Just days after the thrilling three-match series between India and England concluded, Ravi Shastri and Eoin Morgan picked a combined all-time ODI XI from players of both countries. The team was dominated by Indian players, with only three players from the European nation finding a place.
In a video posted by Sky Sports, Morgan, who is the captain of England’s only World Cup-winning squad, did not pick himself, but both skippers that led India to a World Cup title (Kapil Dev and MS Dhoni) found a place. In fact, the 2011-winning skipper Dhoni was named captain of the combined team. While Shastri himself was part of the squad that lifted the title in 1983, Kapil was the player from that squad which secured a place.
Jos Buttler was the only England player to find a place in the top six picked, as Shastri and Morgan picked Sachin Tendulkar and Rohit Sharma as their opening pair, while Virat Kohli picked them. India’s 2011 WC victory’s Player of the Tournament (POTM), Yuvraj Singh, also found a place.
The duo named two pace-bowling all-rounders; aside Kapil, they also picked the recently retired Ben Stokes, who was the hero of England’s 2019 World Cup win with a Player of the Match (POTM) performance in the final.
bowling attack
Shastri and Morgan picked 12 players (playing XI + 12th man), which left for four bowlers. Star spinner Adil Rashid was the only specialist bowler from England to find a place ahead of Anil Kumble. Indian cricket legend and arguably the country’s greatest-ever bowler Jasprit Bumrah, alongside the World Cup-winning pair of Zaheer Khan and Harbhajan Singh, found a place in the team.
Ravi Shastri and Eoin Morgan’s Best India-England Playing XII: Sachin Tendulkar, Rohit Sharma, Jos Buttler, Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh, Kapil Dev, MS Dhoni (C), Ben Stokes, Adil Rashid, Harbhajan Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Zaheer Khan.
