Former West Indies captain and all-rounder Jason Holder has named his all-time Test team. He stated this in a private program. He mentioned that his favorite format was the Test format. His squad included several former West Indies greats.
West Indian all-rounder Jason Holder named his all-time best Test XI, where he included His list includes six West Indies, three Australians, one each from Pakistan and India.
Holder said that Test cricket is his most favorite format and the list he named includes plenty of former West Indian greats. There were quite a few surprise picks in the batting order, Chris Gayle was named the opening batsman.
Middle-Order: Ricky Ponting, Brian Lara, Viv Richards, Adam Gilchrist
Australian duo Ricky Ponting and Adam Gilchrist have found their place in the team. Where Ricky Ponting has scored 13378 runs from 168 Test matches, Adam Gilchrist has played 96 matches and has scored 5570 runs, but he is quite famous for wicketkeeping.
The other 2 batsmen are the Caribbean duo of Brian Lara and Viv Richards, two of the greatest ever to play for West Indies. Brian Lara has amassed a massive 11953 runs from 131 matches, and Viv Richards has played 121 matches and has scored 8540 runs.
“I am sorry for being a bit biased but Christopher Henry Gayle at one with Virender Sehwag as his partner. It would be a great spectacle. Three, I would have Ricky Ponting. Four, I would have Brian Lara. Five, I would have Vivian Richards,” Holder said.
The only proper all-rounder that Jason Holder has included is Sir Garfield Sobers, West Indies’ one of the greatest all-rounders ever. He has played 93 Test matches and has scored 8032 runs and has picked up 235 wickets.
Shane Warne, though is mainly recognized as a leg-spin bowler, can also bat. He has played 145 Test matches and has picked up 708 wickets and scored 3154 runs.
The quick bowling trio that he included are Curtly Ambrose, Malcolm Marshall, and Pakistan’s Wasim Akram.
Holder mentioned that Curtly Ambrose is his all-time favorite. The West Indies cricketer has played 98 Test matches and has picked up 405 wickets.
Malcolm Marshall, on the other hand, has played 81 Test matches and has 376 wickets to his name. Wasim Akram rounds off the list. The Pakistani great has picked up 414 wickets from 104 Test matches.
“Six, Sir Garfield Sobers. Seven, Adam Gilchrist. Eight, Shane Warne. Nine, Curtly Ambrose – my favorite of all time. Malcolm Marshall at 10 and Wasim Akram at 11,” Holder added.
He mentioned the names of Glenn Mcgrath, Kumara Sangakkara, Dale Steyn, Jacque Kalis, and Muttiah Muralitharan but was not included in his all-time XI test squad.
Gujarat Titans (GT) have signed West Indies batter Sherfane Rutherford for Rs 2.60 crore while Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) bagged Manish Pandey for Rs 75 lakh on the second day of the IPL 2025 Auction here at the Abadi Al Johar Arena in Jeddah on Monday.
In the accelerated auction, the bid for Rutherford started at Rs 1.5 crore from GT while Mumbai Indians also chipped in to raise the price beyond Rs 2.5 crore. Gujarat had the final say in the room sealing the deal for Rs 2.6 crore.
Rutherford’s T20 stats
In 153 matches, Rutherford owns 2,471 runs at 23.09. He has 12 fifties under his belt. Notably, 106 of his T20 runs have come in the IPL from 10 games. With the ball, Rutherford owns nine wickets in T20 cricket.
Meanwhile, Kolkata Knight Riders also made a wise move with the addition of experienced middle-order batter Manish Pandey in the squad. The defending champions bought the player at the base of Rs 75 lakh with no bidding to offer from other teams.
The other notable purchase in the accelerated auction was Tamil Nadu spinner M Siddharth, who was acquired by Lucknow Super Giants for Rs 75 lakh. Sunrisers Hyderabad secured the services of Uttar Pradesh legspinner Zeeshan Ansari for Rs 40 lakh after an early interest from Delhi Capitals.
