On Saturday, former Pakistan cricketer turned commentator, Rameez Raja picked his all-time ODI XI consisting of players from India and Pakistan only. He was part of a Facebook live chat with Indian cricketing legend Sunil Gavaskar in Sony Ten Pit Stop. Both the legends had a chat about the game and also discussed their unique line-ups.
They went on to talk about a lot of topics. This attracted a lot of fans, who are already missing the game. The pandemic has put everything on hold and it seems that there may be no more cricket this year. If that is the case, the fans will have to make do with more such sessions.
Rameez Raja picked his combined India-Pakistan all-time XI
During this discussion, Rameez Raja said that his son asked him to pick the Pakistani bowlers and Indian batsman in his team. Raja then named his unique combined XI from India and Pakistan. He added that he was confused about how to pick a team from the star-studded players that both the countries have. However, his son provided him with an easy solution. He advised him to pick the bowlers from Pakistan and batsmen from India.
“I briefly discussed this with my son. It is a massive situation to be in, how to assemble a star cast of some giants of the game. But he said no it is very simple, you have Pakistan bowlers and Indian batsmen in the line-up and you get a fantastic India-Pakistan XI,” Ramiz told Sunil Gavaskar during their live chat.
Raja picked Virender Sehwag and Sunil Gavaskar as the two opening batsmen in his team. Both of them are undoubtedly two of the greatest Test openers for India. He picked the current Indian Cricket Team skipper and run machine Virat Kohli at No 3. Raja went in with the Master Blaster, Sachin Tendulkar at No 4. However, this was a bit unusual choice, as Sachin has not batted at this position consistently in ODIs. He picked Rahul Dravid at No 5 and MS Dhoni as the wicket-keeper batsman.
Raja picked Imran Khan as the captain in his side
Rameez picked the former World Winning captain for Pakistan and the current Prime Minister, Imran Khan as the captain of the team. He played most of his career under the captaincy of Imran Khan.
He picked the legendary Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis as the two fast bowlers in his side. The duo was one of the most feared bowling partnership of their era and on their day, could run through any batting line up. Raja picked Anil Kumble as the wrist spinner in his side. Moreover, he also picked Saqlain Mushtaq as the off-spinner in his side.
Rameez Raja’s combined India-Pakistan XI: Virender Sehwag, Sunil Gavaskar, Virat Kohli, Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, MS Dhoni (WK), Imran Khan (C), Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis, Anil Kumble, Saqlain Mushtaq.
An interesting side to say the least. Well, it will be interesting to see what the fans think of this. Was it wise to leave players like Saaed Anwar and Javed Miandad out of the eleven?
