Sourav Ganguly picks his all-time XI; Only two Indians make it

As part of the series of all-time XI picks for the Marylebone Cricket Club done by cricketers, Sourav Ganguly was asked to pick his XI. The Prince of Kolkata left himself out of the list, while picking former team-mates Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar in the No. 3 and No. 4 spots.

Ganguly's first opening slot was taken up Matthew Hayden, an opponent of the Aussie team of the last decade with whom Ganguly's Indian team had a great rivalry. Alastair Cook was the second opener thanks to his rich run in Tet cricket so far as the Englishman has surpassed Sachin Tendulkar's record of becoming the youngest to reach 10,000 Test runs.

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Jacques Kallis and Kumar Sangakkara predictably take up the fifth and sixth spot. Sangakkara would take up the gloves for the team. Ganguly also named Australian Ricky Ponting as the captain of the squad – in a grudging gesture of respect to his biggest rival.

A surprise omission was Wasim Akram – arguably the greatest limited-overs bowler of all-time. Instead, he picked Dale Steyn and Glenn McGrath. Finishing up the ranks were the greatest spinners of all-time Shane Warne and Muttiah Muralitharan.

The squad is as follows:

Matthew Hayden (Australia), Alastair Cook (England), Rahul Dravid (India), Sachin Tendulkar (India), Jacques Kallis (South Africa), Kumar Sangakkara (Sri Lanka), Ricky Ponting (Australia, captain), Glenn McGrath (Australia), Shane Warne (Australia), Muttiah Muralitharan (Sri Lanka), Dale Steyn (South Africa)