Ricky Ponting's all-time greatest XI : Only one Indian makes it through

In an interview with Cricket Australia, Ricky Ponting, a three-time World Cup winner with Austrailia, picked his greatest XI. The former skipper picked a team consisting of six specialist batsmen and four bowlers. Surprisingly, Sachin Tendulkar is the lone Indian in the team.

Ponting picked his former teammates Matthew Hayden and Justin Langer as the opening pair. He insisted that their contrasting styles would benefit the team. For the No. 3, a position where Ponting spent most of his career, he picked Jacques Kallis over himself and Rahul Dravid. Ponting named Sachin Tendulkar as No.4 batsman, and he said, "There's not too many greatest XIs you could pick without Sachin in it," reported cricket.com.au. “As a captain of an opposition team playing against him, he gave us lots of nightmares,” Ponting added about the maestro.

Ponting picked one of his greatest rivals Brian Lara for the No.5 position, quoting, "Another guy that gave me nightmares as a captain. I must admit, as an opposition captain going to sleep at night, if Brian Lara wasn't out going into day five then you knew you had a challenge on your hands."

The former Australian skipper named Kumar Sangakkara as his captain and labeled him as “a great leader of men”. Adam Gilchrist was picked in the side, unsurprisingly, for revolutionising the way wicketkeeping was perceived.

Ponting picked Shane Warne ahead of Muttiah Muralitharan for the team’s spinner spot. “That's not being biased. The art and skill he had as a leg-spinner was quite remarkable," Pointing explained.

The bowling line-up was completed by the inclusion of the legendary Pakistani swing bowler Wasim Akram, former West Indies speedster Curtly Ambrose, and finally Glenn McGrath.

Ponting’s Greatest XI:

Matthew Hayden (Australia), Justin Langer(Australia), Jacques Kallis (South Africa),Sachin Tendulkar (India), Brian Lara(West-Indies), Kumar Sangakkara (C) (Sri Lanka), Adam Gilchrist(WK)(Australia), Shane Warne (Australia), Wasim Akram(Pakistan), Curtly Ambrose(West-Indies), Glenn McGrath (Australia).

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