England cricketer Jos Buttler picked his all-time Indian Premier League (IPL) XI and four players from the West Indies in his lineup, while the likes of Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni also found a place. However, there was no place for Rohit Sharma in the lineup despite him winning the tournament six times, including five occasions as the captain of the Mumbai Indians (MI).
Rohit lost out on the opening position as Buttler picked Kohli and Chris Gayle. The English cricket legend claimed that Kohli finds a place for him because of his consistency over the years. He described Gayle as the greatest batsman in the history of the shortest format. The Gujarat Titans (GT) star refused to pick himself.
“For those two out of there, I’m going to go for Kohli for sheer weight of runs and consistency and also that season where he scored 970-odd runs in a season of the IPL, which is outrageous.So I’m going to have him as number one and his opening partner for me will be Chris Gayle. I think Chris Gayle is the best T20 batter that there’s been. I don’t think there’s more intimidating guy you could bowl at,” said Buttler in the ‘For the Love of Cricket’ podcast with Stuart Broad.
Middle Order And All-Rounders
Suresh Raina, Ab de Villiers, and Kieron Pollard found a place in the middle order for Buttler. The Gujarat Titans (GT) called Raina as ‘Mr. ‘IPL.’ He reserved high praise for Pollard and hailed his ability in all three departments of the game.
“I’m going Suresh Raina, missed the IPL for a long time, had unbelievable success with Chennai. Probably not talked about enough how gun he was in the IPL. So he’s going to be in there in my all-time 11. AB de Villiers for sure. I think, you know, speaks for himself, picks himself. And I’m also going to go for Kyron Pollard. Unbelievable success with MI. I think he must have won five titles there with them.
“It’s always one of these things where you want to remember these guys in their absolute pomp, don’t you? Whenever you pick ultimate teams, it’s like, no, let’s choose them when they were at their very best. And Pollard, I think, is still doing it. The power of that bloke. If you missed your Yorker, you could tow it and you’d look back and it’s 20 rows back. He’s outrageous when he smacked it. He bowled. A few great overs. Played with him at Somerset for a couple of years and just incredible athlete.
The former Rajasthan Royals (RR) cricketer picked Andre Russell over Ravindra Jadeja and called it his most difficult pick.
“Russell or Jadaeja, two serious all-rounders. Again, I’m going for just like in their pomp. I think Russell had a couple of seasons where he was just like Superman and he just smashed it. We wonder why the West Indies won these T20 World Cups. You got Gale, Pollard. Yeah, there you go.Dre, Russ. I think there’s going to be one more coming in as well a bit later on. But that’s a really tough pick. Different style cricketers, obviously, as well, Judeja being that spin bowler.
“Jadeja’s clutch as well. A proper clutch player. I think of that IPL final.They needed 10 off two to win against Gujarat. You hit four and a six to see Chennai over the line. That is proper clutch performance, which is… This is probably the most difficult pick I think we might get between.But I’m going to stick with Russell. I’m just going to go with the sheer brute force, power, 120 meter sixes of Andre Russell,” Buttler. explained.
Buttler and Broad picked MS Dhoni without any discussion on the wicketkeeper slots’ after deciding he was the obvious pick.
Bowlers
Talking about bowlers, the Englishman picked two spinners and as many pacers. MI legends Lasith Malinga and Jasprit Bumrah got the nod among fast bowlers, while Rashid Khan and Sunil Narine also featured.
“We are going to go for Sanil Narine. I think he’s been MVP of the tournament a few times. An absolute genius. Pretty good spin attack with, I’m going to say, Rashid Khan at the other end. My Good Rat Titans teammate. He’s been phenomenal ever since he stepped foot in the IPL. And then, yeah, no-brainers really.
“It’s Malinga and Bumrah for me. I think Malinga… When we were talking earlier about someone in their pomp, I think Malinga was just absolutely outrageous, wasn’t he? Just 90-mile-an-hour swing with the new ball. Yorkers on tap. Then that lethal dipping slower ball that you thought was a beamer coming straight at your head. And then would just… His bounce was rapid, by the way. And then his bouncer was rapid as well. mean, what a complete bowler for T20 cricket. So that is what I would say.
The former England captain called Dwayne Bravo a notable omission. The West Indies all-rounder won the IPL three times with the Super Kings after joining them in 2011. He holds the record for the most wickets in the league’s history by an overseas pacer.
“Maybe in the all-rounders bracket and bowlers, there’s a notable omission. Dwayne Bravo, I think, was incredible for being close to an all-time… And a winner as well. … you can see he was up there with taking the most wickets as well for a long time. So he’s an honorable mention,” Buttler stated.
Jos Buttler’s All-Time IPL XI: Virat Kohli, Chris Gayle, Suresh Raina, Ab de Villiers, Kieron Pollard, MS Dhoni (WK), Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Rashid Khan, Sunil Narine, Jasprit Bumrah, Lasith Malinga.
