Abhishek Porel is considered one of the most exciting talents in the Indian circuit. He is well known due to his alliance with the Delhi Capitals (DC) in the Indian Premier League (IPL), having been part of the franchise for three seasons now. Well, his IPL journey began in the most unexpected way, as he was the one to replace Rishabh Pant when the former DC captain was met with an unfortunate car accident.
Abishek Porel’s rise in IPL
Porel, despite playing just four games that season, showed glimpses and got the backing of his inspiration, Sourav Ganguly, who was part of DC’s coaching camp that year. He was retained the following year and turned heads when he smacked Harshal Patel for 25 runs in an over in the first game of IPL 2024. Porel went on to have a terrific season as he smoked 327 runs at a strike rate of 159.51.
As a result, Delhi Capitals showed tremendous faith in the left-hander and made him one of the four retention picks ahead of the IPL 2025 mega auction. He was retained as the only uncapped player, with his IPL salary jumping from Rs 20 lac to Rs 4 crore, a 1900% hike! While he had an okayish season with Delhi at IPL 2025 (301 runs at 146.83), Porel looks adamant about doing well in the future. Porel had a detailed discussion with Insidesport regarding Mohammed Shami’s fitness, playing under Rishabh Pant and with KL Rahul, and many other things.
Interesting all-time IPL XI by Porel
However, he was caught off guard when asked to name his all-time IPL playing XI. When posed the exciting question, Porel instantly named Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma as openers, with AB de Villiers batting at three for the Bengal talent. However, then came a certain pause as Porel left scratching his head. He said there are so many options that it may be unjust to many.
Fascinatingly, he chose the overseas duo of Jacques Kallis and Brendon McCullum as his number four and five. Both were part of KKR’s maiden IPL win in 2012. However, some of the names Porel missed out on were Suresh Raina, Kieron Pollard and Andre Russell, three players who have done vastly better than the likes of Kallis and McCullum as far as just the IPL is concerned. Of course there’s a certain MS Dhoni that Porel failed to mention. Dhoni is synonymous with the IPL, having played the most games (278) in the history of the tournament.
Speaking of all-rounders, Porel included Hardik Pandya and Axar Patel, followed by Kuldeep Yadav as his strike spinner. Kuldeep is Porel’s teammate currently at DC. As his three pacers, the 23-year-old went with one obvious choice and two interesting ones. Apart from Jasprit Bumrah, Porel chose Brett Lee and Mitchell Starc, two Australians who are more known for their exploits in international cricket, that too, in ODIs and Tests. Fascinatingly, both have won an IPL season with KKR. Lee won it in 2012; Starc did it in 2024.
Abishek Porel’s All-time XI
- Virat Kohli
- Rohit Sharma
- AB de Villiers
- Jacques Kallis
- Brendon McCullum (wk)
- Hardik Pandya
- Axar Patel
- Kuldeep Yadav
- Jasprit Bumrah
- Brett Lee
- Mitchell Starc
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