Wasim Akram chooses Kohli as the greatest player ever, ignoring opener Tendulkar No place for Rohit and Babar in the India-Pakistan ODI XI

Arch-rivals India and Pakistan played a combined XI for an exhibition match against Sri Lanka in 1996 in Colombo, in what is considered to be one of the most famous events in the history of the sport. Global luminaries Sachin Tendulkar, Wasim Akram, Saeed Anwar, and Mohammad Azharuddin were a part of a star-studded XI that played a historic match against the hosts Sri Lanka at the renowned Premadasa Stadium.

Tendulkar and Anwar, two batting greats, started the innings in the atypical encounter against players like Chaminda Vaas and Muttiah Muralitharan. It’s interesting to note that the Master Blaster also assisted Akram in eliminating dangerman Romesh Kaluwitharana. In the run-up to the forthcoming ICC World Cup 2023 in India, Akram, who was at the height of his powers in the late 1990s, was recently requested to provide an all-time India-Pakistan XI.

Speaking to FoxCricket in advance of the ICC tournament in 2023, the former Pakistan captain Akram chose his starting lineup, which exclusively included players from India and Pakistan. In his lineup, the illustrious fast bowler chose Tendulkar as the third batsman and put run-scoring dynamo Virat Kohli in fifth place. However, Akram left current captains Babar Azam and Rohit Sharma off of his Indo-Pak starting lineup.

“Hard not to pick Rohit,”

“Sachin Tendulkar, the great guy, is number three. Can’t go wrong with international hundreds. It’s quite tough to choose number four. In addition to Rohit Sharma, I also have Mohammad Yousuf, Babar Azam, Javed Miandad, Zaheer Abbas, Misbah-ul-Haq, and Inzamam-ul-Haq. It’s difficult not to choose Rohit. But at four, I’m going to choose Javed Miandad because of the way he batted, how he evaluated situations, and the fact that in his prime he was a great fielder, said Akram.

My idol is Kapil Dev.

Akram chose two excellent all-around players for his starting lineup and acknowledged former India captain Kapil Dev as his idol. Imran Khan, a great all-rounder, was picked as the captain of the former Pakistani pacer’s ideal team. “I’ll choose Virat Kohli for position five. Virat Kohli cannot simply be excluded from the starting lineup as a selector. Imran Khan, batting at number six and presumably the captain, is my pick for the position. The former Pakistani bowler said, “And then, of course, another great, one of my favorite people, my idol – Kapil Dev. Before choosing spin legend Saqlain Mushtaq as the lone spinner in his starting eleven, Akram picked former India captain MS Dhoni as the wicketkeeper. “Nobody can beat this team,” he said.

The combined India-Pakistan ODI XI led by Wasim Akram

Saeed Anwar 1. Virender Sehwag 2. Sachin Tendulkar 3. Javed Miandad 4. Imran Khan (C) 7. Virat Kohli 8. Kapil Dev 7. MS Dhoni (WK) 8. Saqlain Mushtaq, 9. Jasprit Bumrah 10. Waqar Younis, 11.