit Bumrah.
Earlier, Ganguly showered praises on all-rounder Jadeja who held his nerves to take India across the line in a tense series decider against the West Indies.
On Sunday evening, Jadeja played an unbeaten knock of 39 runs as India chase down a stiff target of 316 with four wickets in hand at the Barabati Stadium. Skipper Virat Kohli was once again the architect of the chase as he played a 85-run knock before Jadeja, along with Shardul Thakur, powered the hosts to a series-clinching win.
“Another win for Team India…congratulations…good performances with the bat in a pressure game…Jadeja’s improvement with the bat so important,” Ganguly tweeted.
Sourav Ganguly’s Fantasy IPL XI: Sourav Ganguly (c), Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, David Warner, Rishabh Pant (wk), Andre Russell, Jasprit Bumrah, Marcus Stoinis, Riyan Parag, Jofra Archer and Ravindra Jadeja.
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