Former Indian batsman Robin Uthappa has stirred up a massive debate among cricket enthusiasts after revealing his all-time Indian One-Day International (ODI) playing eleven. During a popular 'This or That' challenge on Instagram, the 2007 World T20 winner made several bold calls. The most surprising of them all was the omission of current Indian captain Rohit Sharma, arguably one of the greatest limited-overs openers the game has ever seen.

Instead of the "Hitman," Uthappa chose to roll back the years by backing a classic, legendary opening combination at the top of the order.

Shocking Omission of Rohit Sharma

Rohit Sharma's exclusion from the XI has raised many eyebrows. Statistically, Rohit is India’s third-highest run-scorer in ODI history, boasting over 11,000 runs and more than 30 centuries. More importantly, he remains the only player in world cricket to smash three double-hundreds in the 50-over format, alongside holding the record for the highest individual ODI score of 264.

However, Uthappa decided to go with the iconic and historically proven duo of Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly as his openers. Statistically, Tendulkar (18,426 runs) and Ganguly (11,221 runs) form one of the most successful and feared opening partnerships in ODI history, which makes Uthappa's preference highly defensible, even if it meant dropping a modern-day titan like Rohit.

Star-Studded Middle Order

Uthappa's middle order is a perfect blend of aggressive strokeplay and match-winning experience: