ICC Team of the decade: Pakistan supporters allege favoritism; Dhoni named skipper of limited overs side
The Pakistan cricket supporters fumed as the International Cricket Council (ICC) announced Teams of the decade for various categories, but no Pakistani, men or women could make the cut.
Reacting to the teams announced by the apex cricketing body, several Pakistani journalists and fans tweeted citing mainly Babar Azam’s impressive limited-overs records, suggesting that the ICC has done injustice to the fans and cricketers of the Pak nation by not including anyone from their country.
Of the top eight nine cricket-playing nations, Pakistan is the only team that hasn’t got any representation in the teams announced for this decade, even Bangladesh and West Indies have representations. In the list for the three men’s teams i.e. Tests, ODIs, and T20Is, Australia and India have the most representations with five players each making the cut overlapping all lists. England has four while South Africa has three names.
New Zealand, West Indies, and Sri Lanka have two players each on the list, and Afghanistan and Bangladesh have one each.
MS Dhoni, the charismatic captain and the only skipper in the world to have won all three cricket trophies i.e. World Cups in both T20 and ODI and the 50 over Champions Trophy, has been chosen as the captain for the limited-overs while India’s dashing batsman Virat Kohli has been made the skipper of the Test team.
ICC Men's Test Team of the Decade
Alastair Cook (ENG), David Warner (AUS), Kane Williamson (NZ), Virat Kohli (c) (IND), Steve Smith (AUS), Kumar Sangakkara (wk) (SL), Ben Stokes (ENG), Ravichandran Ashwin (IND), Dale Steyn (SA), Stuart Broad (ENG), Jimmy Anderson (ENG)
ICC Men's ODI Team of the Decade
Rohit Sharma (IND), David Warner (AUS), Virat Kohli (IND), AB de Villiers (SA), Shakib Al Hasan (BAN), MS Dhoni (c & wk) (IND), Ben Stokes (ENG), Mitchell Starc (AUS), Trent Boult (NZ), Imran Tahir (SA), Lasith Malinga (SL)
ICC Men's T20I Team of the Decade
Rohit Sharma (IND), Chris Gayle (WI), Aaron Finch (AUS), Virat Kohli (IND), AB de Villiers (SA), Glenn Maxwell (AUS), MS Dhoni (c & wk) (IND), Kieron Pollard (WI), Rashid Khan (AFG), Jasprit Bumrah (IND), Lasith Malinga (SL)
ICC Women's ODI Team of the Decade
Alyssa Healy (AUS), Suzie Bates (NZ), Mithali Raj (IND), Meg Lanning (c) (AUS), Stafanie Taylor, Sarah Taylor (wk) (ENG), Ellyse Perry (AUS), Dane van Niekerk (SA), Marizanne Kapp (SA), Jhulan Goswami (IND), Anisa Mohammed (WI)
ICC Women's T20I Team of the Decade
Alyssa Healy (wk) (AUS), Sophie Devine (NZ), Suzie Bates (NZ), Meg Lanning (c) (AUS), Harmanpreet Kaur (IND), Stafanie Taylor (WI), Deandra Dottin (WI), Ellyse Perry (AUS), Anya Shrubsole (ENG), Megan Schutt (AUS), Poonam Yadav (IND)