Ahead of the IPL finale, former Indian captain Virender Sehwag picked his team of the tournament and to everyone's surprise, he did not include MS Dhoni in his side. The CSK skipper has been in roaring form this season and his performances with the bat as well as behind the stumps as the leader of the side.
However, Sehwag has included David Warner, who lit up the IPL with his batting and is currently the owner of the purple cap with 692 runs. Also, he was named the captain of his side. Also, both Rishabh Pant and KL Rahul found a place in the side.
In one of the shows for Cricbuzz, Sehwag picked Shikhar Dhawan and Jonny Bairstow as his openers with KL Rahul coming at No. 3. David Warner was slotted in at number 4 and the former Indian skipper was all praise for the Australian, who made a grand comeback to the IPL after being banned last year.
"I have seen his performance as an opener, and I have seen his performance as a middle-order batsman. He can play the same at both the slots, can score runs and deliver consistently. I have also made him the captain as he is a smart cricketer which we had seen in SRH's run to title win 2016," explained Sehwag.
'Picked players based on their performance'
"Everyone must be thinking why I didn't pick Kohli or AB de Villiers, but I have picked players based on their performance," he further added.
As far as the middle order was concerned, Sehwag picked Rishabh Pant, Andre Russell and Hardik Pandya - this certainly forms an explosive core as all three have been game-changers for their respective side this season. Also, Pant was picked as his 'favourite cricketer' of this season.
Young South African quick Kagiso Rabada and India's pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah were the two fast bowlers in the side. Young leggies in Rahul Chahar and Shreyas Gopal were the two specialist spinners and it was quite surprising that Imran Tahir missed the bus as he has been quite brilliant for Chennai Super Kings this season.
Virender Sehwag's IPL 2019 XI:
Shikhar Dhawan, Jonny Bairstow, KL Rahul, David Warner (c), Rishabh Pant, Andre Russell, Hardik Pandya, Shreyas Gopal, Kagiso Rabada, Rahul Chahar, Jasprit Bumrah
