Two Afghanistan all-rounders also made the team.
India's batsmen Mahendra Singh Dhoni (L) and Rohit Sharma talk during the first one-day international (ODI) match between Australia and India at the Sydney Cricket Ground in Sydney on January 12, 2019. (Photo by Saeed Khan / AFP)
Wisden announced its T20 team of the decade on Monday. The team does not include star Indian players Rohit Sharma and MS Dhoni in the team. The Playing XI announced by Wisden consists of only a couple of Indian players and they are Virat Kohli and Jasprit Bumrah. Australia’s limited-overs skipper Aaron Finch has been chosen as the skipper of the team. The team also includes a couple more Aussie players- Shane Watson and Glenn Maxwell. Other than that, two English cricketers- Jos Buttler and David Willey, two Afghanistan all-rounders Mohammad Nabi and Rashid Khan and New Zealand’s Colin Munro and Sri Lanka’s Lasith Malinga were included in the T20I XI of the decade.
The decade of Virat Kohli
On choosing Kohli in the T20I team of the decade, Wisden explained that although Virat’s record in franchise T20 games and domestic T20 games is not extraordinary, his numbers in T20 Internationals are scarcely believable. In the last decade, Virat’s average of 53 is the highest average in this format of the game. Kohli is extremely strong against both spinners and pace bowling which is what makes him a special player. His ability to score runs following the textbook style of batting makes him a complete cricketer and justifies is selection in all T20I, ODI and Test teams of the decade.
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Jasprit Bumrah- the go-to death bowler
There is hardly a better death bowler in limited-overs cricket in modern-day cricket than Jasprit Bumrah. He is not only a wicket-taking option but even when he does not manage to pick wickets, he has a miserly economy which forces the batsmen to try something different and make a mistake. His incredible numbers seem all the more special when viewed keeping in mind that he has bowled most of his overs at the death.
However, former Indian skipper MS Dhoni and Rohit Sharma were not named in the T2oI XI of the decade much to the disappointment of their fans.
Wisden’s T20I team of the decade: Aaron Finch (c), Colin Munro, Virat Kohli, Shane Watson, Glenn Maxwell, Jos Buttler, Mohammad Nabi, David Willey, Rashid Khan, Jasprit Bumrah, Lasith Malinga
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