Legendary India and Chennai Super Kings (CSK) captain MS Dhoni was chosen as the skipper of the all-time greatest Indian Premier League (IPL) team on Sunday, February 18. Notably, the team was created to celebrate the success of the world’s grandest T20 League launched in 2008. The IPL will be completing 16 years on February 20, 2024, the date on which the first-ever auction of the T20 extravaganza was held.
Dhoni was the most expensive player at the inaugural IPL auction being sold for a whopping USD 1.5 Million to CSK. Ever since then, the Ranchi-born cricketer scripted a golden chapter in the tournament’s history as he led CSK to joint-most five titles under his reign and set a legacy for the upcoming generations to follow.
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The selection panel for the all-time greatest IPL team included former cricketers Wasim Akram, Matthew Hayden, Tom Moody and Dale Steyn, with approximately 70 journalists participating in the selection process.
Speaking about Dhoni’s greatness, former Australia cricketer Tom Moody said that Dhoni has won IPL with both average and very good squads which speaks volumes about his prowess as the leader.
“It has to be MS Dhoni for me, the reason being MS Dhoni has won the title with very good squads and average squads, and that tells me a lot about the captain and how he can lead a variety of talent in a squad to success. Rohit Sharma has been a brilliant captain for MI but MI have always had the best squads or up there with the best squads in the IPL since its inception,” Moody said on Star Sports.
Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav and Suresh Raina also make the cut
Meanwhile, apart from Dhoni, star India batter Virat Kohli also picked in the team to open the innings alongside Chris Gayle. The middle order was full of legends such as Suresh Raina and AB de Villiers while Ravindra Jadeja and Sahne Watson were two all-rounders.
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The spin department consisted of IPL’s leading wicket taker Yuzevndra Chahal and Ravichandran Ashwin while Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah were picked as two seamers. David Warner, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya and Sunil Narine were picked as impact substitutes with Stephen Fleming as the head coach.
The first ever IPL auction is completing 16 years and more than 16 Lakh votes across our social media handles have been tallied to reveal the 1️⃣5️⃣ ALL-TIME INCREDIBLE IPL Players and 1️⃣ Incredible Coach picked by FANS.🏏🤩
Tune in to the special event – IPL Incredible 16 – on… pic.twitter.com/TfE0lToFhO
— Star Sports (@StarSportsIndia) February 18, 2024
All-time great IPL squad:
MS Dhoni (C), Virat Kohli, Chris Gayle, David Warner, Suresh Raina, AB de Villiers, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Kieron Pollard, Rashid Khan, Sunil Narine, Yuzvendra Chahal, Lasith Malinga and Jasprit Bumrah.