England all-rounder Moeen Ali recently picked his top five Indian cricketers of all time. The veteran named his Chennai Super Kings (CSK) captain MS Dhoni as his number-one pick, followed by Virat Kohli and Sachin Tendulkar as second and third, respectively as well. While Ali has never played in the same team as the batting maestro Tendulkar, he has shared the dressing room with Dhoni and Kohli in the IPL as well.
Notably, Ali has been part of the CSK setup since 2021 and helped them win two titles in 2021 and 2023 also. Meanwhile, Ali played with Virat Kohli for the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) from 2018 to 2020 as well. On the other hand, Tendulkar remains the all-time highest run-scorer in Tests and ODI with over 34,000 runs, including a record 100 centuries. And, recently, Kohli overtook Tendulkar’s ODI centuries tally (49) by scoring his 50th ton in the 2023 ODI World Cup semi-final against New Zealand as well.
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In an interview with Samp Group shared on their Instagram handle, Ali said: “For me No. 1 is Dhoni. He was a great player but people forget how good he was. It is everything he won as a captain for India. “Virat (Kohli) No.2 because he is great and one of the best players.”
He further added: “It pains me to say this but he (Sachin) is No.3 because of him being Sachin and I think he started the (art) of proper batting. There was Sunil Gavaskar as well but he was before my era so I didn’t see a lot of him. But Sachin was just different level.”
However, Moeen Ali, meanwhile, former batters Virender Sehwag and Yuvraj Singh at No. 4 and 5 to complete his list of best Indian cricketers. The duo were among India’s biggest match-winners in the 2000s and early 2010s and helped India win the 2007 T20 World Cup and the 2011 ODI World Cup as well. He also said Sehwag is his favourite batter.
“My favourite batter is Virender Sehwag because he was something different. The way he batted in Test matches, ODIs and T20s, he scored massive and he absolutely destroyed bowlers. The guy I looked up to as a batter…in terms of…of course I would try to copy up to a certain extent and people have compared me to him a little bit so it’s Yuvraj Singh. The bat swing, the way he played and his bat swing was amazing to watch. When in form, he was the best player to watch,” concluded Moeen Ali.
