5 Indian players who deserved to be in the World XI squad

Finally, there is some hope on the horizon for Pakistan cricket as the country has successfully hosted two out of the three T20I matches between the Men in Green and World XI, the Asian country's first big home assignment since the terror attack on the Sri Lankan team in 2009.

The World XI, led by Faf du Plessis consists of five South Africans, three Aussies, two West Indians, one each from England, Sri Lanka, New Zealand and Bangladesh.

Unsurprisingly though, the World XI team does not feature a single player from India.

When World XI coach Andy Flower was asked why there was no Indian in his XI, his answer generally spoke about the tightness of the Indian team's calendar and how it would have taken too much time to sort out the issues around getting an Indian or two over to Pakistan.

But, the reality is that the Indian team is resting during the window in which the three T20Is are being played (first ODI vs Australia begins on September 17 and the final match between World XI will be played on September 15). Even then, there are a lot of fringe players, who are better than the ones playing for World XI, available to take part in the historic series.

The ICC and the PCB could have done better in their bid to bring Cricket back to Pakistan by including the few Indian players.

Let us take a look at the Indian players who deserved to be in the World XI squad.

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#5 Suresh Raina

Suresh Raina after scoring a century in the 2014 Champions League T20 final

Suresh Raina might be out of the Indian team at the moment but that does not mean that he is not a good T20 player. With 1307 runs in 55 T20I innings at an average of 30 and a strike-rate of 133, he has made a name for himself in the format.

Without a doubt, Raina has been one of the most consistent T20 players in the world and is the leading run scorer in the history of IPL. Raina brings his A game in this format and has tasted a lot of success by doing so. Adding to that, he is a brilliant fielder, something that can make a considerable difference in the format.

Raina in the middle order would have been a big boost for World XI as they would have had a reliable batsman, who brings in a lot of stability to the middle order.

#4 Jasprit Bumrah

Jasprit Bumrah is one of the best T20 bowlers at the moment

Ever since making his debut in 2016, Bumrah has not only cemented his place in the Indian playing XI in ODIs and T20Is, he also established himself as one of the best limited-overs bowlers around the world.

He ended up as the leading T20I wicket-taker in 2016 with 28 wickets in 22 matches at an average of just below 19 and has replicated similar success in the fifty-over format as well.

He has played just 25 T20I matches so far and has 34 wickets at an average of 18.38 and is currently ranked number 2 in the ICC T20I rankings for the bowlers.

The World number one bowler is from Pakistan and the next best is not even a part of the tournament.

#3 Rohit Sharma

One of the three Indians to have scored a century in all three formats

Even when Rohit Sharma was in and out of the ODI team before cementing his place as an opener, he was one of India's better T20 players. He rose to prominence at the international level by scoring a fifty against South Africa in the 2007 World T20 and since then, there was no turning back for the right-hander in this format.

Once he was promoted to open the innings, Rohit improved on his consistency and played longer innings more often than not(everyone knows what he does if he plays a long innings).

He is easily one of the top five openers in limited-overs cricket at the moment and could have easily made a difference for World XI at the top of the order. Hashim Amla and Rohit Sharma opening the innings will give the opposition bowlers nightmare.

#2 Yuvraj Singh

The sixer King

Before the emergence of Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh was considered as the greatest T20I batsman to have represented the Indian team. In other words, once can also say that he is the one who made the fans gain interest in the format when he hit six sixes in an over bowled by Stuart Broad and helped India win the 2007 World T20.

Yuvraj, also fondly called as the sixer king by his fans, is a crowd puller in spite of not being a regular in the current Indian side. The dashing southpaw is still in the scheme of things of Indian selectors unlike few players, who have retired from one format or played their last international match years ago and are still playing for World XI.

To back Yuvraj's case, he is not even a part of the Indian team for the Australia series and could have played for the World XI in the mean time. He has the ability to turn the game on its head in a matter of few balls and can be a perfect fit for any T20 side.

#1 Virat Kohli

The Best in the World

If there is a World XI team to be picked, especially to play in a limited-overs tournament, the first name on that list has to be that of India's skipper Virat Kohli. Kohli is by far the best batsman in both ODIs and T20Is and would have walked into World XI team.

His T20 numbers are so good that it will be difficult for any batsman to replicate them in the future. Last year, he scored 641 runs in 13 innings at an average of 107 and a strike-rate of 140 in the format. Adding to that, he amassed over 950 runs in the IPL and had a Bradmanesque Kohliesque run in the year.

Kohli continued his good run in 2017 as he has already scored 173 runs in five innings at a similar strike-rate and an average of 35.

Leaving out someone like Virat Kohli from a World XI team is unfair, but whose loss is that? Kohli's or the team's?