Kane Williamson picks his dream India white-ball XI; leaves out Hardik Pandya

Former New Zealand captain Kane Williamson picked his dream Indian white-ball XI, which included several obvious choices and a few surprises (via Middlesex Cricket Instagram handle). Williamson went with Virender Sehwag and Rohit Sharma as his two openers.

Rohit is India's all-time leading run-scorer in T20Is and fourth in ODIs with 4,231 and 11,168 runs, respectively. Meanwhile, Sehwag was central to India's 2007 T20 World Cup and 2011 ODI World Cup triumphs, providing rollicking starts in the powerplay.

Williamson had Virat Kohli come in at No.3, followed by the Little Master Sachin Tendulkar at 4. The former is second all-time in run-scoring for India in ODIs and T20Is with over 18,000 runs combined across the two formats.

Tendulkar played only one T20I in his stellar career, but is ODI's all-time leading scorer with an incredible 18,426 runs.

Yuvraj Singh came in at No.5, thanks to his memorable performances in India's 2007 and 2011 World Cup victories. The left-arm spinning all-rounder was the Player of the Tournament in the latter.

Williamson went for India's current T20I skipper, Suryakumar Yadav, at No. 6, followed by Captain Cool, MS Dhoni, at 7. Surya is India's third all-time leading T20I scorer with 2,670 runs and played a vital role in their 2024 T20 World Cup victory.

Meanwhile, Dhoni led India to their 2007 and 2011 T20 and ODI World Cup triumphs, with a Player of the Match performance in the final of the latter against Sri Lanka.

Kane Williamson opts for four specialist bowlers to complete his lineup

Kane Williamson opted for specialist bowlers from No. 8 to 11 to complete his all-time Indian white-ball XI. The Kiwi legend chose Jasprit Bumrah, Zaheer Khan, and Mohammed Shami as his three pace-bowling options.

Bumrah is India's third leading wicket-taker in T20Is with 96 scalps and was the Player of the Tournament in their 2024 World Cup win. Meanwhile, Shami is India's all-time leader in ODI World Cup wickets with 55 at a remarkable average of 13.52.

Zaheer spearheaded India's bowling attack in their 2011 ODI World Cup win at home. He is also fourth all-time among Indian bowlers in ODI wickets with 269 in 194 games.

Kane Williamson rounded off his all-time XI with a lone specialist spinner in Anil Kumble, who is India's all-time leader in ODI wickets with 334 in 269 outings.

Kane Williamson's all-time Indian white-ball XI:

Virender Sehwag, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Sachin Tendulkar, Yuvraj Singh, Suryakumar Yadav, MS Dhoni, Jasprit Bumrah, Anil Kumble, Zaheer Khan, Mohammed Shami