Former Indian spinner picks combined IND-AUS all-time ODI playing XI; excludes Rohit Sharma

Former Indian spinner Sridharan Sriram picked his combined India-Australia all-time ODI playing XI (via the Star Sports Instagram handle) ahead of the marquee three-match ODI series between the teams, starting October 19. Sriram surprisingly omitted former skipper Rohit Sharma from his lineup and instead went with Sachin Tendulkar and Matthew Hayden as his two openers.

Tendulkar is the all-time leading run-scorer in ODIs with 18.426 runs, including 49 centuries, in 463 outings. Meanwhile, Hayden is a two-time ODI World Cup winner (2003 and 2007). He finished his 50-over career with 6,133 runs at an average of 43.80 and a strike rate of almost 79.

Sriram picked two other legendary batters, Ricky Ponting and Virat Kohli, at No.3 and 4. The former led Australia to their ODI World Cup titles in 2003 and 2007, amassing 13,704 runs in his ODI career at an average of 42.03 and a strike rate of 80.39.

On the other hand, Kohli boasts the most centuries in ODI history with 51 and is third all-time in scoring with 14,181 runs at an extraordinary average of 57.88 and a strike rate of 93.34.

Sriram went with left-arm spinning all-rounder Yuvraj Singh and former captain MS Dhoni at No. 5 and 6. The duo helped the Men in Blue win the 2011 ODI World Cup at home, with the former adjudged the Player of the Tournament and the latter leading the side.

India's 1983 World Cup-winning captain Kapil Dev rounded off Sriram's top seven, with the all-rounder boasting incredible ODI numbers with 3,783 runs and 253 wickets.

Final four of Sridharan Sriram's all-time IND-AUS ODI XI

Sridharan Sriram went with another left-arm spinning all-rounder from India, Ravindra Jadeja, in his lineup at No.8. The 36-year-old recently helped India win the 2025 Champions Trophy in the UAE.

Jadeja remains active in the ODI format and has scored 2,806 runs with 231 wickets in 204 games. Sriram picked former Australian leg-spinner Shane Warne as one of his three specialist bowlers.

Warne finished his ODI career with 293 wickets and was the joint-leading wicket-taker in Australia's victorious 1999 World Cup with 20.

Two of the best current white-ball pacers, Jasprit Bumrah and Mitchell Starc, rounded off Sriram's all-time India-Australia ODI playing XI. The former has picked up 149 wickets in 89 ODIs at an average of 23.55.

Meanwhile, Starc helped Australia win the 2015 and 2023 ODI World Cups, including finishing as the joint-leading wicket-taker and the Player of the tournament in the former.

Sriram also picked India's World Cup-winning skipper MS Dhoni as the captain of his all-time side.

Sridharan Sriram's all-time combined IND-AUS ODI 11

Sachin Tendulkar, Matthew Hayden, Ricky Ponting, Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh, MS Dhoni (c), Kapil Dev, Ravindra Jadeja, Shane Warne, Mitchell Starc, Jasprit Bumrah