Former Indian cricketer Aakash Chopra has revealed his men’s ODI team of the decade, which featured some surprising omissions.
The 42-year-old posted his choices on micro-blogging site Twitter, writing “#AakashVani Awards for the best in ODI in 2010s (decade)” and asking the fans their thoughts on the much-debated XI.
Hashim Amla and AB de Villiers make the cut with the classy batsman chosen as an opener, while Mr 360, who retired in 2018, coming in at no.4. Chopra also picked Ross Taylor ahead of David Warner, Joe Root, and Kane Williamson, which surprised many, but the former Kiwi skipper scored 6428 runs in 155 ODIs.
Chopra picked the two highest run-scorers in ODIs – Kohli and Rohit – in the team as well, while MS Dhoni was chosen for the role of a wicketkeeper. Kohli scored 11125 runs, while Rohit slammed 8249 runs in the decade.
The cricketer-turned-commentator then has Shakib al Hasan and Lasith Malinga in his XI. Bangladesh’s all-rounder has been phenomenal with 4276 runs and 177 wickets to his name in this decade. Malinga, on the other hand, picked 248 wickets in 162 ODIs and also picked two hat-tricks in the format, both coming in 2011. Jasprit Bumrah, who made his debut against Australia in 2016, claimed 103 wickets in just 58 matches.
Chopra completed his ODI team of the decade by including Australia’s left-arm pacer Mitchell Starc and the Proteas leg-spinner Imran Tahir. Starc was the ‘Man of the Tournament’ in the 2015 World Cup, which Australia won, and he was also the joint highest wicket-taker along with New Zealand seamer Trent Boult. Starc repeated his magic in the 2019 World Cup and once again ended up as the leading wicket-taker. He picked 172 wickets in 85 ODI in the last decade.
Meanwhile, Tahir, who retired from ODI cricket last year, scalped 173 wickets in 107 games with the best of 7/45 and had a fantastic farewell performance in the 2019 World Cup.
#AakashVani Awards for the best in ODI in 2010s (decade)
Rohit
Amla
Kohli
ABDV
Ross Taylor
M S Dhoni
Shakib
Malinga
Starc
Bumrah
TahirWhat’s yours??
— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) January 3, 2020
Aakash Chopra’s ODI team of the decade:
Rohit Sharma, Hashim Amla, Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers, Ross Taylor, MS Dhoni, Shakib al Hasan, Lasith Malinga, Mitchell Starc, Jasprit Bumrah, Imran Tahir
