ICC World T20 Dream Team!

With just under two weeks to go for the world T20 to kick off, the excitement is palpable. The fourth edition of the ICC world T20 will be held in Sri Lanka from September 17^th to October 7^th. Twelve teams will take part in the biennial event. The ten test playing nations along with Afghanistan and Ireland make up the list. Though no team can be considered as a favourite in T20, South Africa looks to be the most formidable of the lot. India, Pakistan, Australia and the hosts are also among the favourites. Defending champions England cannot be ruled out either. Surprisingly the West Indies team has some very good players lined up and on paper might be one of the most complete teams.

So what if the best players from each team were selected and assembled together, like in the expendables movie. What would the team look like? Let’s have a look!

The Openers

Sehwag and Gayle

Openers are the key to every team’s fortunes and play an integral part in the final outcome of the game. Openers can either make or break the game. The openers selected would be Virender Sehwag and Chris Gayle. They are two of the most destructive players ever to grace the game of cricket. With Gayle partnering Sehwag at the top, there’s no telling what score would be enough for the opponent. The pair is every bowler’s nightmare; it would be bad enough to be bowling to one of them, but to bowl to both of them at the same time? That would require the bravest of bravehearts!

The Middle order and Finishers

Kallis, Yuvraj, Watson, Afridi and Dhoni

The job of the middle order batsmen is to get their eye in, protect their wicket, score at a decent clip and then explode. The job of the finisher on the other hand is to score boundaries right from the first ball and send the fielders scampering for cover. Jacques Kallis at one drop lends solidarity to the team, in case of any early breakthrough. Kallis can switch gears effortlessly and is a handy bowler to boot.

Yuvraj Singh and Shane Watson at No. 4 and No.5 are the ideal players for these two positions. Yuvraj Singh is one of the cleanest strikers of the cricket ball and is very pleasing to watch. With clean strokes and deft placement, Yuvraj Singh is the perfect batsman for any format of the game. Shane Watson can use his brute force to unsettle the best of bowling attacks. Watson is a power hitter and when he is around the flow of runs will never cease.

Shahid “Boom Boom” Afridi and Mahendra Singh Dhoni are two of the best finishers the game has seen. While Afridi is more of a hit and miss player, Dhoni is Mr. Consistent. When Afridi gets going, he seems like a completely different player who is in total control of himself. Dhoni is one of the most consistent players around with an amazing average. Dhoni adapts to the situation perfectly and is also a very smart wicket keeper.

The Spinners

Shakib-Al-Hasan and Daniel Vettori

Spinners play a vital part in restricting the flow of runs and in strangling the batsmen. Shakib and Vettori are very experienced and can tangle the batsmen with their webs of deceit. Both of them can restrict the flow of runs to a trickle and also pick up wickets at crucial intervals. In the subcontinent, the duo will come in handy. To top it all, both of them are world class all-rounders who excel with the bat.

The Pacemen

Dale Steyn and Lasith Malinga

Fast bowlers are the ones who get hit the most and the bowlers have to be smart to avoid becoming cannon fodder, especially in the subcontinent. But when the bowlers happen to be Mr. Steyn and Mr. Malinga, the pitch really doesn’t matter. Steyn is undoubtedly one of the best fast bowlers of our time. Malinga is the best death bowler in recent times.

Malinga has always been an exceptional bowler at the death. With his toe crushing yorkers, most of the batsmen find it very hard to play him and see out the over without trying to smash him out of the park. Steyn can knock over a team within minutes with his sheer pace. Steyn and Malinga together are similar to Sehwag and Gayle at the top, both pairs are unstoppable!

The Team

1) Sehwag

2) Gayle

3) Kallis

4) Yuvraj

5) Watson

6) Afridi

7) Dhoni (wk) (captain)

8) Shakib

9) Vettori

10) Malinga

11) Steyn