AB de Villiers picks his IPL XI; names MS Dhoni as captain
Former South Africa player and a vital cog of Royal Challengers of Bangalore in the Indian Premier League, AB de Villiers has also joined the bandwagon and picked up his IPL XI, where he named former India and Chennai Super Kings captain MS Dhoni as the skipper, alongside a pool of Indian players including Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Ravindra Jadeja, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, and Jasprit Bumrah. Among the foreign players, he named Ben Stokes, Rashid Khan, Kagiso Rabada, and himself in the playing XI.
AB de Villiers has been featured in the cash-rich Indian Premier League ever since its inaugural season in 2008, where he had played for the Delhi Daredevils. At this time he batted alongside the flamboyant Indian opener, Virender Sehwag, who he picked up as an opener in his all-time IPL XI on Cricbuzz as well. On the other end, he named another swashbuckling India opener, Rohit Sharma to open with the former one. The Mumbai Indians captain has a stunning record in the tournament where he has amassed a whopping 4898 runs in 188 games which came at an average of 31.60. However, de Villiers, the star player of RCB star, surprisingly didn't choose his former RCB teammate Chris Gayle in his team, despite the world boss having become an automatic pick for others for his big-hitting skill.
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For no. 3, the 360-degree de Villiers chose India as well as his RCB captain Virat Kohli. Kohli has evolved a lot since his debut and became one of the finest cricketers in recent times - be it for team India or RCB in the IPL. In fact, for RCB fans, Kohli and AB de Villiers' partnership in the middle overs is one of the favourite sights as well. However, he named England all-rounder Ben Stokes and MS Dhoni to complete his batting order. While Dhoni has been an important part for CSK in their title-winning not only once but thrice, Stokes has already proved his caliber in IPL. Moreover, he named MS Dhoni as the skipper and the keeper of his all-star IPL XI where Ravindra Jadeja and Rashid Khan were picked as the two spinners in the playing XI. They are not only quality bowlers but also pretty good with the bat in the final overs.
To complete his playing XI, AB de Villiers picked Sunrisers Hyderbad’s pace spearhead Bhuvneshwar Kumar along with his national teammate Kagiso Rabada. Rabada has been playing a key role for the Delhi Capitals team, with more than 31 wickets in just 18 games. Along with them, the RCB star chose Mumbai Indians' pace bowler Jasprit Bumrah to finish his lineup. Bumrah, who has been considered as one of the finest bowlers in recent times across formats, has claimed 82 wickets in 77 matches so far.
AB de Villiers’ all-time IPL XI: Virender Sehwag, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers, Ben Stokes, MS Dhoni (C) (WK), Ravindra Jadeja, Rashid Khan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Kagiso Rabada, Jasprit Bumrah