Pat Cummins names his combined India-Australia ODI XI, names only 3 Indians; why Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma miss the cut

Although the Australian skipper will be forced to sit out of the upcoming white-ball series taking place down urder due to a back issue that is being carefully nursed ahead of this year’s Ashes, he has nevertheless not hesitated from keeping things interesting with quotes and some gentle banter in promos leading up to the series against India.

Further salt was rubbed into the wounds of Indian fans, as Cummins was asked to name his all-time combined XI of players from the two countries. stating

During a promo shoot for Star Sports, Cummins prefaced his XI by saying he wouldn’t include players who are currently active in ODI cricket. This meant India’s generation of stars headlined by Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, and Jasprit Bumrah missed the cut, while Australia’s list of former champions dominated this XI.

Pat Cummins’ combined XI of all-time Indian and Australian players

David Warner, Sachin Tendulkar, Ricky Ponting, Steven Smith, Shane Watson, Michael Bevan, MS Dhoni, Shane Warne, Brett Lee, Zaheer Khan, Glenn McGrath

While Australia have certainly been the outright most successful ODI team with six World Cup titles, compared to only two for India, there are certainly those who would have chafed at Cummins selecting only three Indian players in his XI.

These three players were Sachin Tendulkar – the man with by far the most runs in ODI cricket – MS Dhoni, and Zaheer Khan. While India’s current generation of stars miss out, some might be surprised to see the omission of players such as Kapil Dev, who were integral to India’s success in the budding days of ODI cricket.

Indian fans will want their current-day stars to do the talking when the three-match ODI series begins on Sunday, with Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma returning to international action and eager to prove why they belong in this list down the line once they hang up their boots.

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