IPL History: Ten dream batting combinations we never got to see in the league

The Indian Premier League has helped in fulfilling the dreams of many cricket fans who desired to witness their favorite batsmen from different countries bat together. Over the years, we have seen dream combinations like Ricky Ponting-Sourav Ganguly, Ricky Ponting-Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli-AB de Villiers and many more come to fruition in the Indian Premier League.

However, there have been many dream batting combinations which the fans have not yet seen and maybe will never ever see in the future as a lot of legends have retired from all forms of cricket.

Here's a list of the top 10 dream batting combinations that we never saw in the 12 years of the Indian Premier League.

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#10 Chris Gayle and Rohit Sharma

Chris Gayle and Rohit Sharma (Image courtesy - IPLT20.com/BCCI)

Chris Gayle is perhaps the most destructive opener to have played in the Indian Premier League. The West Indian legend started off his IPL journey as a part of Kolkata Knight Riders before he moved to Royal Challengers Bangalore and established himself as the king of IPL. Currently, he is a part of the Kings XI Punjab side. Despite being 40 years old, the Universe Boss has continued to dismantle opposition bowlers with his huge strikes.

Just like Gayle, Rohit Sharma is known for his six-hitting abilities and the Mumbai skipper is amongst the top six-hitters of world cricket at the moment. The pair of Chris Gayle and Rohit Sharma would have ensured that the live audience and the fans watching IPL matches on TV get a full dose of maximums.

The fact that they would form a right-left combination would add more to the woes of the bowlers.

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#9 Yuvraj Singh and Andre Russell

Yuvraj Singh and Andre Russell (Image courtesy - IPLT20.com/BCCI)

Yuvraj Singh is the best left-arm all-rounder to have represented India in T20s at the international level. Though his age is on the wrong side of 30s, the Punjabi superstar still has the power to hit any delivery for a maximum. Till date, Yuvraj is the only batsman to hit six sixes in a World T20 match. He can easily turn the game in his side's favor via his masterful stroke-making.

Just like Yuvraj, Andre Russell has emerged to be one of the best big hitters of the current generation. In IPL 2019, Russell single-handedly won matches for his side Kolkata Knight Riders with his monstrous hits. His splendid performances in the league earned him a call to the West Indies ODI squad for the 2019 World Cup.

Had Yuvi and Dre Russ got a chance to bat together, their team's run rate would have soared sky high.

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#8 Rishabh Pant and Adam Gilchrist

Rishabh Pant and Adam Gilchrist (Image courtesy - IPLT20.com/BCCI)

Rishabh Pant has defied all expectations in this year's IPL and led his team Delhi Capitals to the play-offs of the league after a long time. Pant has played fearless cricket though many pundits have criticized him for his gameplay. He has the highest score by an Indian batsman in IPL history and his wicket-keeping skills make him one of the hottest commodities of the tournament.

Adam Gilchrist too was known for his aggressive nature of batting. Gilly used to hit sixes with supreme ease. His whirlwind knock against Delhi in IPL 2009 semifinals was the key reason why Deccan lifted the IPL trophy that year. Apart from being a top batsman, Gilchrist was also one of the best wicket-keepers of his era.

Pant and Gilchrist have a lot in common thus, it is every cricket fan's wish to see them play together once.

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#7 Virat Kohli and Steve Smith

Virat Kohli and Steve Smith (Image courtesy - IPLT20.com/BCCI)

Virat Kohli has completely altered the meaning of consistency with his terrific performances with the bat in the last decade. Kohli has surpassed many of the world's greatest batsmen in terms of scoring runs. The key reason why Kohli has received so much praise is that he scores runs briskly. He is one of the busiest players in the middle and he also knows how to switch gears at the right moment of time.

Just like Kohli, Steve Smith has proven himself as one of the most reliable players of this era. Irrespective of the format he is playing, Smith always performs well for his team. His supreme statistics in the batting department have played a vital role in getting him into the elusive 'Fab 4' club of the modern times.

Though Kohli and Smith were a part of the same RCB squad once, they never played a match together.

#6 Hardik Pandya and Glenn Maxwell

Hardik Pandya and Glenn Maxwell (Image courtesy - IPLT20.com/BCCI)

Hardik Pandya has emerged as the savior of Mumbai Indians in the slog overs of their innings. The Baroda all-rounder has even learnt to play the 'Helicopter Shot' which has made him one of the most dangerous batsmen to bowl to. His all-round abilities have made him a regular in the Indian team and now, Hardik is working hard on his consistency as well.

