Harsha Bhogle picks his best T20 XI of 2017

Cricket expert and commentator Harsha Bhogle has his pick from the pool of players who played in the shortest format of the game. There are some easy picks for Bhogle, while some of them have emerged from the shadows of the other players. However, said and done there have been only a few T20 cricket matches are played on the International front. The best of T20 is still played in countries of prime importance. The picks were definitely not easy for Bhogle, due to the enormity of the leagues around the world. He’s currently the ‘voice of cricket’ for Cricbuzz. Let’s have a look at his picks.

Openers and No. 3:

Opening the batting for Bhogle’s side would be West Indies‘ Evin Lewis and England‘s Alex Hales. In 31 innings for Lewis in the T20 format this year, he has scored 1125 runs at an average of slightly above 40 with some consistent scores for his side. On the other hand, Alex Hales has only played 19 innings where he has scored 633 runs at an average of 37 with four scores above 50. A perfect left-hand, right-hand combination at the top for Bhogle’s side.

Who better than the mighty South African batsman AB de Villiers to bat at No.3 for his side. ABD has not only smashed the ball to all parts of the ground, but has also had bowlers surrender to him due to his non-textbook batting. In 21 innings this year, he has scored 752 runs at an average of 44.23

Middle order:

Jos Buttler takes his place as the wicketkeeper-batsman in the playing XI. In 40 innings that Buttler has played this year, he has scored over a thousand runs at an average on the higher side of 20’s. David Miller is on the other end, with some impressive numbers as well scoring over 700 runs in just 27 innings.

Kieron Pollard at No.6 is a dream for any T20 side, and so does in Bhogle’s side. The lanky right-handed batsman has the numbers to his backing, and sometimes even numbers talk very less of the right-hander’s ability. Sunil Narine is the first choice bowler, who can do the batting as seen during the year featuring at No.7

Bowlers:

Afghanistan leggie Rashid Khan at No.8, with 74 wickets under his cap in the year in just 50+ games that he has played. The India pace duo of Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah make up the two spots out of three, while Pakistan‘s left-arm pacer Mohammed Amir is the No.11 for the team.

Harsha Bhogle’s XI:

Evin Lewis, Alex Hales, AB de Villiers, David Miller, Jos Buttler, Kieron Pollard, Sunil Narine, Rashid Khan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Amir