T20 World Cup 2021: Dinesh Karthik picks his XI of the tournament; only one Indian makes the cut

Australia, England, Pakistan and New Zealand advanced to the semifinals of the tournament.

After the conclusion of the group stage of the T20 World Cup 2021, India veteran Dinesh Karthik has revealed his team of the tournament despite the Men in Blue not advancing to the semi-finals, having finished third in their group.

Karthik took note of all the noteworthy performances from the players during the course of the group stage of the T20 World Cup in UAE and picked the 11 best performers. However, only one Indian player made the cut in his final XI.

At the top of the batting order, Karthik went with Pakistan skipper Babar Azam who has 4 half-centuries in 5 matches, making 264 runs, the most in the tournament thus far and partnering him in the opening slot in the tournament’s second-highest run-getter thus far, England’s Jos Buttler, who also hit his maiden ton in the T20I format.

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Sri Lanka's Charith Asalanka takes the No. 3 spot, having surprised and regaled a lot of cricket fans with his batting abilities. Karthik then went for South Africa’s Rassie van der Dussen, whose 94* helped Proteas hand England their only loss in the group stage.

“Babar Azam, Jos Buttler, Charith Asalanka, Rassie van der Dussen, Shakib al Hasan, Moeen Ali, Wanindu Hasaranga, Adam Zampa, Trent Boult, Jasprit Bumrah and Shaheen Afridi. Would have ideally liked Morgan as he has been the best captain for me, but has not done enough as a batter. So, I went for Azam. Van der Dussen is a very clever batsman,” Karthik said on Cricbuzz.

He then named Bangladesh’s Shakib Al Hasan and England’s Moeen Ali as all-rounders his XI. After them, Karthik picked the likes of Wanindu Hasaranga, Adam Zampa, Trent Boult, and Shaheen Afridi. The only Indian he picked in his XI was Jasprit Bumrah.

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Karthik said: “The tournament has been dominated by bowlers. So, you can see I have picked 7 proper bowlers. If Australia is in the semi-final, a huge hand has to go to Zampa. Afridi has looked class apart from the rest”.

Dinesh Karthik's T20 World Cup 2021 Team of the tournament:

Babar Azam, Jos Buttler, Charith Asalanka, Rassie van der Dussen, Shakib al Hasan, Moeen Ali, Wanindu Hasaranga, Adam Zampa, Trent Boult, Jasprit Bumrah and Shaheen Afridi

(Cricbuzz inputs)