New Delhi: Former India batter Ajinkya Rahane snubbed Virat Kohli and Jasprit Bumrah from his all-time Test XI of players he has played with.
Rahane picked the legendary Sachin Tendulkar over Kohli and selected the pace trio of Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ishant Sharma and Mohammed Shami while leaving out Bumrah.
Rahane, who played with some of India’s finest Test cricketers, made a few surprising picks, but it was understandable considering he could only pick players he had played alongside. The former India batter snubbed Kohli to keep Tendulkar at no.4 and Rahul Dravid at no.3.
Rahane picks himself, names MS Dhoni captain
Rahane named Murali Vijay and Shikhar Dhawan as the two openers in his all-time India XI while also slotting himself in the middle order. Vijay and Dhawan opened for India for quite some time and enjoyed a formidable partnership at the top.
However, many were left surprised at Rahane’s decision to leave out former captain Rohit Sharma, who was one of the pillars of India’s batting in Tests in recent years before retiring from the format in 2025. At no.3, Rahane went with Dravid, who was know as ‘The Wall’ for his exceptional Test batting.
The highest run-getter in Test history and one of the greatest batters to have graced the game, Tendulkar slotted in at no.4 in Rahane’s playing XI. Rahane picked himself at no.5 and named former India skipper MS Dhoni as the captain of his side.
Dhoni’s inclusion was not a surprise as he was Rahane’s first captain in international cricket. India’s most successful captain across formats, Dhoni was a natural choice for Rahane for the leadership role. The former India batter named R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja as the all-rounders in his side to provide spin options and batting depth.
No Jasprit Bumrah in pace attack
Rahane’s selections in the pace attack also raised eyebrows as he decided to snub Bumrah to pick the trio of Ishan, Shami and Bhuvneshwar in his all-time Test XI. The three pacers were part of a formidable pace attack that helped India win matches at home and overseas under Kohli’s captaincy in the late 2010s.
Meanwhile, Bumrah has emerged as one of the best pacers across formats and has been instrumental in India’s success in the longest format in recent years.
Ajinkya Rahane’s all-time India Test XI of players he has played with:
Murali Vijay, Shikhar Dhawan, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Ajinkya Rahane, MS Dhoni (c, wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Ravi Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami, Ishant Sharma
Rahane was a vital cog in India’s Test setup for a number of years. He played 85 Tests and amassed 5077 runs in the longest format at an average of over 38. He also played 90 ODIs and 20 T20Is for India, scoring 2962 and 375 runs in the two formats, respectively.
Rahane led India to a memorable Border-Gavaskar Series triumph in Australia in 2020-21. In the absence of Kohli, Rahane helped India fight back from 36 all out in the opening Test in Adelaide to win the four-match Test series 2-1.