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Afghanistan cricket legend Rashid Khan picked the GOAT of T20 cricket through a This or That format challenge via ESPN Cricinfo. There were a total of eight contenders in the challenge, including Rashid Khan himself.
Virat Kohli was one of the favourites to claim the No.1 spot in the rankings, but surprisingly, it was not the former India captain, but another Team India star, who got the T20 cricket GOAT title from Rashid Khan.
Eight players were in contention to become the T20 GOAT
The challenge was split into three stages. The first round, which was the quarter-finals, comprised eight cricketers. Rashid, Sunil Narine, AB de Villiers, Andre Russell, Kohli, Chris Gayle, Jasprit Bumrah, and Kieron Pollard were the contenders in the challenge.
The discussion started with the comparison between Rashid and the former West Indies spinner Sunil Narine. Rashid Khan picked himself over Narine. While Rashid has 740 wickets in 550 matches, Narine has 658 in 617 games.
The next set of comparisons was between two big hitters, AB de Villiers and Andre Russell. Rashid chose Villiers over Russell. Talking about their batting stats, the former South African keeper-batter, AB de Villiers, scored 9,424 runs at a strike rate of over 150 in 340 T20 games. On the other hand, the former West Indies all-rounder has scored 9,933 runs at a strike rate of 166.49.
Virat Kohli surpassed Chris Gayle in the challenge
In the third set of players, there were the Indian batting maestro Kohli and another former West Indies batter, Chris Gayle. Taking no time, the legendary Afghan spinner voted for Virat Kohli and eliminated Gayle from the debate. Kohli has gathered 14,000 in 430 T20 matches. Gayle, the fourth-leading T20 scorer, got 14,562 runs.
For the fourth set of players, the competition was between the Indian pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah and Kieron Pollard. Rashid Khan selected Bumrah. It was a pretty tough selection as Pollard was a pace bowling all-rounder for the West Indies cricket team and Jasprit Bumrah is a regular fast bowler for India.
Among the eight players, only four qualified for the next round, which was the semifinals. Rashid Khan, AB de Villiers, Virat Kohli, and Jasprit Bumrah. Kohli's journey came to an end in the semifinals as he faced Jasprit Bumrah. Between Kohli and Bumrah, Rashid Khan named the pacer for a spot in the final.
Rashid Khan picks the GOAT of T20 cricket
The other finalist was the former South Africa batter AB de Villiers. The Grand Finale, which was between Villiers and Bumrah, was dominated by the Indian pacer. At the end of the challenge, it was Jasprit Bumrah who got the T20 GOAT title from Rashid Khan.
Quarter-finals:
Rashid Khan vs Sunil Narine: Rashid Khan
AB de Villiers vs Andre Russell: AB de Villiers
Virat Kohli vs Chris Gayle: Virat Kohli
Jasprit Bumrah vs Kieron Pollard: Jasprit Bumrah
Semi-finals:
Rashid Khan vs AB de Villiers: AB de Villiers
Virat Kohli vs Jasprit Bumrah: Jasprit Bumrah
Grand Final:
AB de Villiers vs Jasprit Bumrah: Jasprit Bumrah