Lucknow Super Giants also bagged offspinner Digvesh Singh at his base price of Rs 30 lakh.
International stars Finn Allen, Dewald Brevis and Ben Duckett remained unsold while domestic players Jhathavedh Subramanyan, Prashant Solanki, Rajan Kumar, Sakib Hussain and Vidwath Kaverappa also didn’t get the buyer in the accelerated auction.
The ten IPL franchises have submitted a shortlist of 143 players for the accelerated round. Notably, James Anderson, the oldest player in the auction pool, was not included. Glenn Phillips and Kane Williamson were the other notable omissions.
Among Indian players, prominent names like Prithvi Shaw, Shardul Thakur, Devdutt Padikkal and Ajinkya Rahane were absent from the accelerated round.
Shane Warne struggled in India, Muttiah Muralitharan averaged over 70 in Australia and Steve Waugh couldn’t buy a run in Sri Lanka despite averaging over 100 against them.
At the same time, there are some who have managed to compete at the same level regardless of the conditions and have finished their careers without any position-specific gaps in their records.
The famous magazine Wisden named the all-time Test XI of the greats everywhere they played.
Two of the greatest spinners of all time, Muttiah Muralitharan and Shane Warne, have a chat Pictures Source: Rob Tringali/ESPN
That all-time Test XI included 5 Australians, and two each from the West Indies, South Africa and India.
01. Sunil Gavaskar
Worst record: 186 runs at 37 in Sri Lanka
Gavaskar began with a dream visit to the Caribbean in 1971 and finished on a high on home soil sixteen years later. In between, he stacked up near-perfect numbers virtually everywhere he set foot. Beyond the debut series in West Indies (774 runs @ 154.8), he hit three more centuries in the Caribbean. Elsewhere, he struck 11 centuries combined (Australia, Pakistan, England, and New Zealand – averaging over 40 in each of those places). And, at home, he hit nearly half his Test runs.
02. Bob Simpson
Worst record: 568 runs at 35 in the West Indies (619 runs at 39 in South Africa before recall)
Simpson was past 40 when he came out of retirement to take over as captain of a third-string Australian side during the Kerry Packer era. He dropped down the order in this phase of his career. As opener, he scored runs everywhere – in England, Pakistan, South Africa and the West Indies. The only marginal blemish was a lack of hundreds in India, but he averaged 48 there with three fifties in six innings, top-scoring in the drawn 1964/65 tour.
03. Greg Chappell
Worst record: 1,020 runs at 41 in England
Lauded by many as one of the greatest Australian batters – and that is saying something – Chappell averaged at least 40 in every country he played in. His worst record was in England, where he still scored over 1,000 runs at 41 (though he led Australia to a defeat in the country in 1977). The only batting caveat comes from his never having played in India, although he did average 75 in Asia for his 447 runs across four games in Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
04. Sachin Tendulkar
Worst record: 240 runs at 40 in Zimbabwe
Test cricket’s highest-ever run-scorer seemed to find batting easy wherever he went and spread his 51 hundred across every then-Test-playing nation except Zimbabwe, where he played just four times. He completed the ‘full set’ of averaging 40 in all 10 countries, scoring five or more tons in Australia, Bangladesh, South Africa, Sri Lanka, and India. He also passed fifty in 21 consecutive years from 1993 onwards.
05. Allan Border
Worst record: 152 runs at 38 in South Africa
The ‘definitive Australian captain’ scored a Test hundred in all but one of the eight countries he played in, missing out only in a three-match series in South Africa when, even at 39, he averaged 38. Border also averaged 53 in the West Indies despite facing Malcolm Marshall in each of the 10 Tests he played in the Caribbean. He made six hundred in Asia, where he averaged 55, the highlight being his 150 not out and 153 in Lahore in 1979/80: he still remains the only batter to score two 150s in a Test match.
