Alex Carey includes himself in India-Australia combined T20I XI; leaves out Rohit Sharma

Alex Carey revealed his India-Australia combined T20I XI earlier this week and made some surprise inclusions while he excluded some star players. There were five Indians and six Australians players. The Delhi Capitals released his selected XI through their official Twitter handle.

In the caption, it was also revealed that the Loxton born cricketer found it extremely difficult to narrow it down to 11 players. Carey was bought by Capitals ahead for the IPL 2020 as the second keeper in the team. But due to the ongoing pandemic, the T20 tournament has been suspended until further notice even as the franchises are making an effort to keep their fans engaged during this lockdown period.

For opening slot, Carey went with Shikhar Dhawan and David Warner surprisingly over Rohit Sharma who has been brilliant opening the innings. Though both the left-handers have quite a decent record in the T20 format. Interestingly, the duo formed a formidable opening partnership while they were representing the Sunrisers Hyderabad(SRH) in the IPL. They were a key aspect to the franchise’s success before Dhawan moved to Delhi Capitals ahead of the 2019 season.

Carey includes Rishabh Pant in the side

At no. 3 and no. 4, the South Australian player chose Virat Kohli and Steve Smith. Both the batsmen are considered as the best player of their respective nations. Kohli captains the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) franchise in the IPL while Smith is the skipper of the Rajasthan Royals side.

The Delhi Capitals wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant was also included in the side at no.5. Alex Carey in fact also included himself in the side at no.6. The left-handed batsman has been really successful with the bat for Adelaide Strikers in the Big Bash League (BBL). In 2020, he was supposed to make his IPL debut but with the COVID-19 pandemic, he might have to wait a little longer for that to happen.

The 28-year-old chose only one all-rounder in the side and that was Ravindra Jadeja. The Saurashtra player has been a star attraction in the cash-rich IPL since its inception in 2008 and is deemed as one of the best fielders in the world. Another spinner who was picked by the Australia keeper was Adam Zampa.

Alex Carey also went in with three pacers in the side. The two Aussie pacers were Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc. Interestingly, Cummins received the highest bid ever in the IPL history during the 2020 IPL auction. The other pacer in the side was Jasprit Bumrah which goes without saying given his ability to deliver yorkers in the death overs. He also gave special mentions to Aaron Finch, Glenn Maxwell and Kuldeep Yadav.

Alex Carey’s IND-AUS combined T20I XI: David Warner, Shikhar Dhawan, Steve Smith, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant, Alex Carey, Ravindra Jadeja, Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins, Adam Zampa, Jasprit Bumrah

"You need a team of 22, I reckon! Then I can squeeze them all in." – Alex Carey on how difficult it is to pick a combined India-Australia T20I XI consisting of current players 😅

What would your XI look like? 🤔#YehHaiNayiDilli pic.twitter.com/BKcH8wLFMp

— Delhi Capitals (Tweeting from Home🏠) (@DelhiCapitals) May 8, 2020