MS Dhoni makes it to Sunil Gavaskar’s IPL 2016 Dream XI but Rohit Sharma does not!

This season, Dhoni led a new team — Rising Pune Supergiants and finished at seventh position in the points table and it is the first time when a side led by him did not make it to playoffs in IPL.

With the end of the ninth season of Indian Premier League, former cricketers have started picking their best XI from the tournament. In this race, former Indian captain Sunil Gavaskar is not behind and he picked India’s limited overs skipper MS Dhoni in his dream XI ahead of Mumbai Indians (MI) skipper Rohit Sharma.

This season, Dhoni led a new team — Rising Pune Supergiants and finished at seventh position in the points table and it is the first time when a side led by him did not make it to playoffs in IPL.

Despite not having the best season, Dhoni ended up with an average of over 40 and was very good behind the stumps. Gavaskar’s XI all rounders like Yusuf Pathan and Andre Russell who performed well this season and both represents Kolkata Knight Riders in IPL.

As reported by NDTV Sports, Gavaskar is very impressed with leggie Yuzvendra Chahal and said, “Yuzvendra Chahal has shown tremendous temperament. He is not afraid of tossing up the ball and he kept on doing that. I am considering those who have temperament and not just talent. Chahal, Rishabh Pant and Krunal Pandya are the top three. I will pick Chahal at the top as he has got the right temperament.” Also Read: Sarfaraz Khan gets a special gift from Virat Kohli

Chahal scalped 21 wickets this season in his 13 matches and was the second highest wicket-taker of the tournament behind Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who took 23 wickets. “When there is some turn on the pitch, there have to be big edges from the batsmen’s bat. Chahal also has a big heart and is not afraid of a big hit. On many occasions, he came back after being hit for sixes to claim wickets,” added Gavaskar.

The 66-year-old former skipper of India also spoke about the young players like Krunal and Pant as considers them as future talents of the nation and quipped, “Krunal Pandya of Mumbai Indians was impressive. He had the temperament to fight with bat and ball. They have also done well in the tournament though they need some improvement. But Chahal is my top pick as he has been the most consistent.” Also Read: 10 memorable quotes after SRH’s victory over RCB in IPL 2016 final

Krunal amassed 237 runs in his account in this edition of IPL at an impressive strike rate of 191.12, while Pant bagged 198 runs in 10 matches at a strike rate of 130.26.

Gavaskar’s Dream XI of IPL 2016: David Warner, Ajinkya Rahane, Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers, Yusuf Pathan, MS Dhoni, Andre Russell, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Mustafizur Rahman, Ashish Nehra.