Dhoni Named Captain in Shastri-Morgan’s Combined ODI XI

Cricket greats Ravi Shastri and Eoin Morgan have come together to select a combined all-time ODI XI drawing from the best of Indian and English cricket. Notably, both selectors left themselves out of the lineup despite their own World Cup-winning credentials, choosing instead to build a side dominated by Indian talent, with eight players from India and just three from England.

Dhoni Gets the Captain’s Armband

The most talked-about decision was the choice of captain. Shastri revealed that three names were in contention for the role — MS Dhoni, Kapil Dev, and Morgan himself — all of whom have lifted the World Cup as leaders. Ultimately, Dhoni was handed the armband, with Shastri pointing to his vast experience and his unique distinction of being the only captain to have won all three major ICC white-ball tournaments.

Star-Studded Batting and Bowling Lineup

The batting order is headlined by Sachin Tendulkar and Rohit Sharma opening the innings, followed by England’s Jos Buttler and India’s Virat Kohli in the middle order. The all-round department features Yuvraj Singh, Kapil Dev, and Ben Stokes, adding balance and depth to the side. On the bowling front, the spin duties go to Harbhajan Singh and Adil Rashid, while Jasprit Bumrah spearheads the pace attack. Zaheer Khan has been named as the 12th man, rounding out a formidable squad built from decades of white-ball excellence.

The selection has sparked plenty of debate among fans, particularly around the exclusion of several modern stars, but the panel’s reasoning centered on proven big-match temperament and trophy-winning pedigree across both nations’ rich ODI histories.