T20 World Cup 2021: Harbhajan Singh picks his Team of the Tournament, includes three players from Pakistan

Former India spinner Harbhajan Singh picked his Team of the Tournament from the recently concluded T20 World Cup 2021 in the UAE. Interestingly, his XI had David Warner as the lone player from Australia, who ended up winning the edition after defeating New Zealand in the decisive clash. Harbhajan picked three players from Pakistan, two each from India and New Zealand, and one each from England, South Africa and Sri Lanka.

In an interaction with Sportskeeda, he opted for Mohammad Rizwan alongside Warner, the Player of the Tournament, as his opening combination, followed by New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson at No. 3. Warner finished the tournament as the second-leading run-scorer, amassing 289 runs from six games, including a crucial half-century in the final.

The middle-order comprised England’s Jos Buttler and South Africa’s Aiden Markram, followed by the all-rounder trio of Sri Lanka’s Wanindu Hasaranga, Pakistan’s Asif Ali and India’s Ravindra Jadeja.

Babar Azam, who was the top-scorer of the tournament had no place in his team, while he did not include Adam Zampa, the leading wicket-taker from the Super12 stage of the tournament either. Including the qualifying matches, however, it was Hasaranga who bagged most wickets (16), while Zampa finished with 13 scalps. Harbhajan picked two left-arm seamers in Shaheen Shah Afridi from Pakistan, Trent Boult from New Zealand, while he kept Indian pacer Japsrit as his final quick.

He named Afghanistan’s sensational leg-spinner Rashid Khan as the 12th man. Rashid, who had an impressive season in the IPL, where he claimed 14 wickets to be one of the only positives for Sunrisers Hyderabad in a forgettable year, carried forward that form in the World Cup as well, finishing the tournament with eight wickets in five games. However, Afghanistan, who had qualified for the Super12 directly by the virtue of being ranked amongst the Top 10 teams in the ICC T20I rankings, could not qualify for the knockouts.

Harbhajan Singh’s Team of the Tournament: David Warner, Mohammad Rizwan, Kane Williamson, Jos Buttler, Aiden Markram, Wanindu Hasaranga, Asif Ali, Ravindra Jadeja, Shaheen Afridi, Trent Boult, Jasprit Bumrah, Rashid Khan (12th Man).