Ambati Rayudu names his all-time IPL XI; picks two RCB stalwarts

Former cricketer Ambati Rayudu picked his all-time IPL XI that included two Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) legends. Rayudu appeared recently on Shubhankar Mishra's podcast, where he made the picks.

He chose Chris Gayle and Rohit Sharma as his openers. Gayle played 91 games for RCB and scored 3420 runs at an average of 43.29 and a strike-rate of 154.40 with five hundreds.

Ambati Rayudu then picked former RCB captain Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, and Suresh Raina in the middle order. His finishers included MS Dhoni and Kieron Pollard. He then chose Lasith Malinga, Jasprit Bumrah, Dwayne Bravo, and Sunil Narine as his bowlers.

Rayudu's IPL XI: Chris Gayle, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Suresh Raina, MS Dhoni, Kieron Pollard, Lasith Malinga, Dwayne Bravo, Sunil Narine.

The right-hander also picked a combined playing XI involving players from Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Mumbai Indians (MI). He played for both teams in the IPL and won multiple titles with each. Rayudu began with MI in 2010 and played for them till 2017 before he joined CSK in 2018. He played 204 matches overall and scored 4348 runs with a century.

Rayudu's combined CSK-MI XI: Rohit Sharma, Sachin Tendulkar, Suresh Raina, Suryakumar Yadav, MS Dhoni, Kieron Pollard, Dwayne Bravo, Ravindra Jadeja, Harbhajan Singh, Lasith Malinga, Jasprit Bumrah, Ambati Rayudu (Impact player).

---

Ambati Rayudu picks his top three favorite T20 and ODI batters

On the podcast, Ambati Rayudu was also asked to name his top three favorite T20 and ODI batters. For T20, he picked Rohit Sharma, AB De Villiers, and Suryakumar Yadav.

Coming to ODIs, he named batting greats Virat Kohli, Sachin Tendulkar, and Virender Sehwag.

"First, I think Rohit Sharma, then it has to be AB De Villiers and Suryakumar (favorite top 3 T20 batters). In ODIs, top is Virat Kohli, Sachin Tendulkar, and Virender Sehwag," he said. (1:29:33)

Rayudu featured in 55 ODIs and six T20Is. He made his international debut in 2013 and retired from all forms of Indian cricket in 2023. The 39-year-old scored 1694 ODI runs at an average of 47.05 with three hundreds and ten fifties. He did not have a great T20I career and scored only 42 runs at an average of 10.50.