Recently, the former Indian Test opening batsman Aakash Chopra has revealed his all-time Best World T20 XI. Many cricket fans will agree with his World XI squad selection. A total of four Indian cricketers have been named in this squad.
T20 cricket started in 2003. Later, on 17th February 2005, Australia and New Zealand played the first-ever T20I. Since then, the T20 cricket has grown up hugely. Now, the shortest cricket format has taken over the global limelight. This shortest format of cricket has made a huge impact on the cricket world.
After his cricket career, who was the longest format specialist, Aakash Chopra has recently revealed his all-time Best World T20 XI.
Aakash Chopra named four Indians, two Caribbean, one each from Afghanistan, Australia, Pakistan, South Africa and Sri Lanka
Talking about the opening partners in this list, Aakash Chopra has chosen the Caribbean star Chris Gayle and Australian opener David Warner. Chris Gayle has achieved many records in T20 career. Apart from scoring most runs in a T20 innings (175*), Chris Gayle is the only batsman to score 10,000+ runs in T20 career (13,152 runs). Till the date, he is also the only player to play 400 T20 matches.
Australian opener David Warner is another aggressive opener and one of the top-most runs-scorer in T20 cricket history. He has already scored 9,090 runs 277 T20s and he is standing in the fifth position in the table of most runs in T20 career.
The next two cricketers in the list of Aakash Chopra’s all-time Best World T20 XI are Indians and the names are Rohit Sharma and the Indian captain Virat Kohli. While Rohit is the leading run-scorer (2,539 runs) in T20I history, Kohli is the second leading run-scorer (2,450 runs) in T20I history. However, Aakash Chopra has chosen Rohit Sharma for the no.3 batting position, unlike his present duty for the regular T20I cricket (as an opening batsman).
But Aakash Chopra has chosen MS Dhoni as the captain of this World XI. The world cricket knows why Dhoni has been chosen for this role. Under his captaincy, India won the inaugural ICC World T20 in 2007 in South Africa. Also, he has led Chennai Super Kings (CSK) to win five trophies, including three IPL trophies.
Former South African star cricketer AB de Villiers has been named for the fifth position batting while Dhoni is in the no.6 position. AB de Villiers is one of the most versatile cricketers in T20 cricket history. He is currently busy in various T20 leagues in various countries.
Talking about the all-rounders, Aakash Chopra has chosen West Indies all-rounder Andre Russell for his big-hitting ability which can change a game situation in just a quick moment.
The former Indian Test cricketer later named the former Pakistan all-rounder Shahid Afridi. He has chosen Afridi instead of the Caribbean cricketer Sunil Narine. Apart from his non-stop big-hitting ability, Afridi was a successful leg-spinner who was the previous most T20I wicket-taker (presently in the second position in this list with 98 wickets).
Afghanistan leg-spinner Rashid Khan has entered in Aakash Chopra’s favourite World T20 XI squad list. He has impressed with his consistent successful T20 bowling performances all over the world.
Aakash Chopra has chosen Sri Lankan pacer Lasith Malinga and Indian pacer Jasprit Bumrah in his all-time Best World T20 XI squad. Most successful T20I bowler Malinga (106 T20I wickets) has groomed Bumrah that hugely helped the Indian pacer to grow up as a champion bowler. At present, Bumrah is one of India’s dependable bowlers.
Aakash Chopra’s All-Time Best World T20 XI squad: Chris Gayle (West Indies), David Warner (Australia), Rohit Sharma (India), Virat Kohli (India), AB de Villiers (South Africa), MS Dhoni (India; Captain and Wicket-keeper), Andre Russell (West Indies), Shahid Afridi (Pakistan), Rashid Khan (Afghanistan), Lasith Malinga (Sri Lanka) and Jasprit Bumrah (India).