In a very surprising omission, former India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni and opening batsman Rohit Sharma have been left out of Wisden's T20 International Team of the decade. Even more shockingly, AB de Villiers of South Africa too fails to find a place in the side.
The only possible explanation of this decision by the editors of Wisden seems to be their principle of not taking into consideration the performances of these players in the various T20 leagues around the world. They have strictly measured the value of these players by looking at what they have done in T20Is.
Surprising omissions
MSD, while he remained a key member of his Indian Premier League (IPL) team Chennai Super Kings and led it to many triumphs, he failed to win the World T20 a second time as India skipper. His cause may have also been hurt by the fact that he bats in the middle or lower order, thereby not getting enough opportunities to play big innings.
Rohit's absence is slightly harder to comprehend. He has shown great form in both IPL and T20Is over the second half of the outgoing decade. Still, the selectors of this team have deemed him not good enough to make the cut.
The most surprising is the omission of AB de Villiers of South Africa. Known as Mr 360, the dynamic batsman has become one of the, if not the most sought after players in auctions of various leagues around the world. His shot-making ability and unmatched prowess makes him the most attractive player in the format. Yet, his T20I stats probably weren't enough for these selectors.
The team selected
As far as the team that has been picked is concerned, there are two Indians in it – Virat Kohli and Jasprit Bumrah. Virat's greatness has been expressed through all possible adjectives. He has excelled across all three formats and his performances in T20Is are also incredible. The knock he played against Australia in the 2016 World T20 quarterfinal was simply among the best that have ever been seen in the format.
The team: Aaron Finch (C), Colin Munro, Virat Kohli, Shane Watson, Glenn Maxwell, Jos Buttler (W), Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan, David Willey, Jasprit Bumrah, Lasith Malinga.
Bumrah, on the other hand, has proven to be the best bowler in limited-overs format owning to his great ability to bowl pin-point accurate yorkers. In terms of death-overs bowling, Bumrah has even surpassed Lasith Malinga, also in the team, and emerged as the most difficult bowler to hit away for runs.
Among the other picks, Aaron Finch of Australia has been chosen as the captain of the side while Jos Buttler is the keeper-batsman in the team. Two Afghans – Mohammad Nabi and Rashid Khan – also find place in the XI. Australia has the highest number of representatives in the team with three making the cut – Shane Watson and Glenn Maxwell alongside Finch.
