Virat Kohli OUT; Rashid Khan captain instead of Rohit Sharma- Cricket Australia announces the Team of T20 World Cup 2024

The Australian Board have announced their best combined playing XI of the ICC T20 World Cup 2024 and made a bizarre captaincy choice, snubbing Rohit Sharma. 

Cricket Australia's best playing XI of the T20 World Cup 2024 comes weeks after their National team led by Mitchell Marsh, exited the tournament. The Baggy Greens, who were considered favorites to win the biggest prize of the shortest format, were knocked out of the Super 8 stages itself. 

Australia made it difficult for themselves after losing back-to-back matches in the last 8 after winning their opening match against Bangladesh. Mitchell Marsh and Co. first lost to the Rashid Khan-led Afghanistan team before suffering a bitter defeat at the hands of Rohit Sharma's Men in Blue.

From chasing a spot in the last stages of the tournament, Australia ended up having nothing after a Golden 2023 calendar year. Under Pat Cummins' captaincy, the Aussies peaked in World Cricket last year, winning the World Test Championship as well as the Cricket World Cup final. On both occasions, it was Rohit Sharma's Indian team who collected the runners-up medals first in Oval and then in Gujarat. 

Last week, Rohit Sharma and his team were able to get their revenge on the Australians by knocking them out of the T20 World Cup in West Indies and USA. If India hadn't defeated them in that Super 8 match, then Mitchell Marsh's side would have been in contention to become World Champions across all forms of the game. 

This speaks volumes about the kind of dominance they have over World Cricket. For a fact, the Aussies are expected to become even more lethal after their exit from the T20 World Cup as they will get back, reassess, and stage a comeback in a trademark Australian way. Tonight they will be watching either South Africa or India at the T20 WC final in Barbados. 

And ahead of the final later today, Cricket Australia released a decent-looking combined playing XI for the T20 WC 2024 but fans are quite upset about something. 

Cricket Australia make Rashid Khan the captain of the tournament instead of Rohit Sharma 

Fans are unhappy about the fact that the Australian board thought of Rashid Khan as the best captain seen in this tournament and not Rohit Sharma. Although they did include Rohit in the playing XI top open with left-hander Travis Head, no one can understand why and how Rashid Khan is the captain of the T20 WC. 

While Rohit Sharma has led from the front, making his own decisions, Rashid Khan has taken plenty of help from Afghanistan's coaching staff. The Afghans might have become first-time semi-finalists at an ICC event but Rashid was constantly backed by Jonathon Trott and Dwayne Bravo.

Cricket Australia's XI of the T20 World Cup 2024 

The top-order of Australia's best T20 WC playing XI looks extremely lethal as there are some notable big hitters. Rohit Sharma finds Travis Head as the opening partner with West Indies' Nicholas Pooran and USA's Aaron Jones forming the number 3 and 4 pairing.

In the middle-order Aussie All-rounder Marcus Stoinis finds himself with Indian vice-captain Hardik Pandya, who has been very explosive. At number 7, CA has put skipper Rashid Khan with Bangladesh's Rishad Hossain the other wrist spinner in the team. South Africa's Anrich Nortje, India's Jasprit Bumrah, and Afghanistan's Fazalhaq Farooqi form the fast bowling attack.