Former England skipper Michael Vaughan has picked his combined XI for the upcoming ICC Cricket World Cup. Breaking the trend, Vaughan decided to stay ahead of the game by naming his team before the tournament opener between England and South Africa on May 30.
Vaughan picked three Indians, three Englishmen, two Australians, two Pakistanis and one New Zealander in his dream XI.
He decided to open the innings with India’s vice-captain Rohit Sharma and Australian southpaw David Warner. “Rohit hasn’t just scored centuries, he has scored double centuries. David Warner gets in all my format teams- tests, ODIs and T20s,” Vaughan said on Twitter.
Quite understandably, Vaughan chose India captain Virat Kohli for No. 3 position but surprisingly went for Pakistan’s Babar Azam as his No. 4 instead of the experienced lot of Steve Smith, Ross Taylor and Eoin Morgan.
The 44-year-old added swashbuckling Jos Buttler in his side instead of the calm and composed MS Dhoni. He also picked Ben Stokes and Australia’s Pat Cummins as his two all-rounders in the final XI.
Heaping praise on Stokes, the former England cricketer said, “High-class all-rounder, always in the game, whether with the bat in hand, the ball in hand or in the field. He’ll always create an impact.”
Commenting on Cummins, Vaughan said, “An incredible new ball bowler, in the middle with some strong hitting with the bat and high class in the field.”
Among bowlers, Vaughan picked two leg-spinners in Adil Rashid and Pakistan’s Shadab Khan. His seam bowlers options were India’s Jasprit Bumrah and New Zealand’s Trent Boult.
Vaughan hailed Bumrah as the best limited overs bowler of the world. “The best white ball bowler in the world, quality at the start and outstanding at the death. Probably the best yorker bowler in world cricket as we speak,” he added.
Michael Vaughan’s combined XI:
Rohit Sharma, David Warner, Virat Kohli, Babar Azam, Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler, Shadab Khan, Pat Cummins, Adil Rashid, Jasprit Bumrah, Trent Boult.
12th man – Rashid Khan
