Best T20 World XI ahead of ICC T20 World Cup 2022

2. Babar Azam (C)

The 27-year-old has been dominating white-ball cricket for the last few years and it is safe to term him a playing legend. He has forced himself into the so-called ‘fab-four’ list, which consists of the best batters who are scoring consistent runs in every format of the game, making it to ‘fab-five’. The Pakistani skipper was excellent in PSL 2022, despite his team Karachi Kings finishing in the last position. He scored 343 runs in just 10 PSL matches at an average of 38.11 and a strike rate of 118.68 with two fifties.

Azam also dominated the last year’s T20 World Cup in the UAE, where he finished the tournament as the highest run-scorer. He was the only player to cross the 300-run mark and scored four half-centuries in the six matches. Fans and Team Pakistan will be hoping for similar performances from Azam in the upcoming World Cup as well.

Notably, Azam ranks first in the ICC T20I batting rankings with a comfortable 24-point lead over second-placed and teammate Mohammad Rizwan. He will also lead this best World XI list, with his calm leadership skills. He will play a second fiddle role to Jos Buttler, with the Englishman playing explosive cricket from the start.