Anil Kumble, the former Indian spinner who’d been known for his daring decisions, opted not to include AB de Villiers in his all-time Indian Premier League (IPL) XI. Kumble provided another justification for leaving out de Villiers by choosing MS Dhoni, the captain of the 2011 World Cup team and a four-time IPL champion, ahead of the South African superstar.
During their prime years, Dhoni and de Villiers both solidified their reputations as deadly cricket ball hitters with strokes that were linked with their names. While Dhoni was the inventor of the “helicopter shot” and a match-winner, de Villiers is known as “Mr. 360” for his amazing ability to score runs to all corners of the field.
While having a discussion over IPL ” on JioCinema, Chris Gayle, Suresh Raina, Scott Styris, Parthiv Patel, Robin Uthappa, and Anil Kumble had to choose an all-time IPL XI. Kumble said it would be “tough” to choose the former Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) star over the CSK captain during the segment.
The former Punjab Kings coach said, “It is very difficult to get AB de Villiers in my team because MS Dhoni comes in at five as captain and a wicketkeeper and (Kieron) Pollard at six. I would look at the impact the particular player has had at No. 6 in terms of winning matches from difficult positions and of course, titles are something that I looked at as well, at No. 6.”
Anil Kumble All Time IPL XI:
Chris Gayle, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, Rohit Sharma, MS Dhoni (c & wk), Kieron Pollard, Hardik Pandya, Sunil Narine, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah, Lasith Malinga.
