Harbhajan Singh, the legendary off-spinner, announced his retirement from all forms of cricket in December 2021, bringing an end to an illustrious career in the sport. His fans still remember how a young Punjabi spinner challenged the dominance of legendary Australian cricketer Ricky Ponting in the India-Australia series.
In an interview with Sportskeeda, the spinner, who has played for various IPL clubs, including Kings XI Punjab, Mumbai Indians, Chennai Super Kings, and Kolkata Knight Riders, named his all-time IPL XI. He chose his starting XI and began with West Indies great Chris Gayle, who was joined by team India skipper Rohit Sharma in the starting lineup. He also included Indian cricketer Virat Kohli on the list. Though Kohli’s form has lately been in question owing to below par performances by the skipper, some of the dismissals really seemed unlucky. In 2020, he has scored 466 runs in 15 matches with a strike rate of 42.36 and 405 runs in 12 matches at a strike rate of 28.92 in 2021.
Shane Watson and AB De Villiers were selected for the middle order by the coach. Their respective franchises, Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), have benefited significantly from their contributions (RCB). They were followed by former Chennai Super Kings captain MS Dhoni and all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja, who were selected at the Nos. 6 and No. 7 spots respectively. In the meanwhile, Dhoni has been named as the team’s captain. He also signed Kieron Pollard, who he believes has exceptional all-round ability.
Meanwhile, Sunil Narine has been named as the lone spinner in Harbhajan Singh’s XI against the West Indies. Narine is one of the most important players for the Kolkata Knight Riders, and he has just celebrated his ten-year anniversary with the team. Other than that he chose two pace bowlers – the experienced Sri Lankan Lasith Malinga and the Team India’s Jasprit Bumrah – to compete for the position of best in the world. Both of them were instrumental in the Mumbai Indians’ record-tying fifth championship triumph in the Indian Premier League. Despite the fact that Malinga is no longer a member of the franchise, Bumrah continues to contribute to the team.
