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Mahendra Singh Dhoni is easily among the best cricketers to have ever played for India. While he was a finisher recognised among the best in the world, he was also a wicketkeeper par excellence and has changed many matches with his skills behind the stumps. Moreover, his tactical acumen and leadership skills make him an asset to any team that he is part of.
India's only T20 World Cup win also came with him at the helm of affairs after which he went on to lead India to the ODI World Cup win in 2011 as well as the Champions Trophy victory in 2013.
Despite so many achievements though, the former India captain has failed to make it to Wisden's All-time India T20I XI which has given the wicketkeeper's slot to Dinesh Karthik. Wisden claims that DK's recent comeback into the team helped him edge past Dhoni into the XI.
Wisden also compared Dhoni's batting strike rate with Dinesh Karthik at batting numbers 6 and 7 and statistically, Karthik's 150.31 was much better than Dhoni’s 121.15.
While the XI had Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli as openers, Surayakumar Yadav came in at number 3 in this team. Yuvraj Singh was slotted at number 5 followed by Hardik Pandya, Suresh Raina and Karthik. R Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah and Ashish Nehra completed India's bowling attack. Virender Sehwag was listed as the 12th man.
Meanwhile, Karthik would want to make the best use of the recent comeback into the team and guide India to a T20 World Cup triumph in Australia. He has been given the designated finisher's role and with Rishabh Pant also in the XI, he has even been playing purely as a batter in some matches. India would hope that he can be in great form throughout the tournament and help the team to a historic feat.
Wisden's All-time India T20I XI:
Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Yuvraj Singh, Hardik Pandya, Suresh Raina, Dinesh Karthik (wicketkeeper), R Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Ashish Nehra
12th Man: Virender Sehwag