The International Cricket Council revealed its ‘team of the tournament' after a blazing T20 World Cup, held in the United Arab Emirates and Oman.
The selection of the team was made by a five-member panel that included commentators Ian Bishop, Shane Watson and Natalie Germanos along with journalists Lawrence Booth and Shahid Hashmi.
Bishop, speaking on the process of the selection stated that they wanted to pick the players in their natural positions but they had to make compromises owing to the exceptional performances of certain individuals.
“We endeavoured to select players as close to their initial team position where possible. This intention was not always a reality, as some compromises had to be made.” Bishop said.
The team comprises of five specialist batsmen in David Warner, Jos Buttler (wk), Babar Azam, Charith Asalanka and Aiden Markram, Moeen Ali playing as the spin bowling all rounder, two spinners in Wanindu Hasaranga and Azam Zampa along with three pacers, Trent Boult, Josh Hazlewood and Anrich Nortje.
Australia, without any question, has the most representations in the team with three of its players occupying key positions.
Finalists New Zealand have only one player in Trent Boult representing them in the team of the tournament after his incredible showing of 13 wickets in the tournament with an economy of just 6.25.
He was exceptional in the final as well picking up 2 wickets for 18 runs in his spell of 4 overs.
The team is led by Babar Azam who equalled Mathew Hayden and Virat Kohli’s record of hitting four 50s in the tournament, subsequently taking home the record of most runs scored in the 2021 edition of the World Cup. He scored 303 runs at an astonishing average of 60.60 and was followed by David Warner with 289 runs to his name.
Bishop stated that he rues the non-selection of Mohammad Rizwan, but with the top three of this team in such mind-boggling form, it would not have made sense to push Rizwan so far down the order.
“The top three in the order were so outstanding that we could not leave any of them out. Notable absentees include Mohammed Rizwan who was simply outstanding and courageous in his performance. However, we could not fit him into the team too far outside of the opening position where he is most suited and successful.”
Shaheen Shah Afridi was selected as the 12th man for this team.