• Source:JND
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India's new head coach Gautam Gambhir had a disappointing start to his sting in the all-important role as the Men in Blue lost the ODI series against Sri Lanka.

Amid the preparations for the upcoming Test series against Bangladesh, Gambhir has named his all-time India XI as he excluded some of the top players that have represented the national team.

With only XI members to be picked, Gambhir had no choice but to pick some and leave out the others.

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The former India opener made some tough picks but missing out on the current skipper Rohit Sharma and star pacer Jasprit Bumrah left everyone surprised.

Gambhir picked Virender Sehwag along with himself as the openers, leaving out current skipper Rohit Sharma, who is considered one of India's great openers.

At No. 3 Gambhir named Rahul Dravid, whom he replaced as India's head coach whereas the legendary cricketer was picked for the no.4 position.

While Gambhir mentioned the star batter Virat Kohli for the no.5, white-ball specialists Yuvraj Singh and MS Dhoni were picked at the No. 6 and No. 7 spots respectively.

In the batting unit, even the former skipper Sourav Ganguly found no place in the team.

In the spin-bowling department, legendary cricketer Anil Kumble found a place at the No. 8 spot followed by Ravichandran Ashwin's position in the No. 9 spot.

There was no place for Harbhajan Singh either in the list.

When it comes to the pace bowling unit, Gambhir went with the pairing of Irfan Pathan and Zaheer Khan.

Surprisingly, Gambhir didn't pick Jasprit Bumrah, arguably the best player currently in the Indian team across formats.

Gambhir's all-time XI for India: Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh, MS Dhoni (wk), Anil Kumble, Ravichandran Ashwin, Irfan Pathan, Zaheer Khan

Gambhir, who mentored Kolkata Knight Riders and Lucknow Super Giants ahead of taking India's coaching role, was put under the scanners straightway after her first assignment.

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However, his former colleague Jonty Rhodes, LSG fielding coach, has backed passionate Gambhir to replicate his IPL success with the Men in Blue.

"I know how passionate he is. You know, he looks for excellence on and off the field, but he doesn't expect players to do something that he never did or won't do. So. I think from that point of view, he's somebody who's not gonna be lenient with anybody unless it's required because he's expecting. He just wants excellence. I mean, he wants the team to win, and it's not for his record or for what he can achieve," Rhodes said.