July 19, 2019
ICC World Cup Team 2019
By Syed Rifaquat Ali
Indian skipper Virat Kohli, touted by the tyro media as the world's No.1 batsman in the world, had to bite the dust after India lost to the underdogs New Zealand in the semis in the recently-concluded World Cup in Manchester before a jam-packed stadium.
No wonder Virat Kohli does not figure among the ICC World Cup X1 2019: Jason Roy, Joe Root, Jofra Archer, Ben Stokes (England), Rohit Sharma, Jaspreet Bumrah (India), Kane Williamson, Lockie
Ferguson (New Zealand), Mitchell Stark, Alex Carey ( Australia) and Shakib Al-Hasan (Bangladesh).
Kohli, regarded as a run machine by the Indian media, failed to notch up a single century in the World Cup, while compatriot Rohit Sharma hit five centuries which is a world record not likely to be erased in the
near future. But I differ with the ICC World Cup X1 2019 as it smacks of weird think-tank.
David Warner, Steve Smith ( Australia) and Babar Azam (Pakistsn) should have been in the team.
India's batting legend of yesteryear, Sachin Tendulkar, announced his own World X1 which shows his jingoistic mind: Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Hardik Pandya, Ravinder Jadeja, Jaspreet Bumrah (India),
Jonny Bairstow, Ben Stokes, Jofra Archer (England), Kane Williamson (New Zealand), Mitchell Starc (Australia) and Shakib Al-Hasan (Bangladesh).
It is just amazing that a cricketer of Tendulkar's stature should become an object of ridicule by selecting a team which is not well-represented.
In place of Hardik Pandya, Jamaican allrounder Andte Dwayne Russell, who has played 56 ODIs
and 47 T-twenty, should have been a better choice. Similarly, Pakistan's Babar Azam, who scored 437 in the 2019 World Cup, and broke 27-year old record held by legendary batsman Javed Miandad, should have been included in the team.
He had scored three 50s and a fluent century against New Zealand in 2019 World Cup and yet he has been overlooked.
But the formation of such a World X1 is all whimsical and does not deserve any attention.
If you are a cricket buff, form your own World X1 as you like it and earn kudos and ire.
It is an exercise in futility by any stretch of imagination. To gauge the formidable status of the World X1,
another World X1 team, selected from the rest of the players, should also be formed and an exhibition match should be organised by the International Cricket Council in order to know the real worth and potential of a player. It will be great fun indeed.
S. Rifaquat Ali is Sydney-based journalist
The Journal of America Team:
Editor in chief:
Abdus Sattar Ghazali
Senior Editor:
Prof. Arthur Scott
Special Correspondent
Maryam Turab
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