ICC Men’s T20I Team of the Year: No Indian features in XI, 3 Pakistanis picked
ICC revealed the Men’s T20 Team of the year on Wednesday (January 19) and no Indian features in the XI.
ICC revealed the Men’s T20 Team of the year on Wednesday (January 19) and no Indian features in the XI.
The team includes as many as three Pakistani players including Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan and Shaheen Afridi.
Here’s the team: Jos Buttler, Mohammad Rizwan (WK), Babar Azam (Captain), Aiden Markram, Mitchell Marsh, David Miller, Tabraiz Shamsi, Josh Hazlewood, Wanindu Hasaranga, Mustafizur Rahman, Shaheen Afridi.
Babar Azam lead the side and ICC explained the decision for picking the Pakistani captain, “The Pakistan skipper was at his classy best in the shortest format in 2021, leaving his best at the T20 World Cup where he ended the tournament as the leading run-scorer. Overall, Babar played 29 matches and aggregated 939 runs at an average of 37.56 with one century and nine half-centuries. His captaincy was also praised as he led his team to the semi-finals of the T20 World Cup in UAE and Oman.”
From Asia, Sri Lanka’s Hasaranga and Mustafizur Rahman are the other two players picked in the XI. But there is no Indian.
India had a poor T20 World Cup wher they failed to make it to the semis, getting knocked out in the first round itself.
Also, in the XI is Australian all-rounder Mitchell Marsh, who played a match-winning knock in the final of the T20 World Cup 2021.
Australia’s success at the T20 World Cup can be traced back to the decision to move Mitchell Marsh up the batting order to No.3, instead of designating him the role of being a finisher lower down. Throughout the calendar year, he was their best batter in the shortest format, improving his game by leaps and bounds, especially against spin and when it came to rotating the strike. He scored 627 runs in 21 matches at 36.88 and also chipped in with 8 wickets, read the ICC release, explaining Marsh’s selection.
ZeeNews
