Former India cricket team captain and World Cup winner MS Dhoni has been named the captain in the ODI and T20I format of ICC Teams of the Decade, which was announced on Sunday, December 27.
Apart from Dhoni, the star-studded T20I line-up also features Indian cricket players Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Jasprit Bumrah. On the other hand, Sharma, Kohli and Dhoni also make the cut in the ICC ODI Team of the Decade, while Bumrah misses out.
The ICC Men's T20I Team of the Decade. And what a team it is! ⭐
— ICC (@ICC) December 27, 2020
A whole lot of 6️⃣-hitters in that XI! pic.twitter.com/AyNDlHtV71
Interestingly, MS Dhoni played his last T20I match in February 2019, when India hosted Australia in Bengaluru. The genius wicketkeeper and celebrated finisher ended his T20I career with 1617 runs at an average of 37.60.
Dhoni has captained the highest number of T20I matches for India (72), winning 41 of them - 10 at home and 31 on foreign turf.
Meanwhile, the selection of Kohli and Rohit Sharma in the ICC T20I team of the decade was a no-brainer.
While Kohli leads the list of highest T20I run-scorers with 2928 runs in 85 matches and 25 fifties to his name, Rohit Sharma is second in that list with 2773 runs in 108 matches, with four centuries and 21 fifties.
The rise of Jasprit Bumrah since his debut in 2016, especially in the T20I format, has been phenomenal with the Gujarat pacer taking 59 wickets in 50 T20Is at an impressive strike rate of 18.2.
Bumrah has made the ICC T20I Team of the Decade alongside his Mumbai teammate Lasith Malinga.
The ICC Men's ODI Team of the Decade:
— ICC (@ICC) December 27, 2020
🇮🇳 🇮🇳 🇮🇳
🇦🇺 🇦🇺
🇿🇦 🇿🇦
🇧🇩
🏴
🇳🇿
🇱🇰 #ICCAwards pic.twitter.com/MueFAfS7sK
Dhoni's ODI career is more noteworthy, where the swashbuckling batsman has 10,773 runs to his name at an average of 50.57. His last ODI was at the 2019 ICC World Cup semi-final when India faced New Zealand.
He has captained India in a whopping 200 ODI matches, winning 110 of them. 43 of his ODI wins as a captain have come in India while 67 of them outside the country.
Kohli and Rohit have been relentless in the ODI format with the latter aggregating 9115 runs in 224 ODI matches with 29 centuries and 43 fifties while run-machine Kohli has garnered 12040 runs with 43 centuries and 60 half-centuries in 251 ODI matches.
Virat named captain in ICC Test Team of the Decade
India cricket captain Virat Kohli is the only player in the world to feature in all the three formats of the ICC teams of the decade. Cricket’s world governing body has named Kohli as the captain of the Test team and he will feature alongside his India teammate Ravichandran Ashwin in the ICC Test Team of the Decade.
Your ICC Men's Test Team of the Decade 🏏
— ICC (@ICC) December 27, 2020
A line-up that could probably bat for a week! 💥 #ICCAwards pic.twitter.com/Kds4fMUAEG
Since taking over the Test captaincy from Dhoni in 2014, Kohli has led India in 56 Test matches, winning 33 of them at a winning percentage of 58.92.
So far, the 32-year-old has 7318 Test runs under his belt in 87 matches at an average of 53.41. He has 27 centuries and 23 fifties to his name in the longest format.
Veteran Indian off-spinner Ashwin has almost been a mainstay in Indian whites since his debut in 2011. In the 73 Test matches that he has played so far, the Tamil Nadu bowler has claimed 373 wickets with 27 five-wicket hauls.
Meanwhile, Kohli has also been nominated for the ICC male Cricketer of the decade, men's Test Cricketer, men's ODI Cricketer and men's T20I Cricketer of the decade.
ICC's Awards of the Decade ceremony is scheduled to be held on Monday in a virtual mode.
Feature Image Courtesy: AFP/ Dibyangshu Sarkar
