Indian cricket icon, Sachin Tendulkar has been overlooked as Australian fast bowler Nathan Ellis has picked a combined ODI XI comprising players from India, England and Australia.
India are currently in Australia and preparing to play their first ODI since the ICC Champions Trophy in February 2025. This series marks the return of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli to the Indian team for the three-match ODI series.
Ahead of the start of the much-awaited series, many Australian players have been asked to choose a combined XI among the Indian, English and Australian players. Now, young fast bowler Nathan Ellis has named an XI after being tasked with the same task.
Indian great snubbed as Australian bowler picks combined ODI XI
Australian fast bowler Nathan Ellis has recently picked a combined ODI XI which includes players from the three giants of world cricket: India, England and Australia. In their attempt to do so, they have ignored the greatest Indian batsman, Sachin Tendulkar, for their eleven.
Sachin Tendulkar’s absence has shocked everyone as he still remains the highest run-scorer in this format with 18426 runs in his ODI career. The batsman scored 1809 runs in 20 ODI innings in Australia and created an extraordinary record with 6 centuries against the World Champions.
Nathan Ellis is likely to play in the upcoming match against India in Perth on Sunday. In the absence of Pat Cummins, he is likely to pair with Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood. In his career so far, he has taken 17 wickets in 15 ODIs and returned with figures of 2/13 and 2/49 in his two matches against the Men in Blue.
Unlike Glenn Maxwell, Ellis has named an English player in his eleven
While Ellis named Rohit Sharma and Australian swashbuckling opener David Warner as the top two in his eleven, he naturally paired Virat Kohli and former Australian captain Ricky Ponting in the middle order.
Nathan Ellis’s surprising selection came into focus when he did not pick a single all-rounder in the team, nor an extra bowler, but gave his number to Michael Bevan and English World Cup-winning captain Eoin Morgan. 5 no more. 6 batsmen.
The fast bowler, who plays for Chennai Super Kings in the IPL, chose Indian legend MS Dhoni as his wicketkeeper and kept him at no. 7.
Nathan Ellis picks only three active players for ODI XI
However, after making the top 7 in the team, when Ellis turned to the bowlers, he chose two fast bowlers and two spinners.
He named Indian fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah and spin legends Shane Warne and Anil Kumble and gave preference to Brett Lee over Glenn McGrath. However, Rohit, Virat and Bumrah are the only three active players in the combined XI.
Combined XI: Rohit Sharma, David Warner, Virat Kohli, Ricky Ponting, Michael Bevan, MS Dhoni, Eoin Morgan, Brett Lee, Shane Warne, Anil Kumble and Jasprit Bumrah.
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