Renowned Hindi broadcaster and commentator, Aakash Chopra, has picked his all-time T20 XI amongst players who were not able to feature in the newest format of the game.
The T20 game came into the reckoning through a domestic tournament in England. The theme slowly picked up all around the globe like wildfire before the very first T20I game was played between Australia and New Zealand in 2006.
However, some of the greats of the bygone era would have loved the lip-smacking action of the T20 game. Therefore, Chopra decided to call out his lineup of all-time XI who were not able to feature in the shortest format of the game.
Mostly the players belong to the golden era of the 80s and the 90s. It’s not a matter of surprise that five West Indians feature in Chopra’s selection of players, starring Gordon Greenidge, Brian Lara, Joel Garner, Sir Viv Richards and Sir Gary Sobers.
The three out of the five West Indians in the lineup were part of the invincible squad which dominated world cricket for a good portion of a couple of decades.
Chopra included the three players out of the famous quartet of all-rounders, namely Kapil Dev, Imran Khan and Ian Botham, excluding Richard Hadlee.
Along with Imran, Chopra also added ‘the Sultan of Swing’ Wasim Akram from Pakistan. Barry Richards from South Africa and Andy Flower from Zimbabwe represent the African contingent in the lineup.
Additionally, the side is captained by 1992 World Cup-winning skipper, Imran Khan, while Flower dons the gloves in the side.
Here’s the lineup:
Gordon Greenidge, Barry Richards, Brian Lara, Sir Viv Richards, Kapil Dev, Imran Khan (c), Sir Ian Botham, Sir Gary Sobers, Andy Flower (wk), Wasim Akram, Joel Garner.
