Live Score
Cricket Teams
Cricket Players
Tom Moody picks Rohit Sharma to lead his world T20 XI
Moody has been associated with several T20 franchises over his long coaching career, including a successful stint with Indian Premier League team Sunrisers Hyderabad.
Former Australian cricketer and reputed international cricket coach Tom Moody is known for having a sharp cricketing mind. Moody has been associated with several T20 franchises over his long coaching career, including a successful stint with Indian Premier League team Sunrisers Hyderabad. Recently he was asked to pick a world T20 XI during a conversation with eminent cricket commentator Harsha Bhogle on Cricbuzz. Moody clarified that he was choosing a team for now and not looking at players’ records and achievements over the past ten years.
“So, we are talking of a team that is playing now. Not a team that we have seen play in the last ten years. So I am picking a team that is playing in a tournament in the next three weeks,” Moody said before naming the players. He named a power-packed top four which almost anyone in the world would be happy to pick in their T20 teams.
“I will go with Warner at the top with Rohit Sharma, so I have got a left and right hand combination. Kohli three, AB de Villiers four,” he said.
Moody then put on his coaching hat to pick the tricky number five position, which was also going to be a wicket-keeper batsman.
“Five, this is a difficult one. I am keen on going with Jos Buttler, but I recognise that if I have a coach’s hat on, I need a left-hander. So I am going to go with Nicholas Pooran. I need a left hander in that middle order and just to give me a balance between left and right...”
Moody later said that he has seen Pooran play a lot during the Caribbean Premier League but clarified that his choice was also based on the fact that he needed a left hander in the middle order and that’s why he chose the youngster from West Indies.
Also read: England eke out lead of 170 over West Indies after 4th day
He went on to mention that had he not been picking a team for ‘now’ he would have gone with MS Dhoni.
“I just want to clarify that it is a team for today otherwise Dhoni is a no brainer. I am his number one fan. I think what he has done, from a captaincy point of view and from a playing perspective it has been unbelievable,” he added.
The remaining spots were filled by T20 stalwarts of our times.
“I will have Andre Russell at 6 and 7 Narine, Starc, Rashid Khan, Bumrah, Archer and my 12th man without a doubt, due to his fielding brilliance Jadeja,” the IPL-winning coach said.
On being asked who is the captain of this team, Moody replied, “Rohit Sharma because he has won more IPL trophies,” Moody concluded.
