Best T20I XI of the Decade by Aakash Chopra, MS Dhoni and ABD out.
Best XI of the Decade: The former Indian Cricketer picked his best eleven of the decade for the T20I side in the recent videos on his Facebook. Chopra left many prolific names MS Dhoni, Chris Gayle, and AB de Villiers aside, and justified his choices.
For the opening slot, Chopra named Rohit Sharma as the first choice and Australian limited over skipper Aaron Finch as his partner. He said Rohit has been phenomenal throughout the decade and I got no reasons to leave him. Rohit would open with Finch and Virat Kohli will be at number three.
Rohit and Finch as Openers:
“So, Let’s start with Indian Rohit Sharma as the opener. He has smashed 2438 runs with an average of 32 and an amazing strike rate of 140. It is usually said that any player who has a combination of average and strike rate above 170 is a good T20I player. Rohit is not good, he is a brilliant Twenty20 player.”
“To be Rohit’s partner, I have picked another right-handed Australian batsman in Aaron Finch. He is famous for his Finch-hitting. Virat Kohli will be at number three for sure. He is the highest run-getter in the format in the last 10 years,” he said.
For the middle order, at the number 4 slot, Aakash Chopra chose Bangladesh all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan for his outstanding abilities. At number 5 he picked Joss Bullter ahead of MS Dhoni. Chopra said Buttler is a “game-changer” in this format.
“At number 5, I will pick Jos Buttler. I was a bit dicey about MS Dhoni and Jos Buttler, but Buttler has scored 1551 runs at a strike rate of 140. He is a game-changer, let’s be fair,” he added.
The cricketer turned commentator then picked Glenn Maxwell and Kieron Pollard as his tow specialist all-rounders. Further, he added Rashid Khan to the squad as a sole spinner for the side.
Picking his seam options, Chopra went with two yorker specialists, Lasith Malinga and Jasprit Bumrah. However, he added Mitchell Starc to the side for his number of variations with pace and accuracy.
“I will go with Jasprit Bumrah and Lasith Malinga as the pace options. They execute brilliant toe crushers, outstanding variations like slower, bouncers.”
“Last but not the least, I have gone with Australian left-arm pacer Mitchell Starc. To be honest, he has played only 35 games but I couldn’t get another bowler like him. 47 wickets at 19.38 with an economy of 6.95. I made an exception for him as he is the only player I have picked who has played less than 40 T20I games in the last 10 years,” Aakash Chopra concluded.
Aakash Chopra’s T20I team of the decade:
Rohit Sharma, Aaron Finch, Virat Kohli, Shakib Al Hasan, Jos Buttler (wk), Glenn Maxwell, Kieron Pollard, Rashid Khan, Jasprit Bumrah, Lasith Malinga, Mitchell Starc.
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