Dinesh Karthik's All-Time India XI: Sachin Tendulkar denied opening spot

Former Indian cricketer Dinesh Karthik recently revealed his all-time playing XI for India across all formats. The star-studded lineup includes the likes of Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, and Sachin Tendulkar, among others. Surprisingly, iconic players such as MS Dhoni and Kapil Dev did not make the cut in Karthik's ultimate team.

Karthik announced his all-time India XI on the 78th anniversary of India’s Independence Day, in a video uploaded by Cricbuzz. The team, which also includes a 12th man, comprised five active cricketers and seven yesteryear cricketers. Overall, the team included five batters, three spin-bowling all-rounders, one other specialist spin bowlers, and two pacers.

Instead of picking Sachin for his usual opening spot, Karthik paired incumbent India captain Rohit with Virender Sehwag for the opening spot and completed the top-order with former India head coach Rahul Dravid at No. 3, followed by the legendary batter and Kohli at No. 5. The former wicketkeeper-batter then slotted in his three all-rounders - Yuvraj Singh, Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin. The great Anil Kumble paired up with Jasprit Bumrah and Zaheer Khan to complete the bowling line-up.

‘I feel it’s just hard to fit in everybody’

“I will be opening with Virender Sehwag and Rohit Sharma. Good opening combination across formats. At No. 3 would be Rahul Dravid. No. 4 Sachin Tendulkar. No. 5 Virat Kohli. At No. 6, it was a tough one. I was thinking who, but I should fit in two all-rounders. So very similar to the kind of players that India have been producing, Yuvraj Singh. At No. 7, Ravindra Jadeja. At No. 8, R Ashwin, at No. 9, Anil Kumble. At No. 10, Jasprit Bumrah, and No. 11 will be Zaheer Khan,” Karthik said.

“The 12th man will be Harbhajan Singh, and there are many players I have missed out. Gautam Gambhir, what can you say about it and I feel it’s just hard to fit in everybody in this eleven. So, this is an all-time XI across formats that I thought,” he added.

Dinesh Karthik’s all-time India XI across formats: Virender Sehwag, Rohit Sharma, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Anil Kumble, Jasprit Bumrah, Zaheer Khan. 12th man: Harbhajan Singh.

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