Brad Hogg and Shaun Tait pick their all-time IPL XI

What’s the story?

Former Australian cricketers Brad Hogg and Shaun Tait picked their all-time IPL XI recently with both of them opting for MS Dhoni as the skipper of the side featuring seven Indian players and four overseas players. The other players who were picked in both the XIs are Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers, Dwayne Bravo, Ravichandran Ashwin and Bhuvneshwar Kumar.

Both Hogg and Tait opted for a different set of openers for their respective teams as the latter made an interesting choice by opting to leave out Mr.IPL Suresh Raina. Hogg, for his part, didn’t find IPL’s leading wicket-taker Lasith Malinga worthy of a spot in his IPL XI, selecting India’s Zaheer Khan instead as his side’s second pacer.

In case you didn’t know...

With the tenth edition of the IPL coming to an end on Sunday as Mumbai Indians take on Rising Pune Supergiant in the summit clash, cricketers past and present have been busy naming their all-time IPL XI.

Shane Warne was one of the earliest to start the trend, making a highly controversial call to leave out de Villiers from his squad. Fellow Australian Ricky Ponting was one of the most recent ones to take his shot at the all-time IPL XI where he sprung a surprise by naming leg-spinner Amit Mishra in the side, ahead of the likes of Sunil Narine and Ravichandran Ashwin.

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The details

Considering the amount of success Dhoni has achieved in the IPL with former side Chennai Super Kings, making it to the knockout stages in all the eight editions that they competed in, there is hardly anyone more apt for the role of the skipper, and Hogg and Tait also found no reason to think otherwise.

As one of the best finishers in the game, his spot in the middle-order is assured as a batsman as well.

Two other CSK players who have been key to the side’s success have been all-rounder Dwayne Bravo and off-spinner Ashwin and both of them feature in the XIs.

Another CSK player who has made his name synonymous with the IPL is Raina, but Tait contradicted Hogg in this regard, picking Mumbai Indians skipper Rohit Sharma as a personal choice, claiming that he found it easier to bowl to Raina rather than Sharma during his time in the IPL.

At the top, Hogg chose the swashbuckling duo of Virender Sehwag and David Warner as his side’s opening combination while Tait chose the left-handed duo of Chris Gayle and Gautam Gambhir to open the innings for his XI.

Kohli and de Villiers were easy picks in the middle order considering the impact they have made in the IPL despite not being part of a championship winning side at Royal Challengers Bangalore and in the case of the South African, at Delhi Daredevils as well.

Both Hogg and Tait opted for two spinners in their XI with the former opting for Narine and Tait choosing Harbhajan Singh. The fast bowling combo also slightly differed with Tait picking Lasith Malinga in his side and Hogg, Zaheer Khan.

Brad Hogg’s all-time IPL XI: Virender Sehwag, David Warner, Suresh Raina, Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers, MS Dhoni (C & Wk), Dwayne Bravo, Sunil Narine, Ravichandran Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Zaheer Khan.

Shaun Tait’s all-time IPL XI: Chris Gayle, Gautam Gambhir, Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers, Rohit Sharma, MS Dhoni (C& Wk), Dwayne Bravo, Harbhajan Singh, Ravichandran Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Lasith Malinga.

What’s next?

The final of the tenth edition of the IPL will see Mumbai Indians attempt a shot at their third IPL title when they take on Rising Pune Supergiant on Sunday for the fourth time this season. While Steven Smith’s men have come out on top in all the three previous Maharashtra derby matches, Mumbai have experience on their side.

The final will be played on Sunday at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad.

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Author's Take

With the IPL completing a decade since its inception, it's always a tough call to name an all-time XI for any cricket fan and it's no different with former cricketers either.

Their choices are always going to surprise a few but both Tait and Hogg have done a pretty good job in selecting their respective XIs, with consistency over the 10 years given due importance.