Ben Stokes picks Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, omits Virat Kohli in his dream XI

Chennai: Ben Stokes, the costliest buy in this year's Indian Premier League (IPL) auction at Rs 14.5 crore, has picked Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag in his dream XI.

The England all-rounder, who is expected to be a key member of the Rising Pune Supergiants franchise, kept Tendulkar for the No.5 spot and Sehwag as the opener in his XI, which included a mix of present and former players.

Stokes, a Red Bull athlete, was quoted as saying in a press release, "I'd have Sehwag as one of my openers. I reckon he averaged about 50 in his career (49.34), and his strike rate was probably in the 80s (82.23).

"To have that as an opening batsman in Test match cricket if you were an opening bowler would be pretty scary, I reckon."

He chose former Australian captain Ricky Ponting at No.4 and Tendulkar at No.5 and said, "Ricky and Sachin could swap between four and five, and they can have a fight to see who goes in. whichever one's got their pads on."

Stokes' team also included the legendary West Indian all-rounder Garfield Sobers and Australian spin great Shane Warne.

He chose Alastair Cook, who recently gave up Test captaincy, to lead his dream XI.

Ben Stokes's dream XI: Virender Sehwag, Alastair Cook (captain), Hashim Amla, Ricky Ponting, Sachin Tendulkar, Garfield Sobers, Adam Gilchrist, Shane Warne, Dale Steyn, Curtly Ambrose, Jimmy Anderson.