The former West Indies cricketer Ian Bishop, is presently a part of the commentary panel in the 2019 World Cup in England and Wales and this would come as a delight to the Indian fans as Bishop picked 4 Indians and only 1 Australian in his all-time ODI XI, ignoring the likes of Sourav Ganguly and Adam Gilchrist.
Ian Bishop, former West Indies fast bowler just recently decided to pick his all-time ODI XI. Four cricketers from India have made it to his XI and only one Australian player made the cut!
Bishop picked two Indians to open the batting in his XI, one of them being Sachin Tendulkar and the other, Rohit Sharma. He said that Rohit has the qualities to become a modern-day great and can forge a good opening partnership with one of India’s greats – Tendulkar at the top.
The former bowler picked Viv Richards as his no. 3 batsman. He said, “Richards was way ahead of his time. If you look at his strike rate then you would realize, he can fit into any team even today.”
This wouldn’t come as a surprise who his No. 4 would be. Bishop also termed the present Indian team captain, Virat Kohli a modern-day great and said his ability to win matches sets his apart from the rest!
He added, “I cannot go past Virat Kohli, the way he has scored runs, won games, his record in chases, he’s already a modern great!”
Bishop’s no. 5 was former South Africa batsman AB de Villiers. He stated, “There shouldn’t be any debate on AB’s position. I cannot remember any other player who has a 50-plus average at that strike rate despite playing so many games.”
Instead of going for the famous ones like Kapil Dev, Ian Botthom, Jacques Kallis or Imran Khan, Bishop went in with former South Africa all-rounder Lance Klusener as his no. 6 choice.
MS Dhoni was picked by Bishop as his wicketkeeper. He said, “Average of 50, wicket keeper, great finisher and along with Klusener, Dhoni can give nightmares to bowlers.”
He then picked Saqlain Mushtaq as the line spinner in his side saying that the former Pakistan off-spinner was one of the firsts to spin the ball both ways from the pitch.
Bishop’s seamers in his all-time ODI XI were Wasim Akram, West Indies’ Joel Garner and Australia’s Glenn McGrath. McGrath actually turned out to be the only Aussie in Bishop’s XI.
So, this is what Ian Bishop’s all-time ODI XI looks like: Sachin Tendulkar, Rohit Sharma, Viv Richards, Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers, Lance Klusener, MS Dhoni, Wasim Akram, Saqlain Mushtaq, Joel Garner, Glenn McGrath.
Kohli, Rohit and Dhoni are the only active international cricketers in Bishop’s XI, with the trio looking to help India to their third ODI World Cup victory this year!
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