The present best World T20 XI
T20 Cricket has triggered a lot of excitement and anxiety, with nail-biting finishes and close matches. It has encouraged an approach to play with the batsmen's and bowlers' minds, with the view to bowl unexpected variations and play new innovative shots to score runs quickly.
Many of the modern day batting stars wouldn't have been famous, had it not been for T20 cricket. Ranging from AB de Villiers' reverse sweeps to MS Dhoni's helicopter shots to put away yorker length deliveries to Kevin Pietersen's switch hit, T20 cricket has inspired a new repertoire of shots in order to score runs as quickly as ever.
However, with time, bowlers have come up with new variations and styles too, and the whole new experience of this 3 hour, result guaranteeing format has come a long way to become one of the most viewed formats.
Given the current state of affairs in global T20 Cricket, let us have a look at the present best T20 XI team, transcending all national boundaries....
#1 Aaron Finch
The Aussie opener has maintained his spot in the top 5 of the ICC T20 rankings for a very long time now, and that calls for a definite spot in the World T20 XI. Finch has the ability to smash the ball very hard as well as score big by staying at the crease for a considerable period of time.
He holds the record for the top two highest individual scores by a batsman in T20 cricket, a 172 and a 156, with both the innings coming outside his home country. Finch has a colossal strike rate of 158.5 and bats at an average of 41 runs in each T20 International. Those statistics are enough to suggest how extraordinary a batsman he is.
#2 Babar Azam
The young lad from Pakistan has played well enough to prove that he is not to be taken lightly in the shortest format of the game. Azam took the world by storm when he slammed seven Centuries in his first 33 innings and was immediately being compared to greats such as Virat Kohli and etc.
Though he plays at a weak strike rate, he need not worry about it as long as Finch is by his side. Azam has been tremendously consistent at the top and scores runs very freely. What this team would need from him is to stay at the crease for a considerable period of time while Finch and company keep playing the big shots at the other end.
#3 KL Rahul
The Indian batsman, who has already scored 2 hundreds and several fifties in the very few T20 Internationals he has played, has staggering numbers to justify his inclusion. He has a strike rate of 152 and an average of 49, which speaks volumes of his class and worth as a T20 Batsman.
Rahul generally opens the innings but would have to bat at 3 for this side as Azam cannot bat at 3, due to his inability to score runs as quickly. Rahul will get a good opportunity to play his shots with freedom as someone like Babar Azam would not give away his wicket easily and Finch too would be able to provide good starts more often than not.
#4 Colin Munro
Munro has stunned one and all in the last one year with his batting outburst. He had always been this number batsman from New Zealand who could hit the ball hard but was not considered very dangerous and was often dismissed at below average scores. He had never looked as lustrous and eye-catchy a batsman as he has looked in the last 12-14 months as he has started scoring runs in almost every match.
He has begun opening the innings for New Zealand as well as the franchises he represents globally and has given a good bang for the buck. He has begun smashing the cricket ball all over the park at mammoth strike rates and cannot be ignored from this lineup at all.
#5 Glenn Maxwell
Maxwell's career has been pretty variable, with his performances going down shortly after an attractive start. He was being compared to the likes of ABD and Jos Buttler, with all the innovative shots he played, but his performances dipped soon after and he wasn't even making it to the regular Australian XI.
However, the Aussie batting all-rounder has pulled up his socks and is again gaining a good reputation in the T20 format. His ability to chip in with some off-spin adds value to his side apart from the wide range of shots he plays all around the ground.