In the greatest IPL team of all time, CSK’s MS Dhoni has been chosen as captain. A panel of experts, including former cricketing legends Wasim Akram, Dale Steyn, Matthew Hayden, Tom Moody, and 70 journalists picked the 15-player team.
The top order consisted of Australian batter David Warner, Indian superstar Virat Kohli, and West Indian powerhouse Chris Gayle. While Kohli is the all-time leading run-scorer in IPL history with 7,263 runs, Warner is third and first among overseas batters with 6,397 runs.
Raina, de Villiers, Yadav, and Dhoni made up the middle order batters. Raina and De Villiers are in the top-six of IPL runs scorers, with strike rates of 136.73 and 151.68.
But let’s not forget Dhoni! He’s the seventh-highest run getter, boasting more than 5,000 runs! More than that, he’s won the most matches as captain – 133! This includes five champion titles with CSK.
Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, and Kieron Pollard take up the all-rounder positions. Rashid Khan, Sunil Narine, Lasith Malinga, Jasprit Bumrah, and Yuzvendra Chahal constitute the bowling line-up.
Chahal is the IPL’s greatest wicket-taker with 187 scalps, while Malinga and Bumrah have contributed to the majority of Mumbai Indians’ five titles.
“MS Dhoni has won the title with very good squads and average squads” – Tom Moody
The former Australian all-rounder supported his pick of MS Dhoni as captain of the IPL’s all-time team by citing the CSK captain’s ability to win titles with substandard lineups. While both Dhoni and Rohit Sharma have five titles with CSK and MI, the former has more match victories and a greater winning percentage.
During the Star Sports selection, Moody said:
“It has to be MS Dhoni for me, the reason being MS Dhoni has won the title with very good squads and average squads, and that tells me a lot about the captain and how he can lead a variety of talent in a squad to success. Rohit Sharma has been a brilliant captain for MI but MI have always had the best squads or up there with the best squads in the IPL since its inception.”
Tom Moody
Dhoni’s old CSK colleague and Australian star Matthew Hayden went a step further, saying:
“It’s an obvious choice, it’s not a debate over here. It’s going to be unanimous amongst the entire Indian community. Of course, Rohit Sharma, the Hitman, is such an incredible leader as well, so it’s a tough choice, but I’m going to be bold and I’m going to pick Dhoni as a Captain and Coach as well. He started in 2008, Shane Warne was captain and coach, and he took the franchise, the double R’s, to a title that year, and I just feel that MS Dhoni can also be a coach.”
Tom Moody
Catch MS Dhoni in IPL’s 17th edition, predicted to kick off late March. In other news, Rohit Sharma steps down from Mumbai Indians captaincy, passing the hat to Hardik Pandya. Interestingly, Rohit Sharma will steer India in June’s T20 World Cup.