Islamabad: Former Pakistan cricketer Rohit Sharma and star batsman Virat Kohli have been left out of the 2021 Twenty20 XI selected by Danish Kaneria. Meanwhile, three Indian players have been named in the squad.
All-rounder Ravindra Jadeja, off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin and pace bowler Jaspreet Bumra are the other Indian players in Kaneria’s XI.
Pakistan’s Mohammad Rizwan and Babur Azam are the openers in the team. England wicketkeeper-batsman Jose Butler is third. England’s Liam Livingston will be fourth and Mitchell Marsh fifth.
Rizwan and Babur did well at the 2021 Twenty20 World Cup. Rizwan has scored 1,326 runs in 29 games at an average of 75.06 this year. Rizwan is also the only player to score more than 1000 runs in a Twenty20 in a calendar year.
Also, Rizwan’s opening partner and Pakistan captain Babur has scored 939 runs in 29 matches this year.
‘Mohammad Rizwan and Babur Azam are my openers. They performed well throughout 2021. Their performance in the Twenty20 World Cup was excellent. They also shone in the recently concluded series against the West Indies, ”Kaneria said.
‘Rohit, Kohli, K.L. People will suddenly say that they want to choose one of Rahul and him. But I would choose Butler. He played well and scored a century in the World Cup. That’s why he deserves that position, “Kaneria added. Indian wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant is 12th in the XI.
Twenty20 XI:
Babur Assam, Mohammad Rizwan, Jose Butler, Liam Livingstone, Mitchell Marsh, Ravindra Jadeja, R. Ashwin, Shaheen Afridi, Trent Boult, Adam Sampa, Jaspreet Bumra.
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