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

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 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.