Former Australia all-rounder Shane Watson named his top five players that he would pick as a part of a World T20 XI.
Watson’s list also includes Indian batter Suryakumar Yadav, who has made a giant stride since his debut and currently holding the second spot in the ICC T20I batting rankings.
In the last few years, Watson has taken the coaching job to nurture new talent and, thus, he keeps a close eye on some of the world’s best T20I players.
"First one I would pick would be Babar Azam. He's the No.1 T20I batsman in the world, and he just knows how to dominate. It is like he's not even taking any risks, and he scores incredibly quickly against the best bowlers in the world," said Watson during the recent episode of ICC Review.
"He is going to do very well in Australian conditions (during the T20 World Cup) as well, as his technique is very much built for Australian conditions," he added.
"Second one is Suryakumar Yadav. He is batting incredibly well, and he would be my No.2 pick," continued Watson.
The 41-year-old also expects Suryakumar’s India teammate KL Rahul to do well in T20 World Cup 2022, slated to be held in Australia from October 16 to November 13.
"But I would not be surprised at all if (India team-mate) KL Rahul explodes in the T20 World Cup in Australia, because he is got the game to dominate in these conditions in Australia," he said.
Watson's third pick is the veteran Australian opener David Warner, who was awarded Player-of-the-Tournament’ in the 2021 edition of the T20 World Cup for his 289 runs in seven innings with three fifties.
"No.3 is David Warner. He won the Player of the Tournament in the last men's T20 World Cup, with the Aussies winning, and has scored some great runs for the Delhi Capitals (in the IPL) as well. He is going to have plenty of fire in his belly to make his mark in a T20 World Cup at home, so he is going to be ready to go," he said.
Swashbuckling England opener Jos Buttler is Watson's fourth pick. Buttler has been in explosive form lately, slamming four centuries in the 2022 edition of IPL.
"No.4 for me is going to be Jos Buttler. During the IPL, well a lot of times anyway, no one could get him out. Four hundreds has only been done once before in an IPL, with Virat Kohli doing that (in 2016). When he is in form, and he has been in form, he is just about impossible in T20 cricket to get out," he said.
"He can hit wherever he wants off the best bowlers in the world. And he knows Australian conditions really well, he has played the Big Bash and did very well a few years ago, when I played with him at the Sydney Thunder. So Jos Buttler is going to dominate," he added.
Watson's last pick is Pakistan speedster Shaheen Afridi, who occupies the 13th position in the ICC T20I bowling rankings.
"And the last one is Shaheen Afridi. His wicket-taking ability is something special. We saw in the last men's T20 World Cup his ability to be able to get the best batsmen out with that brand new ball. I would be very surprised if he does not really dominate in Australian conditions, with the ball swinging around and fast, bouncy wickets.
"My only little concern with him is, if he does not take wickets to start with, then he can tail off a little bit. But I am sure he has been working on that. I would be surprised if he does not dominate here," he added.
(With ANI inputs)
