Bengaluru, Aug 4: Former captain Sourav Ganguly today (August 4) picked his All-Time XI dominated by Australians. There are 2 Indian legends in the team.
No place for Tendulkar in Sangakkara's list
In a video posted on Lord's Cricket Ground's official Twitter handle on Thursday, Ganguly made his 11 choices for his all-time team. (Brendon McCullum's all-time XI)
The Kolkata left-hander has picked Australia's Matthew Hayden and Alastair Cook of England as the openers while slotting Rahul Dravid at number 3 followed by Sachin Tendulkar.
Ganguly has chosen Australia's Ricky Ponting as the captain while Kumar Sangakkara of Sri Lanka is the wicketkeeper. However, Ganguly has put Ponting at number 7 position.
There is no place for Anil Kumble, who played alongside Ganguly and is now the head coach of Indian team. The spinners in the XI are Shane Warne of Australia and Sri Lanka's Muttaiah Muralitharan.
There was also no place for West Indian legends Sir Vivian Richards and Brian Lara.
Glenn McGrath (Australia) and South Africa's Dale Steyn are the fast bowlers while the all-rounder's place has gone to Jacques Kallis (South Africa).
In the recent past, several cricketers have picked their all-time XIs on Lord's official Twitter handle.
What Ganguly said on his choices and why he omitted Virender Sehwag
"My openers would be Matthew Hayden and Alastair Cook, 2 left-handers. I was very tempted (to go) with Virender Sehwag but I think Alastair Cook has got huge volumes of runs behind him at a very young age.
"Number 3 would be (Rahul) Dravid and number 4 would be Sachin (Tendulkar). Number 5 would be (Jacques) Kallis, number 6 would be (Kumar) Sangakkara. I am not necessarily going by the batting order. Number 7 would be Ricky Ponting. Terrific record as captain and fits into the side - automatic choice. And probably the best tactical person in this squad.
"At 8 would be Glenn McGrath. (He is) the best in terms of accuracy, discipline in Test cricket. He will run in all day long and hit the right areas. At 9 would be (Dale Steyn) for just the quality of his bowling and his wicket-taking ability.
"I would go with two spinners in (Shane) Warne and Murali," Ganguly said in the video.
Here is Ganguly's All-Time XI
1. Matthew Hayden (Australia)
2. Alastair Cook (England)
3. Rahul Dravid (India)
4. Sachin Tendulkar (India)
5. Jacques Kallis (South Africa)
6. Kumar Sangakkara (Sri Lanka, wicketkeeper)
7. Ricky Ponting (Australia, captain)
8. Glenn McGrath (Australia)
9. Dale Steyn (South Africa)
10. Shane Warne (Australia)
11. Muttaiah Muralitharan (Sri Lanka)
WATCH: Former India captain @SGanguly99 picks his All Time XI - thoughts?https://t.co/ML3PZv35o1
— Lord's Ground (@HomeOfCricket) August 4, 2016
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