Indian batting star Virat Kohli was on Monday named captain of the ICC World Twenty20 XI, which had no place for current skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni but featured veteran seamer Ashish Nehra.
For the second successive time, an Indian has been named captain of the all-star XI and incidentally it was Dhoni, who was declared skipper after the previous edition in Bangladesh where India reached the final. Four Indians had made the ICC XI after the previous edition and the number has dropped to two this time.
Kohli was adjudged Man of the Tournament for his sublime form which made him the backbone of India’s batting line-up.
He scored 273 runs with a staggering average of 136.50 and an equally astounding strike-rate of 146.77 with three 50 plus scores.
“Although I’m disappointed that we were not able to make it through to the final and win the ICC World Twenty20 title on home soil, I’m proud to be named player of the tournament,” Kohli said in a statement released by the BCCI’s official website.
“As a team, we have all loved the experience of playing in this event in front of big, passionate home crowds and I’m pleased the tournament in India has been successfully staged.
And I’d like to add my congratulations to the West Indies men’s and women’s squads for their successes,” he added.
The prolific right-hander hit 29 boundaries and five sixes in all and was second in the list of leading run-getters behind Tamim Iqbal of Bangladesh, who scored 295 runs.
Nehra handed India an early breakthrough in almost every game. He took only five wickets but was economical in all five games.
A select group of former cricketers and commentators picked up both the men’s and women’s teams for all conditions on the basis of the players’ performances in the World T20, which concluded here last night with West Indies winning both the titles.
Besides two Indians, the men’s team also comprised four players from runners-up England, two from the West Indies and one each from Australia, Bangladesh, New Zealand and South Africa. It also included a 12th man in Mustafizur Rahman of Bangladesh. The team did not feature any Pakistani player.
The women’s team, meanwhile, did not have any Indian cricketer. It comprised four players from New Zealand, two players each from Australia, England and the West Indies, and one each from Pakistan and South Africa.
Stafanie Taylor of the West Indies was named skipper of the women’s team.
The selection panel that chose the teams comprised Geoff Allardice (ICC General Manager ܻ Cricket, Chairman), Ian Bishop (former West Indies fast bowler), Nasser Hussain (former England captain), Mel Jones (former Australia women’s batter), Sanjay Manjrekar (former India batsman), Lisa Sthalekar (former Australia women’s all-rounder).
Announcing the squads, ICC General Manager, Cricket, Geoff Allardice, who chaired the meeting, said: “The experts had an extremely difficult task to select the men’s and women’s squads from around 400 cricketers who represented the 26 teams, thanks to outstanding performances by all the players at this hugely successful event.
Men’s World T20 XI: Jason Roy (England), Quinton de Kock (South Africa, wicketkeeper), Virat Kohli (India, captain), Joe Root (England), Jos Buttler (England), Shane Watson (Australia), Andre Russell (West Indies), Mitchell Santner (New Zealand), David Willey (England), Samuel Badree (West Indies), Ashish Nehra (India), 12th man — Mustafizur Rahman (Bangladesh).
Women’s T20 XI: Suzie Bates (New Zealand), Charlotte Edwards (England), Meg Lanning (Australia), Stafanie Taylor (West Indies, captain), Sophie Devine (New Zealand), Rachel Priest (New Zealand, wicketkeeper), Deandra Dottin (West Indies), Megan Schutt (Australia), Sune Luus (South Africa), Leigh Kasperek (New Zealand), Anya Shrubsole (England), 12th player — Anam Amin (Pakistan).
