Warne also chose a greatest Australia XI and a greatest England XI.
Legendary Australian leg-spinner Shane Warne. (Photo: IANS)
Kevin Pietersen, Graham Gooch and Andrew Flintoff are among the England players to feature in Shane Warne’s greatest Ashes XI consisting of players he had faced and played with in his illustrious 15-year-career. The spinner chose Michael Vaughan as the captain of his greatest England XI and Alla Border to lead the Ashes XI.
Warne also chose a greatest Australia XI and a greatest England XI out of players he had played with or against. Michael Vaughan was chosen as the captain of the latter. “Michael Vaughan was the best England captain I played against,” Warne said.
Warne decided not to choose Steve Waugh, who was captain of Australia for a significant portion of his career, as he felt Border was a better bet due to being left-handed.
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“Steve Waugh could have easily made the side, but I chose to go for Allan Border as he was left-handed,” he said in an Instagram live session.
Notably, the dreaded novel coronavirus has brought the entire sporting world to a standstill. Some of the most high-profile tournaments including the Olympics have been postponed. A few have been forced to cancel or continue behind closed doors.
The cash-rich Indian Premier League has been postponed to at least 15 April but given how things are in India, the chances of the tournament happening even them seem highly unlikely. India is currently on a 21-day lockdown until 14 April.
Warne’s greatest Australia XI: Matthew Hayden, Michael Slater, Ricky Ponting, Mark Waugh, Allan Border, Steve Waugh, Adam Gilchrist, Tim May, Jason Gillespie, Bruce Reid, Glenn McGrath, Merv Hughes.
Warne’s greatest England XI: Graham Gooch, Andrew Strauss, Michael Vaughan, Kevin Pietersen, Nasser Hussain, Alec Stewart, Andrew Flintoff, Ashley Giles, Dareen Gough, Steve Harmison, James Anderson.
Warne’s greatest Ashes XI: Matthew Hayden, Graham Gooch, Ricky Ponting, Mark Waugh, Kevin Pietersen, Allan Border, Adam Gilchrist, Andrew Flintoff, Tim May, Darren Gough, Glenn McGrath.
(With inputs from IANS)
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