Sourav Ganguly picks IPL Fantasy XI: Why Dada did not pick MS Dhoni?

MS Dhoni did not find a place in Sourav Gangulys IPL Fantasy XI — MS Dhoni did not find a place in Sourav Ganguly's IPL Fantasy XI

Bengaluru, December 24: Will you exclude MS Dhoni from an all-time IPL XI? Tough to even think about it, isn't it? But former Indian captain and the current BCCI president Sourav Ganguly did exactly that - Dhoni has place in Ganguly's IPL fantasy XI, of which he named himself as the captain.

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In the place of Dhoni, who has won three IPL trophies as Chennai Super Kings captain, Ganguly selected Rishabh Pant as the wicketkeeper. "It's purely for fun, to entertain all. Pant is a young wicketkeeper-batsman. I don't want any debate for it," Ganguly was quoted as saying by the Extra Time.

Besides naming himself as the captain, Ganguly placed himself as one of the openers with Rohit Sharma as his partner. David Warner and Virat Kohli were his No 3 and No 4. Andre Russel and Riyan Parag were named as the all-rounders in his fantasy XI while Ravindra Jadeja was the lone specialist spinner.

The pacers were Jasprit Bumrah, Marcus Stoinis and Jofra Archer.

1. Ganguly's Fantasy IPL XI

Sourav Ganguly (c), Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, David Warner, Rishabh Pant (wk), Andre Russell, Jasprit Bumrah, Marcus Stoinis, Riyan Parag, Jofra Archer, Ravindra Jadeja.

2. The Dhoni factor

Dhoni is currently on a sabbatical from international cricket. His last appearance in India colours came in the ICC World Cup 2019 semifinal against New Zealand. Since then he has skipped home series against South Africa, Bangladesh and West Indies. Dhoni has also not been named in the squad for the limited-over series at home against Sri Lanka and Australia next month.

3. Pant as wicketkeeper

Rishabh Pant was named India's first choice wicketkeeper in white ball cricket but his performance has been inconsistent with the bat and behind the stumps. Pant registered his first fifty in ODI cricket during the first match against Windies at Chennai and then made a quickfire 40 in the second ODI at Visakhapatnam. But just as Pant seemed to get a grip of limited-over cricket, his batting and ‘keeping came a cropper in the series-decider at Cuttack and it prompted chief selector MSK Prasad to say that Pant will undergo training under a specialist wicketkeeping coach.

4. Why Jadeja is the lone spinner

Jadeja has established as an all-format bowler in 2019 since making a return to the version during the ICC World Cup 2019. His batting has also improved leaps and bounds, as indicated by his composed 30 that led India to win over West Indies in the series-decider at Cuttack a couple of days back. Ganguly has also openly expressed his appreciation of Jadeja's growth as a cricketer.