Former Sri Lankan legend and IPL coach Mahela Jayawardene has picked the five best players of his dream T20 XI.
Among his five players, Jos Buttler is the only player from outside Asia. Apart from this, he wants Caribbean player Chris Gayle to come back from retirement and join his team as an opener.
Jayawardene picked Rashid Khan as his first player. He says that Rashid can not only give you four successful overs, but can also come down the order and bat useful and aggressive.
It is noteworthy that Rashid has taken 105 wickets in 58 T20 Internationals at an average of just 12.92 and a stingy economy of 6.18.
Speaking to Sanjana Ganesan on the ICC Review Show, Jayawardene said, “In T20 cricket, I give more importance to bowlers, so I have picked three bowlers in the top five.
Rashid Khan is my first bowler to do spin bowling as well. He can also bat very well. He can be used both as batsman and bowler in the match.
Be it powerplay or middle overs, he can bowl at any time. Also he is not a bad choice in the death overs as well. That’s why Rashid is my first choice.”
Jayawardene has chosen Shaheen Shah Afridi of Pakistan as his second bowler. He is quite impressed with the performance of this left-arm fast bowler last year. “Last year in the T20 World Cup, he did an amazing job. He gets amazing swing with the new ball. Also at death he goes for wickets, which shows his aggression,” he added.
Jayawardene’s third player is Jasprit Bumrah of his own team. He says that he always admires Bumrah because Bumrah is an attacking bowler and whatever phase of the match, you expect the same wicket from him. He said, “If you want to finish a match, you will go to Bumrah.”
Jayawardene has picked England’s Jos Buttler as his team’s first opener, who is currently in excellent form with three centuries in the IPL. “Jos plays both spin and fast bowling very well. He had a great run in the T20 World Cup and is now in terrific form in the IPL as well,” he added.
He has selected Mohammad Rizwan of Pakistan as the wicket-keeper batsman of the team. However, he wants Rizwan to come in the middle order for him as he plays spin well. Apart from this, there is also another reason Chris Gayle.
When Jayawardene was asked which player he would like to bring back from retirement and include in his team, he took the name of Gayle. “Buttler and Gayle will be an explosive pairing, who have the ability to turn the tide of any match,” he said. Although he jokingly said that Butler will have to run Gayle too.