The Indian Premier League has, over the years, become a festival for the people of our country. It has been a platform for the youngsters to showcase their talent and create their space in the minds of the audience, which resonates with the message “Yatra Pratibha Apsara Prapnotihi,” meaning where talent meets opportunity.
It’s been 16 years since the grand tournament started, and to commemorate its success, a selection panel comprising esteemed former cricketers and journalists convened to assemble the IPL’s all-time greatest team. The selection panel included Wasim Akram, Mathew Hayden, and Tom Moody. Dale Styen and approximately 70 journalists.
The first ever IPL auction is completing 16 years and more than 16 Lakh votes across our social media handles have been tallied to reveal the 1️⃣5️⃣ ALL-TIME INCREDIBLE IPL Players and 1️⃣ Incredible Coach picked by FANS.🏏🤩
— Star Sports (@StarSportsIndia) February 18, 2024
Tune in to the special event – IPL Incredible 16 – on… pic.twitter.com/TfE0lToFhO
Former Indian and current Chennai Super Kings captain MS Dhoni was voted as the skipper of the team. The Ranchi-born cricketer holds the record for playing the most finals in the tournament’s history and leading CSK to the joint-most five titles.
Speaking exclusively on the ‘Star Sports Incredible 16 of IPL’ show, former cricketer and coach Tom Moody said,
“It has to be MS Dhoni for me, the reason being that MS Dhoni has won the title with very good squads and average squads, and that tells me a lot about the captain and how he can lead a variety of talent in a squad to success. Rohit Sharma has been a brilliant captain for MI, but MI have always had the best squads, or up there with the best squads in the IPL since its inception.”
Apart from Dhoni, Indian batter Virat Kohli and Universe boss Chris Gayle made the cut in the list of openers. The middle order was packed with legends like Suresh Raina, AB De Villiers, Ravindra Jadeja, and Shane Watson.
In the bowling department, it was an all-Indian mix, with Yuzvendra Chahal and Ravichandran Ashwin in the spin bowling section and Jasprit Bumrah and Bhuvaneshwar Kumar as the fast bowlers.
Former New Zealand cricketer and CSK coach Stephen Flemming was voted the coach of the incredible team. David Warner, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, and Sunil Narine were the other four players to make the cut in the incredible team.