Not Harry Brook! Michael Vaughan picks star India all-rounder in combined XI

The excitement around the high-voltage semifinal clash between India and England in the T20 World Cup 2026 has been intensified by Michael Vaughan. Ahead of the battle for the title clash, former England captain Michael Vaughan revealed his combined team featuring players from both sides.

New Zealand has already qualified for the T20 World Cup 2026 final, and now the winner of the second semifinal between India and England on March 5 at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai will join them at the summit clash, which is scheduled for March 8.

Michael Vaughan picks a combined India-England XI

Shockingly, Michael Vaughan has overlooked the England captain Harry Brook from his dream combined India and England playing XI that he picked on the Stick to Cricket Podcast. The cricket pandit has picked several Indian stars over big English names due to the home conditions.

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The first comparison was between Ishan Kishan and Phil Salt. Vaughan leaned towards Kishan, backing the aggressive Indian wicketkeeper-batter for his fearless style at the top.

When he was asked to pick the explosive opening battle between Abhishek Sharma and Jos Buttler, Vaughan went with England’s former white-ball captain. Butler's reputation as a powerful T20 match-winner went against the struggling Abhishek.

Harry Brook ignored as Michael Vaughan backs several Indian stars

The former England captain also backed young Indian batter Tilak Varma over England’s rising all-round talent Jacob Bethell. He even picked India’s T20 captain Suryakumar Yadav ahead of England batter Tom Banton because of his unmatched 360-degree batting in the middle order.

One of the biggest moments came when Vaughan had to choose between India’s star all-rounder Hardik Pandya and England’s attacking batter Harry Brook. For T20 cricket, Vaughan clearly preferred Pandya because of his ability to influence matches with both bat and ball, especially under pressure.

However, when the comparison moved to Shivam Dube and Sam Curran, Vaughan gave the edge to Curran. The English all-rounder’s experience in pressure situations worked in his favor.

Axar Patel, Adil Rashid and Jasprit Bumrah get place in Vaughan's dream XI

The round turned interesting when the Englishman had to pick between India’s powerful finisher Rinku Singh and England’s dynamic all-rounder Will Jacks. Vaughan went with Jacks, pointing out his added value with the ball in the big games in the format.

In the spin department, Vaughan favored India’s dependable all-rounder Axar Patel over England's fast-bowling all-rounder Jamie Overton, especially considering the Indian pitches. For the wrist-spin battle, Vaughan went with England’s experienced spinner Adil Rashid over India’s Kuldeep Yadav.

Bumrah? Jacks? Sky? 👀

Vaughany picks his combined India and England team... 🇮🇳 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 pic.twitter.com/3PtzITEAWg

— Stick to Cricket (@StickToCricket) March 5, 2026

But in another spin comparison, the commentator picked India’s unpredictable spin bowler Varun Chakravarthy ahead of England’s Liam Dawson. Finally, Vaughan had to make a tough call when he was asked to make the blockbuster fast-bowling choice. The Englishman picked India’s pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah over England's speedster Jofra Archer.

Michael Vaughan’s combined India-England XI:

Ishan Kishan, Jos Buttler, Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Sam Curran, Will Jacks, Axar Patel, Adil Rashid, Varun Chakravarthy, Jasprit Bumrah.

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