Babar should have been in ICC T20 team of the Decade: Says Jason Gillespie

Former Australian pacer Jason Gillespie believes that Pakistani skipper Babar Azam should have been part of the ICC Men’s Twenty20 Team of the Decade.

He feels that England’s hard-hitting wicketkeeper-batsman Jos Buttler should also have been part of the team.

The T20 XI includes four players from India, two Australians, two West Indies players, one from South Africa and a player each from Afghanistan and Sri Lanka.

No cricketer from England, New Zealand and Pakistan were included in the team. “And I do find it hard to understand that a T20I team of the decade doesn’t include Jos Buttler or Baba Babar Azam,” tweeted Gillespie as quoted by cricketpakistan.com.pk.

And I do find it hard to understand that a T20 team of the decade doesn’t include Babar and Buttler. He was also surprised to see that only three frontline bowlers were picked in the XI. “Do not agree with selecting only 3 frontline bowlers. Meant to be T20 Team of the decade as opposed to a popularity contest ICC,” he said.

Meanwhile, former Pakistani wicketkeeper-batsman Rashid Latif has taken a dig at the International Cricket Council (ICC) after cricket’s governing body announced the Men’s T20 Team of the Decade.

Replying to ICC’s tweet, Latif seemed unimpressed with the choices made and termed it as an Indian Premier League (IPL) Team of the Decade. “TYPO Error {They forget to write IPL-T20s team for the decade},” Latif tweeted.

The ICC Men’s ODI and Test teams of the decade were also announced on the same day.

ICC Men’s ODI Team of the Decade

Rohit Sharma, David Warner, Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers, Shakib Al Hasan, MS Dhoni (c,wk), Ben Stokes, Mitchell Starc, Trent Boult, Imran Tahir and Lasith Malinga.

ICC Test Team of the Decade

Alastair Cook, David Warner, Kane Williamson, Virat Kohli (c), Steve Smith, Kumar Sangakkara (wk), Ben Stokes, Ravi Ashwin, Dale Steyn, Stuart Broad, James Anderson.