Paul Collingwood picks Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar his all-time Test XI

Paul Collingwood, who has captained the England team across all three formats, is widely regarded as one of the finest fielders of his time, usually fielding at backward point in the longer format of the game. Recently, the former England all-rounder revealed his all-time Test XI which included some of the biggest names in international cricket over the last decade or so.

For the first two slots, Collingwood opted to go with the right hand - left-hand opening pair of Virender Sehwag and Matthew Hayden. Sehwag was an ever-present figure in the Indian national team for the entirety of his career while Hayden is regarded as one of the finest openers in modern day cricket.

At number three, the former English cricketer chose to go with South Africa all-rounder Jacques Kallis whom the former considers as the finest player to have ever played the sport. At four and five, he had two cricketing legends and long-time rivals - Sachin Tendulkar and Brian Lara. Both batsmen were regarded as their greatest of their era and often compared to one another and rightfully make the all-time playing XI squad.

At six, Collingwood includes the dangerous and innovative - AB de Villiers while Adam Gilchrist occupies the seventh spot in the line-up and is also the first choice captain in Collingwood’s make-believe team. The biggest surprise in the squad is arguably at number eight, where the 42-year old includes fellow Durham cricketer - Ben Stokes. Interestingly, Stokes is the only English cricketer that makes the cut in Collingwood’s all-time XI.

Australian legend Shane Warne is the first choice spinner in the team while the two pace spearheads that complete the list are Pakistan’s Wasim Akram and Australia’s Glenn McGrath.