‘Neither has India won anything nor has Dhoni done that well in T20Is’: Aakash Chopra questions MS Dhoni’s inclusion in ICC T20I Team of the Decade

MS Dhoni was named the captain of the ICC Men’s T20 Team of the Decade during the ICC awards last Sunday. The former skipper of the Indian cricket team retired from international cricket in August 2020. ICC announced their ICC Teams of the Decade in all the formats of the game and decided to name Dhoni the captain of both T20 and ODI sides.

Dhoni is widely regarded as one of the greatest captains to have played the game and his selection as skipper of the two ICC sides justifies that claim. Dhoni lead India to victory in the 2011 Cricket World Cup and 2013 Champions Trophy. Dhoni also lead India to victory in the 2007 World T20 but that fell outside the criteria period.

However, former India batsman Aakash Chopra has said that he was surprised by Dhoni’s selection in the side and ‘intrigued’ by the exclusion of Jos Buttler.

“I am slightly intrigued because if you talk about T20Is in this decade, neither has India won anything nor has Dhoni done that well in T20Is. We are making a T20I team and it does not have players like Jos Buttler etc,” he said in a video shared on his Facebook page.

Dhoni scored 1617 runs in 98 matches for India. He had two fifties and a strike of 126.13. The ICC T20I Team of the Decade is comprised of four players from India, two from Australia, two West Indies, and one each from Sri Lanka, South Africa, and Afghanistan.

Current Indian captain Virat Kohli, pacer Jasprit Bumrah and Rohit Sharma are the other Indians in the T20I team. Former South African skipper AB de Villiers and Universe Boss – Chris Gayle are also included in the line-up.

ICC’s T20I Team of the Decade: Rohit Sharma, Chris Gayle, Aaron Finch, Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers, Glenn Maxwell, MS Dhoni (c), Kieron Pollard, Rashid Khan, Jasprit Bumrah, and Lasith Malinga.