Shakib Al Hasan picks Gautam Gambhir as captain in favourite IPL XI

Ahead of the 2011 season of the Indian Premier League (IPL), Bangladesh star Shakib Al Hasan was purchased for a sum of $425,000 by the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) franchise and that eventually turned out to be an exquisite scoop as the all-rounder went on to play a total of 7 seasons for the club, winning two titles for them - in 2012 and 2014. Shakib’s most successful season for KKR came in 2014 when he scored a total of 227 runs whilst also picking 11 wickets, and in 2018, after seven seasons with the Kolkata-based franchise, the Bangladesh star switched allegiance to Sunrisers Hyderabad. 

Now in the midst of a suspension by the ICC, owing to him failing to report corrupt approaches, the 33-year-old indulged in a conversation in a Cricbuzz chat show with renowned commentator Harsha Bhogle earlier this week and picked his favourite IPL XI, i.e the best XI of players he has played alongside with (for KKR and SRH). 

Shakib’s XI, which had the 7-4 Indian/foreign combination, featured David Warner and Robin Uthappa up top, with the latter also taking up wicket-keeping duties, while Gautam Gambhir took up the No.3 spot as the side’s skipper. Shakib slotted himself in at No.5, while at No.4 and No.6 were Manish Pandey and Yusuf Pathan, both of whom the 33-year-old was teammates with in both KKR and SRH. The charismatic Caribbean duo of Andre Russell and Sunil Narine took up the all-rounders’ spot at No.7 and No.8, while the master of the knuckle ball Bhuvneshwar Kumar locked in his place at No.9. Shakib’s side, interestingly, was completed by two former KKR pacers Umesh Yadav and Lakshmipathy Balaji, both of whom won one title each with the Knight Riders.

Shakib's ban by the ICC meant that he was released by the SRH franchise last year and, subsequently, did not feature in the auction for the 2020 season that took place in December last year.

Shakib’s favorite IPL XI: David Warner, Robin Uthappa (wk), Gautam Gambhir (c), Manish Pandey, Shakib Al Hasan, Yusuf Pathan, Andre Rusell, Sunil Narine, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Laxmipathy Balaji, Umesh Yadav.