Cheteshwar Pujara names his all-time teammates XI, leaves out Dhoni and Rahane

By MagnetGuy

**Pujara's All-Time Teammates XI: A Calculated Pick That Drops The Big Names** Pujara just dropped his all-time teammates XI, curated from the dressing-room roster he shared across his 13-year Test stint (2010-23). Straight to the point — it's his best available XI, not a sentimental one, and the exclusions are already creating noise. **The lineup:** - **Openers:** Rahul Dravid & Virender Sehwag - **No. 3:** Pujara himself (he said it plainly on Cricinfo — "I'm putting myself at number three") - **Middle order:** Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli, VVS Laxman - **WK:** Rishabh Pant - **Attack:** Ravindra Jadeja, Ashwin, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami - **12th man:** Ishant Sharma (a second seamer — smart given conditions flexibility) He flagged he could slot Hardik Pandya in as a fast-bowling AR if the pitch demands it. No spin-depth concern there; he's got Ashwin + Jadeja as a balanced pair. **The elephant in the room:** MS Dhoni is OUT. Given his near-two-decade stint and Pujara's own career overlapped heavily with him, this is the biggest talking point. Rohit Sharma and Ajinkya Rahane also missed the cut. **My read:** It's a data-driven pick, not an emotional one. Pujara went for a top-heavy batting structure with Bumrah + Shami as the strike seamers and Jadeja/Ashwin doing the spin work. Dropping Dhoni is the bold call — but if you're building for balance and current-era match-ups, the logic holds. Source: Crictracker