Kamal Ghorui
Former England batter Kevin Pietersen left out several marquee names, including Rohit Sharma, while naming his all-time IPL XI. During the selection, Pietersen also termed Yuzvendra Chahal’s release by Royal Challengers Bengaluru as the worst decision in the league’s history.Choosing an all-time IPL XI is always a tricky exercise, with even some of the biggest names inevitably missing out. Pietersen faced that challenge while picking his side alongside Jos Buttler.
On For the Love of Cricket, the England pair finalised their all-time IPL XI, including several legends but also leaving out a few high-profile players.Pietersen’s IPL XI: Chris Gayle, Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers, Suresh Raina, MS Dhoni (c & wk), Andre Russell, Ravindra Jadeja, Sunil Narine, Yuzvendra Chahal, Lasith Malinga, Jasprit Bumrah.Pietersen did not stick to the four-overseas-player limit either, including five international stars in his XI. Players like Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav and Hardik Pandya were left out, with the successful Mumbai Indians trio missing the cut despite their title-winning pedigree.Buttler, himself an IPL standout, asked Pietersen to pick two openers from Kohli, Gayle, David Warner and Rohit. Pietersen quickly settled on the two RCB icons without hesitation.De Villiers was a straightforward inclusion, with the South African legend joining Raina in the middle order. However, Pietersen omitted names such as KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant, Glenn Maxwell and Kieron Pollard.Before finalising his middle order, Pietersen briefly reconsidered but returned to Dhoni, calling him the ‘only non-negotiable’ pick. Among the all-rounders, he overlooked Hardik Pandya in favour of Russell and Narine, stating that the latter would feature in any IPL XI.His final all-rounder selection was Jadeja, completing the team balance ahead of naming the bowlers. Pietersen then picked Chahal over Rashid Khan, calling Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s decision to release him “the worst in IPL history”.
