Scott Styris opts to play Virat Kohli below Ricky Ponting in his ODI XI of all-time

Cricketer-turned-commentator Scott Styris represented New Zealand in all forms of international cricket between 1999 and 2011. One of the finest limited-overs all-rounders from New Zealand, Styris was well known for his aggressive batting and wicket-taking abilities. He played a major role in New Zealand’s semi-final campaign in the 2007 and 2011 50-over ICC Cricket World Cups.

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Scott Styris picks former CSK teammate MS Dhoni in his ODI XI

While writing for an online cricket portal, Scott Styris listed out the best ODI XI he has ever played against. Styris appointed legendary cricketers Sanath Jayasuriya and Sachin Tendulkar as his openers. Incidentally, the right-armed medium pacer dismissed Sachin Tendulkar to claim his maiden international wicket on his ODI debut for New Zealand in 1999.

The former all-rounder also picked Australia’s World Cup-winning skipper Ricky Ponting and present Indian captain Virat Kohli as his No.3 and No.4 batsmen respectively. Much to everyone’s surprise, Scott Styris picked the Australian ahead of Indian run-machine Kohli in spite of the latter’s consistent run with the bat in white-ball cricket.

His middle-order comprises of former South African cricketers AB de Villiers and Jacques Kallis. His line-up features two of the greatest spinners of all time in the form of Shane Warne and Muttiah Muralitharan while veteran Indian wicketkeeper MS Dhoni also made a cut into his all-time ODI XI.

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Apart from playing against MS Dhoni for the Black Caps during his playing days, the two cricketers shared the same dressing room for Chennai Super Kings (CSK) during the Indian Premier League 2011 (IPL 2011). His lone outing for CSK in IPL 2011 was also his final appearance in the Indian cash-rich league. In the same season, Dhoni led CSK to IPL victory and the franchise became the first and the only team in the tournament’s history to defend their title successfully.

An entire look at Scott Styris’ white-ball XI he played against

Sanath Jayasuriya, Sachin Tendulkar, Ricky Ponting, Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers, Jacques Kallis, MS Dhoni, Shane Warne, Muttiah Muralitharan, Glenn McGrath, Lasith Malinga.

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IPL 2020: The road ahead for CSK

Meanwhile, the IPL 2020 is scheduled to commence on March 29. In the previous edition, CSK lost to Mumbai Indians in a nail-biting final. The MS Dhoni-led line-up previous won the title in 2010, 2011 and 2018 editions.

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