ICC have revealed the Team of the Decade this week and many fans & pundits were surprised at the lack of bowling options, with just three front row bowlers finding a spot in the team.
The legendary Mahendra Singh Dhoni was named captain of ICC’s ODI and T20 International teams of the decade while Virat Kohli stamped his preeminence in world cricket after being voted the skipper of the Test team. Indians dominated the limited-over teams by having three and four players in the ODI and T20I respectively, while England have a maximum number of players in the Test side (4).
Wasim Jaffer trolls ICC T20 of the decade
Former Indian opener Wasim Jaffer, who became famous for his witty tweets, delved into the selection, but in a subtle way – using a meme featuring MS Dhoni. Changing Dhoni’s famous response at the 2020 IPL, Jaffer questioned the inclusion of just three speciality bowlers on the team.
“Only 3 front row bowlers ?!” Hey MS, who picked this team? “# ICCAwards2020 #Dhoni,” Jaffer tweeted while sharing the meme. In response to his speculation about the IPL retirement, Dhoni had cleared the tune by saying “definitely not”, while Jaffer modified his response in his meme to read “definitely bot”.
While the T20I team with Dhoni as their leader included several powerful hitters like Chris Gayle, AB de Villiers, Kieron Pollard among others, they were sorely lacking in the bowling department with only Lasith Malinga, Jasprit Bumrah and Rashid Khan only specialized bowlers in the side.
The extra bowling options with Pollard and Maxwell doesn’t just look right and it created the buzz among pundits.
Aakash Chopra Also Shocked With Only 3 Bowling Options
Former Indian opener Aakash Chopra was also amazed at the inclusion of “only three real bowlers” on the squad. In response to ICC’s tweet, he wrote: “Only three real bowlers ??? Seriously ??”.
Taking a step forward, he even said Dhoni would refuse to lead a team with just three speciality bowlers. Virat Kohli won the Male ODI player of the decade. Steven Smith won it for the Tests and Rashid Khan won it for the T20I. It was a great decade for India and fans will be hoping to see this every other decade.
