No Virat Kohli or Rohit Sharma in Sachin Tendulkar’s IPL 2022 Playing XI, check full list HERE

Sachin Tendulkar was a team mentor of the Mumbai Indians, which led by Rohit Sharma, finished last in the 10-team points table.

Sachin Tendulkar (from left), Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma. (Source: Twitter)

In a shock to most cricket fans, legend Sachin Tendulkar ignored Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma from his playing XI for the IPL 2022 season. Kohli, who quit Royal Challengers Bangalore captaincy last year, was part of the team which managed to reach the Playoffs in IPL 2022 but lost in Qualifier 2 to finalist Rajasthan Royals. But as a batter Kohli had a very modest season, scoring only 341 runs at an average of 22.73.

Tendulkar was a team mentor of the Mumbai Indians, which led by Rohit Sharma, finished last in the 10-team points table. Former India batter Tendulkar said that he has chosen the XI solely on the basis of the players’ performances this season.

“It's got nothing to do with players' reputation or their past performances. It is purely based on their performances this season and what they have been able to achieve this season” said Tendulkar in a video in his Youtube channel.

Tendulkar chose Pandya as the captain of his team. “Hardik was the standout captain this season. He was clear in his mind, proactive. I always say that don't regret, celebrate. If you are able to celebrate, it means the captain is outsmarting the opposition and that is what Hardik did,” he said.

The former Mumbai Indians captain then said that he would choose Jos Buttler and Shikhar Dhawan as his openers as he wanted a left-right combination at the top of the order. While Buttler was the runaway winner of the Orange Cap and declared the player of the tournament as well for scoring an extraordinary 863 runs, including four centuries, Dhawan scored 460 runs in 14 matches.

Buttler, Tendulkar said, was an obvious choice. “What a season he has had. Fabulous. I can't see any player more dangerous than him in this IPL. There are a couple but when Buttler gets going, not many can catch up.”

Sachin Tendulkar’s IPL 2022 XI: Jos Buttler, Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Hardik Pandya (captain), David Miller, Liam Livingstone, Dinesh Karthik, Rashid Khan, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah, Yuzvendra Chahal.