ICC World Cup 2019: Skippers of all Participating Teams Reveal One Player They Want in Their Team

The top ten ODI teams will battle it out in the upcoming ICC World Cup 2019 in England and Wales starting from May 30. However, ahead of the marquee tournament, the skippers were put in a difficult position on Thursday when they were asked which rival player they wish was part of their squads. England and South Africa will play the tournament opener while the iconic Lord’s Stadium will host the final on July 14.

Skippers attend chat session ahead of World Cup

Meanwhile, each captain was present at the Cricket World Cup media day and were put on the spot by a schoolchild who asked which one rival player they would add to their own squads if given the opportunity. While England’s Eoin Morgan, West Indies’ Jason Holder and Afghanistan’s Gulbadin Naib batted away the question, the other captains were happy to respond.

Also read: ICC World Cup 2019: Jofra Archer Can Prove to be an X-Factor For England – Virat Kohli

England skipper Eoin Morgan dodged the question and said that he will be happy to have former Australia skipper Ricky Ponting in the squad. Ponting is currently in England with the Australia team as an assistant coach.

“I came to know about Ricky Ponting coaching Australian team so definitely I would love to have him in my side,” Morgan said.

Indian National Cricket Team skipper Virat Kohli likes to play it in the frontfoot and gave a clear cut answer. Kohli said if Ab de Villiers hadn’t retired, he would have gone with him. But with de Villiers not available for selection, Kohli went with South Africa skipper Faf du Plessis.

“AB is retired I would have definitely picked him but have to pick from the active lot so I’ll pick FAF du Plessis, he is a great friend and definitely someone with whom I would like to bat,” Kohli said.

Also read: World Cup 2019: Tom Latham Ruled Out Of Warm-Up Games

Pakistan skipper Sarfraz Ahmed batted for England’s Jos Buttler while Jason Holder and Afghanistan skipper Gulbadin Naib refrained from picking any specific player.

” Jos Buttler, would pick Buttler in my side,” Sarfraz said.

Faf du Plessis, meanwhile, had a varied choice as he picked Jasprit Bumrah and Pat Cummins as the bowlers while Virat Kohli was at the top of his choice among batsman. Du Plessis believes the bowlers will play a key role in the winning the tournament. He echoed the same line of that famous quote saying ‘batsman win you matches while bowlers win you tournament’.

“Pitches are really good, there are going to be plenty of runs so I believe bowling is going to win u matches in later part of the tournament. Bumrah is bowling really well in all formats and from Australia Pattrick Cummins. I would like to have bowlers like them in my team and batsman would definitely be Virat Kohli,”du Plessis said.

Also read: ICC World Cup 2019: England Rope in Saqlain Mushtaq to Assist the Spinners

To conclude Aussie skipper Aaron Finch picked South Africa fast bowler Kagiso Rabada saying that he can win matches on his own. On the other hand, Dimuth Karunaratne went with Ben Stokes while Mashrafe Mortaza picked Virat Kohli.

“I would pick KG Rabada. He is phenomenal and someone who can win you games on his own,” Finch said.

“I would include ben stokes in my team. He can win u matches on his day and he is someone I would like to have on my side,” Karunaratne was clear with his opinion.

“That guy sitting there, Virat Kohli. He is someone I would love to have in my team,” Mortaza, who is playing his last World Cup ended the poll.