Australia's Glenn Maxwell also belongs to the same breed as Pandya. A slogger who made it to the national squad on the basis of his power hitting, who is now working on his consistency.

Both Hardik and Maxwell have a variety of shots in their arsenal and the pitch conditions affect neither of them. This all-rounder duo could win matches for their team on any given day.

#5 MS Dhoni and Kieron Pollard

MS Dhoni and Kieron Pollard (Image courtesy - IPLT20.com/BCCI)

MS Dhoni just like wine has got better with time. The Ranchi boy has been winning matches for Chennai Super Kings since the past many years and is still continuing to do so. Though he is no longer the same as he was five years ago, but MS Dhoni's fitness levels have helped him walk toe to toe with the other big hitters of the world.

Kieron Pollard too has had a similar career graph in the IPL. Pollard has proven to Mumbai Indians' vital cog ever since he was picked up by them first. The West Indian still has got the ability to strike maximums with his big biceps and fitness levels.

Dhoni and Pollard would emerge as the best finishing pair of the league if given a chance to play for the same IPL franchise.

#4 Brendon McCullum and Sunil Narine

Brendon McCullum and Sunil Narine (Image courtesy - IPLT20.com/BCCI)

Brendon McCullum's rise as a no-nonsense hard-hitting batsman commenced in the year 2015 when he led the New Zealand to the final of the World Cup. Though McCullum was known as an aggressive batsman before the tourney as well, it was the 2015 World Cup which established McCullum as the best opener in the shorter formats.

In the IPL, he remains to be the only player to have scored a hundred for Kolkata Knight Riders while he also played for Kochi Tuskers Kerala, Chennai Super Kings, Gujarat Lions and Royal Challengers Bangalore in the later seasons.

Though there are very few openers who possess the same style as Baz, Sunil Narine is a player who knows to take the maximum advantage of the powerplay overs. McCullum and Narine could easily break all sorts of powerplay records if they open an IPL innings as a pair.

#3 David Warner and Jos Buttler

David Warner and Jos Buttler (Image courtesy - IPLT20.com/BCCI)

David Warner has the unique ability to play well both as a left-handed batsman and also a right-handed batsman. He can perplex any spinner by unleashing the switch hits. Warner has taken many bowlers off guard with his strokes. The Aussie knows how to blend textbook cricket shots with the modern day shots. Thus, he is the most consistent batsman in IPL.

Jos Buttler too has played flamboyantly as an opener in the last two seasons of IPL. Just like Warner, he knows how to counter the opposition bowlers with both textbook and modern day strokes. Buttler has redefined consistency while opening the innings for Rajasthan Royals.

We even saw that Warner gels nicely with English players, thus the opening pair of Buttler and Warner can work wonders for any IPL team.

#2 Virender Sehwag and Chris Lynn

Virender Sehwag and Chris Lynn (Image courtesy - IPLT20.com/BCCI)

Virender Sehwag was the player who showed the world that an opener needs to play aggressively in order to give his team the upper hand in the match. His batting style always downed the morale of the opposition bowlers and the Sultan of Multan was the main batsman of the Indian team which won the 2011 World Cup.

Though he could not win the IPL in his career, he established himself as an all-time great by playing for Delhi and Punjab.

Chris Lynn has been smashing runs in the same Sehwag manner. He has matured as a player now and knows that it is very important for the openers not only to go hard from the first ball but also try to play a long innings for their team.

Lynn and Sehwag would complement each other a lot however, now that Sehwag has retired we will never get to see this dream pairing in the IPL.

#1 Sachin Tendulkar and AB de Villiers

Sachin Tendulkar and AB de Villiers

While many consider Virat Kohli as the next Sachin Tendulkar and consider his pairing with AB de Villiers as the best that IPL has ever produced, one can only imagine the carnage that de Villiers and the real Tendulkar would cause if playing for the same team.

Tendulkar played for the Mumbai Indians in his IPL career and piled a mountain of runs for his home franchise. Whereas, de Villiers has played for Delhi and RCB in his IPL career.

The fans have always wanted to see Tendulkar and de Villiers play together but till date they have never donned the same jersey in any form of the game. They have played a lot of cricket against each other as well.

Perhaps, God never wanted to have the God of cricket and the God of modern day cricket to play together.

Which dream batting combo would you love to see once in the IPL? Share your views in the comments box below.