06. AB de Villiers (wk)
Worst record (minimum four Tests): 338 runs at 42 in Sri Lanka
While de Villiers can be accused of being something of a flat-track bully after 1,372 runs at 98 on the roads of the UAE and the West Indies, he did average over 42 in every nation where he played more than twice, with a particularly strong record in England (545 runs at 54.50). He also excelled with the big gloves without been hampered by the extra workload, averaging 57 in 24 Tests as a wicketkeeper. He did score a very un-de Villiers like seven off 34 balls in his only innings in Zimbabwe, though. Must try harder
07. Alan Davidson
Worst record: 33 wickets at 25 in England
One of the greatest cricketers of all time, Davidson’s record shows he truly was a master of all conditions. A left-arm quick who lacked genuine pace, Davidson’s accuracy and guile earned him an outstanding record in India (30 wickets at 15.76), his best in any country. His average in a single country (25 in England) is less than James Anderson’s career average, and he had essentially a faultless bowling record. Just to show no one is perfect (we are nitpicking here) Davidson did fail to score a fifty from 10 Tests in Asia after scoring five in Australia, England, and South Africa.
08. Dale Steyn
Worst record: 23 wickets at 32 in England
Widely considered to be among the best fast bowlers of his generation, Steyn took five-wicket hauls in eight different countries including five in Asia. He did average over 30 with the ball in England and Sri Lanka, but took crucial five-fors on the way to series wins in both countries. He averaged 21 in India, where he took his career-best figures of 7-51 and took part in some thrilling battles with Tendulkar.
09. Curtly Ambrose
Worst record: 15 wickets at 25 in Pakistan
Playing against the best in the world seemed to get the best out of Ambrose. He took 78 wickets at a shade under 20 against the Australian side that was on the rise in the 1990s, including his famous took 7-1 in a spell at the WACA in 1993/94. He used his 6ft 7in to extract bounce but was equally devastating when there was less bounce on offer, for he averaged 21 in England. Bizarrely, he never played in India, missing out on the 1994/95 tour. It does raise a small question over how he would have got on against Tendulkar and Mohammad Azharuddin in India: he averaged nearly 40 against India at home, his worst against any country.
10. Lance Gibbs
Worst record (minimum four Tests): 59 wickets at 33 in Australia
The remarkable thing about Gibbs’ record was how little it changed depending on the country he played in. Leaving aside New Zealand, where he played just three Tests, he maintained an economy between 1.8 and 2, while striking at between 75 and 97. He thrived on the pitches of India, taking 39 wickets at 23, hated giving away runs so much that he “made a rude protest” when Shakoor Rana called him for overstepping and averaged a respectable 33 in Australia where he was still able to fulfill an effective holding role. His career economy of 1.98 is the lowest among bowlers with 200 Test wickets.
11. Glenn McGrath
Worst record: 19 wickets at 31 in Pakistan
McGrath’s highest average in a country where he played more than five Tests was just 24. He famously tormented batters in England (87 wickets at 19), but he also averaged under 20 in the UAE, New Zealand and Zimbabwe. It is hard to find a genuine fault in his record, but – and we are clutching on to straws here – he did manage just one wicket at 71 in four ODIs in Malaysia. His economy was below three, though, so arguably he was not even a failure there.
(Excerpted from Wisden Magazine.)
Here is an all-time Test XI of greats who performed wherever they played: Sunil Gavaskar, Bob Simpson, Greg Chappell, Sachin Tendulkar, Allan Border, Ab de Villiers (wk), Alan Davidson, Dale Steyn, Curtly Ambrose, Lance Gibbs, Glen McGrath
A giant of the game in every sense, Curtly Ambrose can be called the deadliest fast bowler of his generation. Like his predecessor Andy Roberts, Ambrose didn’t say much, turning down countless interview requests with the motto, “Curtly talk to no man.”
Hugh Morris tries to avoid a bouncer from Curtly Ambrose. picture Source: Getty Images
Delivering the ball from a height of almost 10 feet, the 6’7 height Curtly Ambrose has played 98 Tests and 176 ODIs for the West Indies. Ambrose, who has taken 405 Test wickets with an economy of 2.30, Has taken 225 ODI wickets at an average of 24.12.
