Aakash Chopra picks his all-time CPL XI

The Caribbean Premier League (CPL), over the years, has given an opportunity to the young cricketers in the West Indies to show their talent. The eighth season of the T20 extravaganza is set to commence on August 18 amid the pandemic and will run till September 10 in Trinidad and Tobago. The tournament is already buzzing it seems as the former India cricketer Aakash Chopra has named his all-time CPL XI.

Interestingly, the top three of his XI are all left-handers with Chris Gayle and Colin Munro opening the innings with Nicholas Pooran coming in at first drop. The trio has been exceptional in the CPL with the bat. The Universe Boss has amassed 2354 runs in 76 matches at a strike-rate of 133.4 and an average of 39.2. Munro isn’t behind either with 1546 runs to his name in 46 outings at a strike-rate of 137.9 who can be a brilliant partner for Gayle.

As far as Pooran is considered, he is one of the many players to have made it to the West Indies team at the international level through his performances in the CPL. He has amassed 1036 runs in 60 matches at a brilliant strike-rate of 154.1. He hasn’t scored runs as expected like Gayle or Munro as the southpaw bats at around five or six for his team on most of the occasions.

Aakash Chopra picks two Pakistan players in his CPL XI

Aakash Chopra, while speaking on his official Youtube channel, then picked four exceptional T20 players in his team. He went with Shoaib Malik to bat at number four while Kieron Pollard, the current West Indies limited-overs skipper, was picked to bat five. While Malik is an accumulator of runs and can unleash at the death, Pollard is a destructive T20 player with a strike-rate of 148.5 in 70 CPL matches.

This duo was followed by two of the best all-rounders in the shortest format, Andre Russell and Dwayne Bravo. The former is known for his exceptional hitting while Bravo needs no introduction, especially in this format. Aakash Chopra’s bowling attack comprises of Sunil Narine, Sheldon Cottrell, Sohail Tanvir and Krishmar Santokie.

Narine can bat as well in the top order, but his 72 CPL wickets have helped him get into this team. As far as the pace attack is concerned, Tanvir is among the best in the tournament’s history with 63 wickets in only 54 games while Cottrell and Santokie have also been brilliant in their trade.

Here’s Aakash Chopra’s all-time CPL XI: Chris Gayle, Colin Munro, Nicholas Pooran, Shoaib Malik, Kieron Pollard, Andre Russell, Dwayne Bravo, Sunil Narine, Sheldon Cottrell, Sohail Tanvir, Krishmar Santokie.