Amid lockdown, many current and former cricketers are engaging in different activities to pass the time and also interact with fans on social media. Recently, legendary off-spinner from Australia Shane Warne revealed his favourite teams from all the nations. Now, the trend has been carried forward by former Pakistan all-rounder Shahid Afridi.
Afridi named his all-time XI which featured many legends of the game. He picked cricket icon, Sachin Tendulkar, as the only Indian in his XI. Afridi included five Pakistani, four Australians and one South African in his team.
Afridi picked Saeed Anwar and Adam Gilchrist as the openers. Anwar has scored 4052 runs in 55 Tests with an average of 45.50, including 11 hundreds and 25 fifties. Gilchrist, on the other hand, has clubbed 5570 runs in 96 Tests with 204 being his highest score.
At number three, Afridi went with former Aussie skipper Ricky Ponting, while Tendulkar was chosen for number four spot. Tendulkar with 15921 runs in 200 Tests is the highest run-scorer in red-ball format, while Ponting with 13378 runs is right behind Tendulkar at the second place.
For the following position, Afridi picked one of the finest Pakistani batsman Inzamam-ul-Haq. The former Pakistani captain scored 8830 runs in the longest format. He also smashed 25 tons and 46 half-centuries.
Afridi went with Jacques Kallis as the only all-rounder. While Rashid Latif was picked for the role of wicket-keeper. Among bowlers, the 40-year-old went with Shane Warne as the only spinner in his team. Warne has taken 708 wickets in 145 Tests and is the second-highest wicket-taker in red-ball cricket.
For the pacers, the power-striker picked Pakistan’s Wasim Akram, Shoaib Akhtar, and Australia’s Glenn McGrath. The trio took 1155 wickets in Test cricket.
Here is Shahid Afridi’s all-time XI:
Saeed Anwar, Adam Gilchrist, Ricky Ponting, Sachin Tendulkar, Inzamam-ul-Haq, Jacques Kallis, Rashid Latif (wk), Wasim Akram, Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath, Shoaib Akhtar.
