Scott Styris picks the best white-ball XI he has played against

Scott Styris, the former New Zealand all-rounder, has zeroed in on the strongest white-ball XI he has played against. To start with, he went for the opening duo of Sanath Jayasuriya and Sachin Tendulkar. Back in the 1996 World Cup, it was Jayasuriya, who started the trend of taking advantage of the fielding restrictions. Sachin went up to amass 100 centuries, wearing the Indian jersey.

At number three, Styris picked Ricky Ponting, who had captained Australia to the 2003 and 2007 World Cup glories. His century at the Wanderers against India in the Final is still afresh in the memories. Virat Kohli was slotted in at number four. At the age of 31, Virat already has quite a few accomplishments to his name and is slated to break a few more as his career progresses.

Two of the greatest spinners in Styris’ lineup

Styris went for AB de Villiers, the former South Africa cricketer, as his number five. Jacques Kallis, one of the greatest all-rounders to have played the game, has been put at number six. Kallis was someone, who showed immense patience with the bat and also bowled a heavy ball. MS Dhoni is Styris’ third Indian in the list. Dhoni has won every other ICC title for the Men in Blue.

He is at the fag end of his career and is expected to be back in the 2020 edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL). Dhoni was last seen on the field in the semi-final of the 2019 World Cup against New Zealand at the Old Trafford. Shane Warne and Muttiah Muralitharan are the spinners in Styris’ lineup. Murali has 800 wickets to his name and no other bowler has even come close.

Warne also picked in excess of 700 Test wickets in his career. As his fast bowlers, the Kiwi selected Glenn McGrath and Lasith Malinga. Even as McGrath has retired way back, Malinga is still plying his trade in Sri Lanka colours. In fact, he is the skipper of the Lanka T20 side.

Here is Styris’ XI

Sanath Jayasuriya, Sachin Tendulkar, Ricky Ponting, Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers, Jacques Kallis, MS Dhoni, Shane Warne, Muttiah Muralitharan, Glenn McGrath, Lasith Malinga