Curtly Ambrose revealed his retro T20 XI in a YouTube chat with Announcer Karishma. (The Curtly and Karishma Show)
Ambrose mentioned that there are different versions of cricket and his favorite last game is Test cricket. However, he also mentioned that he loves the game of T20.
“There are so many different versions of the game these days. T20 brings a different type of audience, and it’s exciting. It’s a short game, and most people love it. I do love it as well, but for me, Test cricket is the ultimate.”
“At the end of a career, you will be judged on how many Test matches you’ve played, how many wickets you’ve taken as a bowler, how many runs you’ve scored as a batsman. It has to be Test cricket to gain legendary status.”
Ambrose selected his Retro T20 XI from players from his era up to 2000, when he retired from international cricket. His team included four former West Indies players, two players each from Sri Lanka and Australia and one player each from South Africa, England and Pakistan.
His opening batsmen were former West Indies legend Gordon Greenidge and Sri Lanka’s destructive Sanath Jayasuriya. Greenidge played in 128 ODIs and scored 5134 runs at an average of 45 and also, Jayasuriya scored 13,430 runs in 445 ODI matches and 2317 runs in 111 T20 matches.
Ambrose named Sir Viv Richards for his number three, Jacques Kallis for number four and Collis King for number five. Richards scored 6721 runs with the white ball and Kallis scored 11,579 runs in ODIs and 4416 runs in T20I. On the other hand, King has amassed 2738 runs in his List-A career and 280 runs in ODIs.
He selected Australian Adam Gilchrist, who had scored 9619 ODIs and 2622 T20 runs, for the wicketkeeper’s position and named Sir Ian Botham as an all-rounder in Ambrose’s XI.
His spinners were the kings of spin, Australia’s Shane Warne and Sri Lanka’s Muttiah Muralitharan. Warne had taken 293 ODI wickets and 70 T20 wickets, while Murali had taken 534 ODI wickets and 179 T20 wickets.
Also, Ambrose picked Wasim Akram and Joel Garner for fast bowlers. Akram took 502 ODI wickets while Garner took 146 wickets in the 50-over format.
Sir Curtly Ambrose’s Retro T20 XI: Sanath Jayasuriya, Gordon Greenidge, Viv Richards, Jacques Kallis, Collis King, Adam Gilchrist, Ian Botham, Wasim Akram, Shane Warne, Joel Garner and, Muttiah Muralidharan.
He explained the reasons for choosing this team.
“These Guys are all match winners. first thing. I want to look at a combination. These guys apart from Gordon Greenidge, and Adam Gilchrist all Oder players bat and bowl. So, I have many choices.”
“These guys could take any ball attack apart on any given day and with the bowlers. they can restrict and keep teams very quiet. Because of the skills that they possess. So I think it’s very balanced and well put together xi.”
Angus Fraser, a respected figure in English cricket circles, has recently joined their All-Time XI. The former England cricketer recently picked his XI for Lord’s Cricket Ground’s official YouTube channel.
He named as many as five West Indian players in his XI, which indicates how highly he rated the West Indies as opponents during his playing days. The rest of the squad consists of two players from Australia and one each from India, New Zealand, South Africa, and his home country England.
image courtesy: Lord’s Cricket Ground’s official YouTube channel.
Fraser chose Graham Gooch, the only English player in the XI, to open as well as captain his team. Speaking about the influence Gooch had on him as a player when he made his foray into international cricket, he cited that as a reason for selecting him. He then named West Indian batsman Gordon Greenidge as Gooch’s opening partner.
“Graham Gooch now I’m having goose captain to a huge figure on my career. when I thought of coming to the English side he took over at the end of a disastrous first 789 and, really showed what it took to be an international cricket of the way he went about his business. Opening battening with him Gordon Greenidge, wonderful player many in the West Indies think he was as good a play as Viv.”
The real trouble for Fraser started after he got into the midfield. But it was not a difficult task for him to choose Viv Richards for the number 3 position. Brian Lara, who had the privilege of playing against the greatest player, Fraser, was No. 4. He was followed by India’s Sachin Tendulkar at number 5.
