Shakib Al Hasan names his IPL XI captain and it's neither MS Dhoni nor Rohit Sharma

Shakib Al Hasan has picked Gautam Gambhir as the captain in his best IPL XI. Shakib has played under Gambhir's captaincy for Kolkata Knight Riders from 2011 to 2017 editions of the Indian Premier League. He was also a part of the KKR side when they had won two IPL titles in 2012 and 2014 seasons respectively. Kolkata had beaten the MS Dhoni-led Chennai Super Kings in 2012 and edged past the first-time finalists Kings XI Punjab during the final over of a high-intense run chase where southpaw Piyush Chawla had hit the winning runs. KKR had also finished as the runners-up in the now-defunct CLT20 in the year 2014. 

Gambhir leads Shakib's IPL Playing XI

During his conversation with the 'Voice of Indian Cricket' Harsha Bhogle on Cricbuzz, the star Bangladeshi all-rounder picked his IPL Playing XI.

Here is Shakib Al Hasan's Playing XI:

David Warner, Robin Uthappa, Gautam Gambhir (C), Manish Pandey, Shakib Al Hasan, Yusuf Pathan, Andre Rusell, Sunil Narine, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Laxmipathy Balaji, Umesh Yadav

Notably, CSK's three-time IPL winning captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Rohit Sharma who has led Mumbai Indians to four IPL triumphs are the surprise omissions. 

After he was released by KKR in 2018, he had represented the Sunrisers Hyderabad in the next two editions of the cash-rich league. He might have been retained by the 2016 winners had he not been handed a two-year ban from all forms of cricket by the International Cricket Council (ICC) for not adhering to the regulations of the governing body of world cricket's anti-corruption unit. 
Even though the stylish number three batsman was not involved in any spot-fixing scandal, he did not report the same to the ICC. He would complete his ban in October 2021 i.e. supposedly during the ICC T20 World Cup 2021 that is scheduled to be held in India.

(Image Courtesy: AP)

READ: 'Going To Be Difficult': Darren Sammy On Finding Chris Gayle's Replacement In CPL 2020