MS Dhoni or Rohit Sharma? Pragyan Ojha Picks Captain For All-Time IPL XI

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Mumbai, January 27: Former Indian spinner Pragyan Ojha picked Rohit Sharma over Mahendra Singh Dhoni as his choice for captain of the IPL All-time XI team.

JioCinema's Hindi panelists had a fascinating discussion on another episode of 'Legends Lounge', an original featuring stalwarts of the game to select an All-Time IPL XI.

Apart from Ojha, the panel featured former Indian cricketers Robin Uthappa, Suresh Raina, Parthiv Patel, RP Singh and Aakash Chopra. The select group deliberated hard across a two-part episode to compile an Al-time XI team of IPL.

This was the second such show after the English panel that also included Uthappa alongside Anil Kumble, Chris Gayle, Parthiv Patel and Scott Styris formed their IPL All-time XI earlier this week.

Virat Kohli and Chris Gayle got their spot at the top of the order. Though Chopra and Singh wanted to include KL Rahul, which led to Uthappa explaining why his fellow Karnataka batter missed the bus here.

"When you're selecting these players, the test of time is also a factor. KL has a lot of time left and has a lot of cricket still to play," said Uthappa.

Raina, an expert on the panel itself, was an easy pick for No. 3, but he said he would prefer Kohli for that slot.

Chopra and Singh were outvoted for the player to be included at No. 4, as they picked AB de Villiers. The others chose Rohit Sharma.

This resulted in a heated discussion but ultimately led to Sharma being voted in at No. 4 and de Villiers occupying the No. 5 spot. The panel agreed on MS Dhoni as an unanimous selection at No. 6.

Dhoni was also selected as the captain of the XI, though Ojha explained why he would have Rohit leading the team instead.

"If you are trying to compare them, they're quite similar. They're both bowlers' captains. I am only going by titles because in this comparison, Sharma has more titles than MSD. When you're talking about all-time greats, winning five titles in 15 years is no mean feat."

Former Chennai Super Kings star Raina, however, backed Dhoni as a captain for obvious reasons.

"He brings a lot of positivity and is one of the best finishers in the world. To extract the best from a player is an incredibly beautiful skill that MSD possesses. If Dhoni didn't lead us to the 2007 T20 World Cup, the IPL may have never gotten the momentum it needed to start in 2008."

For the all-rounder at No. 7, all six couldn't come to an agreement as Hardik Pandya, Dwayne Bravo, Sunil Narine, Ravindra Jadeja, and Andre Russell were discussed.

Ultimately, Bravo sneaked past Jadeja who came closest competitor for that position. Raina, however felt that it was very important for Jadeja to be in the team.

"There's no better fielder than him. So, it is very important for Jadeja to be in the team, irrespective of the position, especially since IPL is happening in India," said Raina.

The panel jumped to No. 10 and 11 since there was a unanimous choice of pairing Japrit Bumrah with Lasith Malinga, closing the overseas quota.

Yuzvendra Chahal at No.9 almost got a majority as the second spinner behind Harbhajan Singh at No. 8. Harbhajan didn't make it to the team easy as there was a split between him and Jadeja.

Raina said that Harbhajan, who has 150 IPL wickets in 163 matches, would have had many more wickets had he played more in wickets like Chennai.

"It is difficult to bowl in Wankhede, yet he bowled well. Even when we won in Chennai, he bowled well. It is difficult for any batsman to play there, after 6 overs. That's why Ashwin has more wickets there," said Raina.

The final team had Gayle and Kohli as the two openers with Raina as the trustworthy No. 3. Rohit Sharma and de Villiers occupied No. 4 and No. 5.

Meanwhile MS Dhoni came in at 6. Dwayne Bravo was selected at No. 7 and Harbhajan Singh at No. 8. Chahal, Bumrah, and Malinga were the final three players to round off a deadly bowling attack.

Those players who were hotly debated but missed out were Kieron Pollard, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine and Yuvraj Singh.

Chopra concluded the show saying this XI may never play together, but were they to be fielded, they would lose to no one.

Legends Lounge Hindi Panel IPL All-Time XI