Kevin Pietersen names his Dream Cricket XI

Pietersen hailed Kallis as the greatest player to have ever played the game

South Africa-born English cricketer Kevin Pietersen has named his dream Cricket XI, The Telegraph reports. The team named not specifically for any format features legends like Sachin Tendulkar, Shane Warne, Kumar Sangakkara and Jacques Kallis, who Pietersen hailed as the greatest player to have ever played the game.

Pietersen’s former Hampshire teammate Warne has been naming his Best XI players from each Test playing nation over the past few weeks and the maverick English batsman seems to have taken inspiration from Warne and having been named in the England Test XI by the leg-spin wizard, Pietersen didn’t forget to return the favour by naming the Australian legend as the captain of his World XI.

Being a swashbuckling batsman himself, it was no surprise to see Pietersen name Virender Sehwag, who announced his retirement from international cricket and the IPL on Wednesday, remarking that he could win a Test match within one or two sessions, as the opening partner of the Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar.

Talking about Tendulkar, Pietersen said: “A genius and superstar. Like the best in any sport, he seemed to have a lot more time to do his thing than everyone else.”

Coming in at No 3, to the disappointment of quite a few cricket fans who wanted to see Rahul Dravid was former Australian skipper Ricky Ponting who the Englishman described as the best batsman of his generation. Unsurprisingly, Kumar Sangakkara was chosen to bolster the middle order.

The all-rounders in the side were countrymen Andrew Flintoff and South African Kallis who received the greatest praise from Pietersen being hailed as the greatest cricketer ever. The Australians continued to dominate further with Adam Gilchrist and Glenn McGrath also featuring along with Warne.

Leaving behind his animosity, Pietersen named James Anderson in his side as well. The inclusion of Shoaib Akhtar, however, drew huge surprise especially with the speedster’s much more acclaimed fast bowlers like Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis not picked.

Kevin Pietersen’s Dream Cricket XI: Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Ricky Ponting, Jacques Kallis, Kumar Sangakkara, Andrew Flintoff, Adam Gilchrist (WK), Shane Warne (C), James Anderson, Glenn McGrath, Shoaib Akhtar.

So hard to choose this. Been so lucky to play with and against so many incredible players! Let me know what you think... x

Posted by Kevin Pietersen on Wednesday, 21 October 2015