Babar Azam picks his World XI; Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah OUT, only 2 Indians picked

Pakistani cricketer Babar Azam has picked the World XI in T20 International Cricket, featuring stars from India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, England, and Australia. Babar Azam has surprisingly ignored Virat Kohli and Jasprit Bumrah in his T20I World XI despite their tall stature in the format.

Azam has selected two players from each country—Pakistan, India, England, Australia, and South Africa—while one player made the cut from Afghanistan, and he is none other than the spin wizard Rashid Khan.

Babar Azam snubs Virat Kohli from his World XI in T20Is

Virat Kohli is the third most successful player with 4188 runs in T20 International cricket, but still, he has not found a place in Babar Azam's World XI, as he went with his Pakistani teammate Fakhar Zaman for the number three spot. He has picked Rohit Sharma and Mohammad Rizwan as his openers.

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Rohit Sharma is the leading T20I run-scorer in the world with 4231 runs in 151 innings with the help of five hundreds and 52 fifties to his name, and he deserved to be there, thanks to his destructive batting as an opener in the format. Rizwan is at the seventh spot with 3414 runs in 93 T20I innings.

Babar, who is the second leading run-scorer in T20I cricket with 4223 runs, has handed the No. 4 position to India’s captain in the shorter format, Suryakumar Yadav, who is one of the most dangerous batters in the format. Suryakumar has 2598 runs in 83 T20I matches to his name.

Rashid Khan picked as the sole spinner in Babar Azam's World XI

Former England captain Jos Buttler, the fifth leading T20I run scorer with 3535 runs, has found a place in Babar’s World XI at No. 5, followed by South Africa hard-hitter David Miller (2591 runs in 130 T20Is) at No. 6. Proteas all-rounder Marco Jansen was drafted at No. 7 by Azam.

Marco Jansen is a rising sensation who has played 17 T20Is so far for South Africa and scored 166 runs while taking 16 wickets. Jansen also has 123 wickets and 982 runs in 110 T20 matches. Babar has picked the sole spinner in his World XI in Rashid Khan, who can outsmart the best.

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Rashid has 642 wickets in 473 T20s and 161 wickets in 96 T20Is to his name. Afghanistan’s global superstar is a household name in the T20 franchise world and single-handedly won many matches for his country. He is also a handy batter with 467 T20I and 2573 T20 runs to his name.

Babar Azam leaves out Jasprit Bumrah, as Pat Cummins, picks Mitchell Starc and Mark Wood in his pace attack

Babar has picked a strong pace attack featuring the Australian duo Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc along with England speedster Mark Wood, overlooking Jasprit Bumrah despite his being a premier pacer in the world at the moment.

Bumrah can trouble any batter with his unconventional high-arm action, the ability to swing the ball both ways, his ability to extract seam movement, and, most importantly, in any phase of the match. Bumrah has so far managed 89 wickets in 70 T20I games.

On the other hand, Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc have 66 wickets in 57 matches and 79 wickets in 65 games, respectively, so far for Australia. England’s Mark Wood has 54 wickets in 38 T20Is so far.

Babar Azam’s World XI in T20I Cricket:

Rohit Sharma, Mohammad Rizwan, Fakhar Zaman, Suryakumar Yadav, Jos Buttler, David Miller, Marco Jansen, Rashid Khan, Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, and Mark Wood.

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