Former England batsman James Taylor who was forced to quit the game due to a serious heart condition last year has picked his all-time XI.
In a video posted by Lord’s Cricket Ground on their official YouTube channel, the 27-year old spoke about best XI, which includes many legends of the game and some interesting names as well. Also, he has chosen current Indian skipper, Virat Kohli to head his team.
Taylor began his team with Sachin Tendulkar, whom he considers his idol. With Sachin, Taylor has picked Alastair Cook to be his opening partner. Virat and AB de Villiers are lined up at number 3 and 4 respectively.
The next name is quite interesting as Taylor names out HD Ackerman, who represented South Africa only in 4 Tests. But according to Taylor, he learned a lot from Ackerman while playing for Leicestershire with him whereas all-rounder Ben Stokes adds more strength to the batting line-up at 6th spot.
The 7th place is taken by English wicketkeeper Paul Nixon, from whom Taylor learnt a lot about the game.
Following Nixon, Taylor comes up with another interesting name by picking Claude Henderson, who represented England in only 7 Tests and 4 ODI’s. Shane Warne, followed by Shoaib Akhtar and Mitchell Starc completes the bowling department.
James Taylor’s All time XI:
Sachin Tendulkar, Alastair Cook, Virat Kohli (c), AB de Villiers, HD Ackerman, Ben Stokes, Paul Nixon (wk), Claude Henderson, Shane Warne, Shoaib Akhtar and Mitchell Starc.