Ashley Giles opened with 2 Indians in his all-time XI

Former English cricketer, Ashley Giles has named his all-time XI and has selected a well settled eleven with some surprises. In a video posted by Lord’s Cricket Ground on their official channel, Giles has selected his all-time XI.

Two legendary batsmen from India, Sachin Tendulkar, and Rahul Dravid as he said that the duo is the best players he had played against. One of the two greatest batsmen from Windies, Brian Lara, and Viv Richards comes in at no. 3 and 4. Viv Richards is one of the most attacking batsmen the world had ever seen and he believes that, if Richards was playing in this generation, he would have had a great T20 career.

Genuine all-rounder Jacques Kallis makes it into his eleven, as he has done with most of the players all-time eleven. Former England captain, Ian Botham is at no.6 as he was one of the inspirational cricketers while Giles was a kid. “Just every young kid in the country wanted to be Ian Botham,” he said.

Adam Gilchrist will keep wickets for his side as he believes that the Aussie had changed the way wicket-keepers bat in Test cricket and termed his as the “game changer”.

Also Read: Kevin Pietersen included in Ian Bell’s All Time XI

Greatest bowler ever to play the game, Shane Warne is at no.8 followed by Wasim Akram of Pakistan, who is widely known as the King of Swing. One of the most successful South African pacer, Allan Donald of South Africa takes the new ball along with Wasim. He finishes the eleven with Sri Lankan great Muttiah Muralitharan, who is the leading wicket-taker in Test cricket with 800 scalps.

He also mentioned his no.12 player, Gary Pratt who is the former English cricketer and is widely known for the running out Australia cricket captain Ricky Ponting while appearing as a substitute fielder for England during the 2005 Ashes series.

Ashley Giles XI: Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Brian Lara, Viv Richards, Jacques Kallis, Ian Botham, Adam Gilchrist (wk), Shane Warne, Wasim Akram, Allan Donald, Muttiah Muralitharan, Gary Pratt (sub)