IPL 2019 Final: Virender Sehwag picks his best XI for IPL 2019, India stalwarts excluded

IPL 2019: Virender Sehwag chose Australia cricketer David Warner as the captain of his side with both Rishabh Pant and KL Rahul finding a place in his list of players.

Former India opener Virender Sehwag named his pick for the best XI for Indian Premier League (IPL) 2019 but both Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni were not included in the team. Sehwag chose Australia cricketer David Warner as the captain of his side with both Rishabh Pant and KL Rahul finding a place in his list of players.

Royal Challengers Bangalore captain Virat Kohli (R) and Chennai Super Kings captain MS Dhoni pose for photographs.(AFP)

Talking to Cricbuzz, Sehwag chose Shikhar Dhawan and Jonny Bairstow as his openers with Kings XI Punjab’s KL Rahul coming at No. 3. The No. 4 position belonged to Warner who earned a lot of praise from Sehwag.

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“I have seen his performance as an opener, and I have seen his performance as a middle-order batsman. He can play the same at both the slots, can score runs and deliver consistently. I have also made him the captain as he is a smart cricketer which we had seen in SRH’s run to title win 2016,” explained Sehwag. “Everyone must be thinking why I didn’t pick Kohli or AB de Villiers, but I have picked players based on their performance.”

The middle order comprised of the explosive batting trio of Rishabh Pant, Andre Russell and Hardik Pandya. All three batsmen have played brilliant knocks in IPL and Sehwag picked Pant as his ‘favourite cricketer’ this year.

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In the bowling attack, Kagiso Rabada and Jasprit Bumrah were Sehwag’s prefect pace options and when it came to the spinners, the young duo of Rahul Chahar and Shreyas Gopal made the cut.

Virender Sehwag’s IPL 2019 XI: Shikhar Dhawan, Jonny Bairstow, KL Rahul, David Warner, Rishabh Pant, Andre Russell, Hardik Pandya, Shreyas Gopal, Kagiso Rabada, Rahul Chahar, Jasprit Bumrah.