Rashid Khan named ICC men’s T20I Cricketer of the Decade

Rashid Khan named ICC men’s T20I Cricketer of the Decade

rashid khan

Rashid Khan

International Cricket Council (ICC) has declared the player of the decade awards. Afghanistan leg spinner Rashid Khan has emerged as the men’s T20I Cricketer of the decade. Debuting in 2015, Rashid’s 89 wickets is the highest in the format in the decade. The Afghan leggie has grown leaps and bounds to establish himself as a force to reckon in the format at the tender age of 22.

The awards were based on votes by the fans. And it looks like the cricketing fraternity has unified to hail the prodigy. Rashid averages just 14.81 in the T20Is while his strike rate is an otherworldly 125.38. The young leggie trumped the legends of the game to lift the award. The nominees for the awards included the likes of Aaron Finch, Chris Gayle, Virat Kohli, Lasith Malinga, Rohit Sharma and Imran Tahir.

MS Dhoni to lead men’s T20I team of the decade

Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni
Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni

Choosing from among the best performers in the international circuit from 2011 to 2020, the team consists of a plethora of big-hitters and consistent bowlers. The team is led by the ever-dependable former Indian captain MS Dhoni. The explosive openers for the team of the decade are Rohit and Gayle. The middle-order consists of Australian skipper Finch, Indian skipper Kohli and former South African batsman AB de Villiers. In the finishing department, Australia’s Glenn Maxwell, captain Dhoni and West Indies skipper Kieron Pollard are present.

The bowling department features the player of the decade, Rashid, alongside fast bowlers Jasprit Bumrah of India and Malinga. While the player of the decade awards was decided upon votes, the team of the decade was handpicked by the ICC experts. And the team has been widely criticised for the lack of balance. The team features only three specialist bowlers with Pollard and Maxwell filling in as part-timers. The team of the decade has also been hailed as biased as no Pakistani player featured in the XI.

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