“Who do you back in the middle order. I let them fight out who bats square and because I suppose the number three batsmen viv Richard. the master blaster when all-time great.”
“Brian Lara, I would say that the greatest player that I had the privilege of playing against played half a dozen of the top 15 Twinings ever been played in test cricket. I would suggest.”
According to Fraser, the game’s greatest all-rounder, South African Jacques Kallis was ranked No.6, while wicket-keeper batsman Ian Healy was No.7.
In terms of bowling, Fraser chose off-spinner Shane Warne as the obvious choice for the lone spinner position. It was also kept in mind that Healy kept wickets for Warne for a long time in his career.
“Sachin Tendulkar his record goes without 700 international hundreds. Jacques Kallis arguably the greatest all-round of the game is seen. wicket keeper Ian Healy outstanding cricketer very good keeper and Shane Warne’s my spinner so that combination comes together lots of experience about keeping to him.”
“and then the bowlers Richard Hadley as a youngster happy with my hero someone who I wanted to bowl like never got as close as I was like but I doubt if there’s been a better medium fast fast medium seam bowler.”
“In the speed department, he chose Richard Hadley, whom he greatly admired and emulated. Next, a toss between Glenn McGrath and Curtley Ambrose put him in a dilemma.”
He eventually got the second one and eliminated McGrath. The last place went to Malcolm Marshall, who according to him was the greatest fast bowler of all time.
image courtesy: Getty images
“around Ambrose McGrath that was a tough one. I’ve gone for Ambrose again someone to play a lot of cricket against and when he had his day there was variability could do.”
“Malcolm Marshall who I think probably the greatest fast bowler of all time when you consider not a huge man physically and buts quick skiddy unbelievable skills whether to swing the ball both ways seen the ball around.”
Fraser is a multifaceted personality. Apart from being a former cricketer, he is the Managing Director of Cricket at Middlesex County Cricket Club, England national team selection committee, commentator and an acclaimed journalist. He has played 46 Tests and 42 ODIs for England and has taken 177 wickets and 47 wickets respectively.
Here is Fraser’s All-Time XI: Graham Gooch (c), Gordon Greenidge, Vivian Richards, Brian Lara, Sachin Tendulkar, Jacques Kallis, Ian Healy (wk), Shane Warne, Richard Hadlee, Curtly Ambrose, Malcolm Marshall
Former English Cricketer Matthew Fleming named his all-time XI through popular YouTube channel Lord’s Cricket Ground.
The team he named included three each from Australia and England, two from the West Indies and one each from Sri Lanka, Pakistan and India.
Accordingly, Fleming named Australia’s Matthew Hayden and India’s Rahul Dravid as his opening batting pair. He said about the opening pair,
“Number one, Matthew Hayden, probably the most intimidating opening batsman that certainly that I had to bowl out.”
“I’ve asked Rahul Dravid if he’d open the batting rather than bat at number three. Not known as the Wall for nothing If in modern-day cricket, if you had to have someone to bats your life, it would probably rile.”
Former England captain Joe Root, the only batsman of the current era to feature in his eleven, was named as the number three batsman.
“At number three, because I want to have someone from the current set up. I’ve gone for Joe Root, a unique batsman, a man who can connect with the crowd, which is incredibly important, but also a man who can play in every format of the game.”
He also named West Indies legend Brian Lara as number four. Fleming had this opinion about him.
“Number four is another left-hander and the man who hit me out of two test grounds, that’s Brian Lara. He was destructive, brilliant, impish, genius.”
England’s Colin Cowdrey was named as the number five and captain of his team. Fleming explained the reasons for naming Colin Cowdrey.
“Number five and captaining My all-time eleven is Colin Cowdrey. And the reason I’ve gone for him is, without him, I wouldn’t have been playing cricket at Kent. He was my mentor, he was a hero of mine. And also he was a fundamental in creating the spirit of cricket, something in which I believe passionately and which is so central to the MCC.”
