Sourav Ganguly Snubbed From Pat Cummins' Combined India-Australia ODI XI

Pat Cummins picked his all-time combined India-Australia ODI XI, only comprising of players who are no longer active in the format. Cummins, who is currently out of action due to an injury, will take no part in the upcoming ODI series against India, starting October 19. The series will mark the returns of veteran batters Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma to the side after more than seven months. The duo has retired from both Test and T20I cricket, but they remain active in the 50-over format.

He said that it is "disappointing" to miss India's white-ball tour of Australia, which would possibly be batting bigwigs Rohit and Kohli's last appearance in Down Under.

"Virat and Rohit have been part of almost every Indian side for the last 15 years, so this might be the last chance for the Australian public to see them playing out here. They've obviously been champions of the game for India and are always very well supported. Whenever we play them, the crowd gets loud," Cummins told JioHotstar recently.

Ahead of the series, Cummins was asked to pick a combined ODI XI comprising of players from India and Australia. However, the Australian Test and ODI captain clarified that he will only be selecting players who have retired from the format.

Cummins' XI had majority of the players from Australia, with only three Indians making the cut. He picked former teammate David Warner to open alongside legendary batter Sachin Tendulkar, followed by an all-Aussie middle-order comprising of Ricky Ponting, Steve Smith, Shane Watson and Michael Bevan. 

Rounding out the Indian representation, MS Dhoni was chosen as the wicketkeeper. The bowling attack comprised a fierce Australian pace trio of Brett Lee, Glenn McGrath, and Shane Warne (as the specialist spinner), with India's Zaheer Khan as the third fast bowler.

There was no place in Cummins' XI for former India captain Sourav Ganguly, who finished his ODI career with 11,363 runs.

Pat Cummins' combined India-Australia XI (retired players):

David Warner, Sachin Tendulkar, Ricky Ponting, Steve Smith, Shane Watson, Michael Bevan, MS Dhoni (wk), Brett Lee, Shane Warne, Zaheer Khan, Glenn McGrath.

(With ANI Inputs)

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