New Zealand’s Scott Styris has picked the all-time XI of white-ball cricket that he has played against. For the openers, the former all-rounder went for Sri Lanka’s legendary batsman Sanath Jayasuriya and Indian cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar.
It was Jayasuriya who started the trend of hitting the balls over the 30-yard circle during the power-plays, Tendulkar, on the other hand, has ended up smashing 49 One-Day International (ODI) centuries – most by any batsman in the 50-overs format.
For the No.3, the cricketer-turned-commentator has picked former Australia captain Ricky Ponting. The Aussie batsman has scored 13,704 runs – third-most in ODI cricket.
Styris has included modern-day legend, Virat Kohli, for the following position. The Indian skipper currently has 43 centuries to his name – most among the active cricketers.
Former Indian captain MS Dhoni, who last played a white-ball game against New Zealand in the 2019 World Cup, has been picked for the No. 7 position, while the previous two spots have been fulfilled by ‘Mr 360’ AB de Villiers and his compatriot Jacques Kallis.
De Villiers has smashed 1261 runs in white-ball cricket against New Zealand, whereas Kallis has scored 1528 runs against the Black Caps.
Among bowlers, Styris has chosen the two greatest spinners: Shane Warne and Muttiah Muralitharan. The spin pair has taken 841 wickets in the white-ball cricket.
Styris has picked Sri Lanka’s Lasith Malinga and Australia’s Glenn McGrath as fast bowlers. The pace duo has scalped 830 wickets in the limited-overs format.
Scott Styris best white-ball XI:
Sanath Jayasuriya, Sachin Tendulkar, Ricky Ponting, Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers, Jacques Kallis, MS Dhoni, Shane Warne, Muttiah Muralitharan, Glenn McGrath, Lasith Malinga
