Commentator and former Indian cricketing star Aakash Chopra has picked his combined Pakistan-India XI of all-time, naming World Cup-winning former Pakistani skipper and now prime minister (PM), Imran Khan, as the captain.
“I wanted to do a fun exercise today by selecting the combined all-time Test XI of Pakistan and India, although it was a very difficult task,” Chopra said in a video uploaded to Facebook. “One thing that we will all agree, before moving on, that the team will give more preference to Indian batsmen and Pakistani bowlers.”
Chopra picked former cricketers Sunil Gavaskar and Virender Sehwag as the openers while selecting Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar at the third and fourth batting spots, respectively.
“There is no doubt that Sunil Gavaskar will be one of the openers as his presence is absolutely mandatory,” he said. “I would partner him with Virender Sehwag because he scored two triple centuries in Test cricket which is quite an achievement,” Chopra said, adding that after including Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar, he would go for Inzamamul Haq and Javed Miandad for the fifth and sixth slots.
“Although they are both playing out of position, but deserve a place in the XI,” he said regarding the Pakistani batting legends.
“For the wicketkeeper spot I will pick MS Dhoni. Although we can consider Dravid as well but I don’t want to make a batsman playing at one-down to keep the wickets,” he added.
Two World Cup-winning skippers come next as Kapil Dev and Imran Khan give this team a whole new dimension. They could bat, they could bowl and they could lead the team with absolute authority.
“At number eight and nine, I will pick Kapil Dev and Imran Khan. Imran will also be the captain of my side,” the former Indian cricketer said.
Fast-bowler Wasim Akram finds a place in the side and so does Anil Kumble. Chopra also stated leaving out Waqar Younis was a tough call and he was made the 12th man of the team.
“It is 100 per cent certain that Wasim Akram will be part of this lineup and he slots in at number 10. With over 600 wickets, I will include leg-spinner Anil Kumble as the final player in my team. It is hard to keep Waqar Younis out of this XI but I will definitely include him as my 12th man,” he said.
