Piyush Chawla leaves out first captain Rahul Dravid from his all-time Test XI

The coronavirus pandemic has brought all the cricketing activities to a halt. The IPL 2020, which was slated to start on March 29, was postponed indefinitely due to the global crisis. Cricketers are currently quarantined at their homes, which has given them ample time to interact with their fans.

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Piyush Chawla picks all time-Test XI, snubs Rahul Dravid 

While some cricketers have resorted to social media, others have been busy choosing their all-time teams. The latest to join this bandwagon is CSK spinner Piyush Chawal who picked his all-time Test XI. Piyush Chawla picked up a formidable all-time XI with an aggressive left-right combination of Virender Sehwag and Matthew Hayden opening the batting. Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting was named at No. 3 by Piyush Chawla.

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Piyush Chawla chose to surprisingly snub his first captain Rahul Dravid as the next two spots were accommodated by batting greats Sachin Tendulkar and Brian Lara, who are arguably two of the best batsmen the game has seen. The wicketkeeper's role was given to Adam Gilchrist, who has an exceptional record behind the stumps. Chawla and Gilchrist played together for Kings XI Punjab in the IPL from 2011-2013. The all-rounder's position was claimed by the legendary Kapil Dev.

The bowling department was formed by two spinners in the form of Muttiah Muralitharan and Shane Warne who are two of the top wicket-takers in the format. The pace battery consists of Wasim Akram and Curtly Ambrose who were lethal with their swinging deliveries and sharp bouncers. South African great Jacques Kallis was named as the 12th man in Piyush Chawla's all-time Test XI.

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However, what came as a surprise to everyone was the exclusion of the top two batsmen in the format currently,  Steve Smith and Virat Kohli. Steve Smith is at the pinnacle of the Test rankings with 911 rating points. Moreover, his unconventional batting technique has made life difficult for the bowlers. On the other hand, Virat Kohli lost his place to Steve Smith in the Test rankings. Virat Kohli has 886 rating points and stands second in the table. However, Virat Kohli has stamped his authority in the longest format of the game by scoring runs all over the world.

Chawla is set to be seen next playing for CSK under MS Dhoni in the IPL 2020, subject to the event taking place later this year after it was postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Piyush Chawla's all-time Test XI

Virender Sehwag, Matthew Hayden, Ricky Ponting, Sachin Tendulkar, Brian Lara, Adam Gilchrist (wk), Kapil Dev, Wasim Akram, Shane Warne, Muttiah Muralitharan, Curtly Ambrose, Jacques Kallis (12th man)

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IMAGE COURTESY: CHENNAI SUPER KINGS TWITTER