Indian national cricket team head coach Gautam Gambhir has picked his all-time best XI for the Men in Blue. What caught the attention of many was that he left out current captain Rohit Sharma, who is rated as the best opener, and Jasprit Bumrah, who is considered the best fast bowler in the team.

Gautam Gambhir picked himself as the team’s opener along with Virender Sehwag. The two are among the finest players to have played for the Indian National Cricket Team. They have made valuable contributions to the team in all three formats of the game, helping the team win major events.

At number 3, Gambhir picked Rahul Dravid. The Wall, no doubt, was one of the solid batsmen and was the backbone of the team during his playing days. He saved the Indian National Cricket Team from several collapses and played a very important role for the team in Tests and ODIs.

Gautam Gambhir then picked Sachin Tendulkar and Virat Kohli at number 4 and number 5 respectively.

Both are the best batsmen of the Indian national cricket team. While Tendulkar is considered the god of cricket, Kohli is seen as his successor and they are the two batsmen with the most centuries in cricket.

Yuvraj Singh was named the team’s most versatile spin bowler. He is arguably one of the best spin bowlers in the team. Singh played a crucial role for India and helped the team win the 2007 T20 World Cup and the 2011 World Cup, where he was named Player of the Tournament.

MS Dhoni found a place in Gambhir’s all-time best India playing XI as the team’s wicketkeeper-batsman. There is no doubt that Dhoni has been the best wicketkeeper for Team India. He is also the team’s most successful captain, guiding them to all the white-ball ICC titles and also making the team number one in Tests.

Anil Kumble and Ravichandran Ashwin are the two bowlers who found a place in Gautam Gambhir’s all-time best India XI. Kumble is the team’s leading wicket-taker in Test cricket with 619 scalps and has also performed decently for the team in ODI cricket.

On the other hand, Ravichandran Ashwin has also been on par with Anil Kumble. He is India’s second-highest wicket-taker in Tests and has made huge contributions to the team in ODIs and T20Is. He was also part of the 2011 World Cup-winning team.

Irfan Pathan and Zaheer Khan were the two fast bowlers picked by Gambhir in his all-time best XI for India.

Both left-handed batsmen made huge contributions to the team across three formats. Pathan was also helpful to the team with the bat as he played a vital role for the team.

Gautam Gambhir picks his all-time best starting XI for India

Here is Gambhir’s all-time best X for India:

Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh, MS Dhoni (wk), Anil Kumble, Ravichandran Ashwin, Irfan Pathan, Zaheer Khan