'Play, sell or bench' Virat Kohli, MS Dhoni and Rohit Sharma: Michael Vaughan, Adam Gilchrist play IPL game

Envision an IPL team featuring MS Dhoni, Rohit Sharma, and Virat Kohli. The three legendary figures of Indian cricket have been integral to the league since it began, each drawing massive crowds for their respective franchises over the last decade-and-more. It may sound like a dream team but not without a challenge of how do you fit in all three in an innings? Even more daunting will be choosing who to play, who to sell and who to bench.

During a podcast, former England captain Michael Vaughan and iconic Australian wicketkeeper-batter Adam Gilchrist tried to answer this question.

Without hesitation, Vaughan chose MS Dhoni as his player and appointed him as the team captain. “I’m playing MS Dhoni. I don’t think anyone’s been better. No (Virat doesn’t find a place). MS is the captain. He’s playing,” Vaughan declared.

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MS Dhoni, a joint record-holder as the most successful IPL captain alongside Rohit Sharma, is widely regarded as one of the greatest players in the league’s history.

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With 264 matches to his name, Dhoni holds the record for most appearances in the IPL and the highest number of dismissals as a wicketkeeper (190).

Despite not batting in the top order in recent years, he remains the sixth-highest run-scorer in IPL history, amassing 5243 runs at an average of 39 and a striking rate of 137. Although he announced his retirement from international cricket in August 2020, Dhoni continues to represent the Chennai Super Kings.

When it came to the decision of selling one player between Rohit and Kohli, Vaughan opted for the Royal Challengers Bengaluru star.

“What was the other thing? selling? I’m getting rid of Virat. I’m getting rid of him because he’s never won the IPL. Rohit is a six-time winner. MS how many? Five! So I’m playing MS, I’m selling Virat. What was the other one? Yeah, so Rohit is my MS substitute,” he explained.

Kohli is the only player to have participated in all IPL seasons since 2008 without winning a tournament. However, he leads the pack in terms of run-scoring, sitting atop the IPL run-scorer list with 8004 runs in 251 matches. For comparison, Shikhar Dhawan ranks second with 6769 runs in 222 matches.

Vaughan remarked that moving Kohli to another franchise would be “good business” as it could yield a significant transfer fee. “I can get a good load of cash for him. He’ll go somewhere else for a huge amount of money. That’s good business,” he added.

Vaughan decided to keep Rohit Sharma, the legendary Mumbai Indians player and current India captain in the longest format, on the bench as Dhoni’s replacement.

Gilchrist agreed with Vaughan’s reasoning, although he noted the difficulty of the choices for these cricketing icons. “That’s well thought through (by Vaughan). You’re splitting hair, it’s tough on all, but that’s the job of a manager, isn’t it?”