Former Indian cricketer Mohammad Kaif has picked his best Indian Premier League (IPL) XI. However, he named MS Dhoni as the skipper of his best XI, the 41-year-old selected as many as 6-overseas performers, keeping aside the “four foreign players” rule, which is in place for every IPL team in a match.
In a video content he shared on his Social media YouTube channel, he described his decision to go with more foreign players and stated:
“I have not picked my team as per the ‘four foreign players’ rule since this is an all-time XI. There are more foreign players because they have played impactful knocks with the bat and have done exceedingly well with the ball.”
Kaif has a top 3-consisting of Chris Gayle, Rohit Sharma, as well as Virat Kohli. Describing his choices, the former cricketer said:
“Gayle is a very dangerous IPL batter. Whenever he has done well, he has been a game-changer and has scored a lot of runs. Rohit Sharma has been playing for many years and has won five trophies as captain. An excellent short-format player. Virat Kohli is King Kohli. Has scored plenty of runs in the IPL. He has led India as well as RCB and is a role model, so his name has to be there.”
Kaif has gone for Suresh Raina, AB de Villiers, and MS Dhoni (c & wk) as his middle-order batters players. As per the 41-year-old, Raina, being a left-hander, brings type to the batting and was also a very harmful batter who bailed CSK out of difficulty on many occasions.
Specifying ABD as being a “360-degree” performer, Kaif admitted that he could smack the ball to any part of the ground and play all the strokes in the book, be it the range or the straight hits.
Lavishing great praise on legend Dhoni, Kaif said:
“He laid the foundation of T20 cricket in India by leading the country to victory in the 2007 World Cup. He has lifted four IPL titles as well. He is a big player in T20 and a mature captain.”
CSK are the defending champions in every IPL, having raised the trophy for the 4th time last season.
Russell, Rashid among all-rounders in Mohammad Kaif’s all-time in IPL XI
Shifting the focus to the all-rounders player, Kaif picked Andre Russell for his power-hitting at the death and Rashid Khan for his capability to be highly economical with the ball apart from his batting skills. Sunil Narine also finds a place as he can maintain the batter’s quiet and critical bowl overs. Plus, he can be utilized as a floater with the bat.
Kaif called Jasprit Bumrah and Lasith Malinga his 2-main fast bowlers. He explained Bumrah as a match-winner in every game format and Malinga as an example whom many bowlers try to copy.
Mohammad Kaif’s all-time IPL XI: AB de Villiers, MS Dhoni (c & wk), Andre Russell, Rashid Khan, Chris Gayle, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, Sunil Narine, Jasprit Bumrah, Lasith Malinga