He then added Australia’s Adam Grillchrist and England legend Ian Botham to his all-time XI. Fleming had this opinion about both of them.
“I’ve gone for Adam Gilchrist. Again, a man who embraced the spirit of cricket, a genius who redefined the role of the wicketkeeper-batsman.”
“Number seven, England’s greatest all-rounder, Ian Botham, a brilliant all-rounder, but the only proviso is no mullet haircut.”
His bowling line-up consisted of two world-class fast bowlers and two world-class spinners. He said,
“Number eight. I’ve gone for the person who I thought was one of the most talented and hardest people to face and also to bowl at, and that’s Wasim Akram, an absolute warrior of a cricketer.”
“At number nine, I’ve gone for my first spinner, and that is Shane Warne, a man who defines spin bowling in our generation.”
“I’ve gone for Curtly Ambrose. To have a West Indian fast bowler in your world eleven seems to me a pretty obvious thing to do. He was a gentleman, he had amazing stamina, great skill, huge pride, and passion, bold, tightly took wickets. I mean, he had everything.”
“And then number eleven, I’ve gone for another spinner. Actually, I’m going to play two spinners because I pick Muttiah Muralitharan, who I think represented a nation with such extraordinary pride and skill. What an extraordinary man was an extraordinary bowler.”
Former India wicket-keeper batter, Mumbai Indians Talent Scout, Parthiv Patel named Virat Kohli as Chris Gayle’s perfect opening partner in the Indian Premier League.
Virat Kohli is currently considered by many fans and experts to be the best batsman in modern cricket and the former India captain is expected to put up a good show in the upcoming IPL 2023 season as he prepares for the upcoming ODI World Cup.
But it was a big surprise to see this brilliant batsman ignored by former players Suresh Raina, Robin Uthappa, Anil Kumble, Scott Styris in their all-time IPL XI on JioCinema.
The dismissal of the batsman initially came as a big surprise to Chris Gayle, who was also on the panel of experts and his former RCB teammate. The 34-year-old joined the team later in place of Virender Sehwag.
With Gayle installed as the opening batsman in the All-Time XI, former player Parthiv Patel was named his perfect opening partner.
He said,
“I think Virat Kohli’s numbers are unbelievable as an opener. The chemistry between Gayle and Virat makes a huge difference. Gayle is Chris Gayle. There can’t be any IPL team without him.”
Here is the all-time IPL XI picked by former players:
Chris Gayle, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, Rohit Sharma, AB de Villiers, MS Dhoni, Hardik Pandya, Sunil Narine, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah, Lasith Malinga.
Chris Gayle has played 142 matches in IPL and he has scored six centuries and 31 fifties with 4965 runs. Averaging close to 40, Gayle’s highest score in a match is 175 not out
Iceland Cricket has named a special captain-only World XI for the limited-overs matches. The team is selected based on the captains who won the ODI or T20I World Cup.
The named team includes three captains from Australia, two each from India, West Indies, Pakistan, one each from England and Sri Lanka.
They had chosen West Indies legend Clive Lloyd to lead this team. Considered one of the greatest captains of all time, Lloyd led West Indies to three World Cups in 1975, 1979, and 1983, winning them in 1975 and 1979.
image courtesy: The Cricketer International
Jos Buttler and Ricky Ponting named as openers. Buttler helped England win the T20 World Cup in 2022 after defeating Pakistan in the T20 World Cup. On the other hand, Ponting is also regarded as one of the greatest captains the game has ever seen and under him, Australia won two consecutive ODI World Cups in 2003 and 2007.
Former Indian captain M.S. Dhoni, former Pakistan captain Younis Khan and Australian all-rounder Allan Border have been named in the middle order of the special playing XI. Dhoni was one of the most successful captains in the history of cricket, winning major ICC titles such as T20 World Cup (2007), ODI World Cup (2011), and Champions Trophy (2013). Similarly, Younis led Pakistan to victory in the 2009 T20 World Cup, while Border led Australia to their first World Cup win in 1987.
