Kevin Pietersen picks Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag as openers in his all-time Test XI

Kevin Pietersen picks Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag as openers in his all-time Test XI

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Kevin Pietersen picked just two Indian players, Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag, in his all-time Test XI but surprisingly picked both of them to open the innings. Unsurprisingly, though, the Englishman picked just one of his compatriots, James Anderson, in his greatest Test team.

Pietersen has made a name for himself with a fearless brand of cricket. So, when he announced his all-time Test XI in an interview with Cricket.com.au, not many would have been surprised with his picks. The Englishman, who averaged a cool 47.28 in Tests, decided to hand the opening role of his side to the all-Indian pairing of Tendulkar and Sehwag. While there can be no questions about the inclusion of the hard-hitting Sehwag as an opener, Tendulkar’s selection for the role is a questionable one considering the fact that the Litter Master played just one innings in the position.

For the next two positions, Pietersen decided to go with South Africa's Jacques Kallis and Aussie legend Ricky Ponting, respectively. With the duo having a combined 26667 Test runs in the bag, there is hardly anyone who would question the middle order’s pedigree at the international level. Being a batsman himself, the Englishman decided to go ahead with a couple of more batsmen in the side with Kumar Sangakkara and AB de Villiers, the only current player on his side.

With Kallis having the capability of operating as an all-rounder, Pietersen handed the second all-rounder spot to another Proteas captain in the form of Shaun Pollock. 

The bowling attack, however, was one that would make the all-time list of anyone’s Ashes side, with three Australians and an Englishman. Starting off with Brett Lee who would take care of any team with his sheer pace, he followed it up with arguably the best spinner of all-time – Shane Warne. For swing bowling, the 37-year-old decided to pick James Anderson and Glenn McGrath, who have a combined 1086 wickets in Test cricket. 

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