Another Australian, Steve Waugh, is also picked 9th by Iceland Cricket, who is considered one of the toughest captains, but he is ahead of two great all-rounders, Imran Khan and Kapil Dev. Notably, Waugh led Australia to an ODI World Cup victory in 1999, while Imran and Kapil led Pakistan and India to World Cup victories in 1992 and 1983 respectively.
Darren Sammy and Lasith Malinga were the remaining two players selected by the Iceland Cricket Team for their Special XI. Sammy led West Indies to two T20 World Cup titles in 2012 and 2016, while Malinga led Sri Lanka to T20 World Cup victory in 2014.
Iceland Cricket World XI: Jos Buttler, Ricky Ponting, Clive Lloyd (C), Younis Khan, MS Dhoni (WK), Allan Border, Imran Khan, Kapil Dev, Steve Waugh, Darren Sammy, Lasith Malinga
Iceland Cricket World XI reserves: Arjun Ranatunga, Ian Morgan, Michael Clarke, Aaron Finch and Paul Collingwood
Suryakumar, who plays for Mumbai Indians in the IPL, was tasked to form a team comprised of the other two MI franchises.
MI group has two different franchises in T20 cricket named MI Emirates that will play in the UAE-based ILT20 league, while MI Cape Town will play in the South Africa-based SA20 league.
There are some big names across the two teams and Suryakumar Yadav picked up his best combined eleven on Sunday.
MI Emirates and MI Cape Town Combined XI: Suryakumar picked up talented South African youngster Dewald Brevis as one of his openers, who also plays for Mumbai Indians.
Rassie Van Der Dussen is going to partner Brevis at the top. Both players play for MI Cape Town.
He then picked up West Indies southpaw Nicholas Pooran, who will be donning the MI Emirates jersey. England all-rounder Liam Livingstone also made his squad, who will play for MI Cape Town.
Livingstone plays for Punjab Kings in the IPL. Afghanistan spin wizard Rashid Khan, who will captain the MI Cape Town, has made it to SKY’s combined team. But the Indian batter chose Kieron Pollard as his captain, who is also appointed as the skipper of MI Emirates.
IPL’s most expensive player Sam Curran, along with Dwayne Bravo, Jofra Archer, Kagiso Rabada and Trent Boult complete Suryakumar’s XI.
Rashid + Livingstone + Rabada= It’s going to be a bomb 💥💥💥
Big-hitting West Indies batter Shimron Hetmyer was retained by Rajasthan Royals (RR) franchise ahead of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 season.
The West Indies left-hander, known for his aggressive hitting, was purchased by RR for ₹8.5 crores at the IPL 2022. Hetmyer earlier represented Delhi Capitals (DC) and Royal Challenges Bangalore (RCB).
In a Q&A session posted on Rajasthan’s Twitter account a few months ago, the West Indian opened up about the secret behind changing the colors of his hair.
“This actually came out from last year. My wife is the color genius behind the whole thing. Last year, when I was in Delhi, she was there as well and she was like why don’t you color your hair blue just to see what it looks like? You know, let’s see if you enjoy it.’ And I was like okay sure no problem.” He said
Continuing the story, Hetmyer added:
“And after that she was like ‘okay this year you’re in pink so let’s do pink’. Last year, she was saying that she was wondering what my hair would look like in pink. So, I guess I am here in pink.”
Meanwhile, During the Q&A session, Hetmyer named New Zealand captain Kane Williamson as his all-time favorite cricketer. Sharing his reasons for the same,
“Kane Williamson is someone that I look up to in terms of how he goes about his game and how he bats. He is basically someone simple. He at least seems like someone simple when he goes about how he makes runs and so on.
I really try as much as possible to instill some of that in my game. Keep my game as simple as possible and stay in my little bubble and go about making runs my way.” he said
Asked to name his top four current Test players, he picked Williamson, Mitchell Starc, Virat Kohli and Jason Holder.
