England
Hales
Buttler
Bairstow
Stokes
Ali
Morgan
Bopara
T Curran
Archer
Jordan
Rashid
Roy
S Curran
Wood
Dawson
Comment: The key for England is to be more flexible with their
batting order. Hales is a controversial selection over Roy, but his stats show
he is superior at batting outside the powerplay to Roy, who often struggles to
maintain his scoring rate after the first six. Moeen Ali should be utilised
further up the order when the opposition has an abundance of spin options,
whilst Morgan is England’s best pace hitter at the death and should be used as
such. Stokes struggles with his first 10 deliveries so should be moved down the
order after over 15. Finally, I have gone for Bopara at 7 as I feel the England
side is unbalanced with Malan, Root or Roy getting the final slot. England are
very top heavy but lack a natural finisher, which is where Bopara comes into
his own.
Australia
Warner
Finch
Smith
Maxwell
Carey
Turner
Agar
Coulter-Nile
Starc
Cummins
Zampa
K Richardson
Lynn
Green
Stoinis
Comments Australia lack a quality all rounder option to bat
7 with Stoinis both better suited to batting in the top three (which he isn’t
getting into) and a substandard bowling option. This means that Coulter-Nile is
necessary at 8 to provide better finishing options. With Australia, so much
relies on their top five as the batting to come after isn’t the strongest.
Australia have an abundance of quality powerplay hitters but struggle for death
hitters. I have gone for Turner at 6 despite him having a poor time of things
of late as I believe he is the best finisher in the country. Agar’s good form
gives him the nod over Green, who I believe should at least make the squad.
India
Rohit
Rahul
Kohli
Pant
Iyer
H Pandya
K Pandya
Jadeja
Chahal
Shami
Bumrah
K Yadav
Pandey
Dhawan
Chahar
Comments: Rishabh Pant is a must for this t20 side as he can
score at a far superior strike rate than the other contenders. I have opted for
Dhoni to be left out of the side, as I believe he no longer scores at the strike
rates required. Krunal Pandya provides an extra bowling option. Chahar against
Shami against Kumar is an interesting battle but I believe Shami to be the superior
option. I feel Kuldeep Yadav has been worked out at the top level by the best
players so I have gone for the reliable Jadeja instead.
Pakistan
Babar
K Akmal
Haider
Shadab
Asif Ali
Iftikah Ahmed
Imad
Wahab Riaz
Amir
Rauf
Shaheen
Hasnain
Sohail
Tanvir
Sharjeel Khan
Comments: The recent PSL gave Pakistan an indication which
way they should go with the form of Haider, K Akmal and Shadab up the order.
This showed the country that there are options to bring this side up to the
standard of the other nations. Whilst Rauf had a poor PSL, he performed
superbly in the Big Bash and his experience in Australian conditions could prove
vital. I think this side could be the dark horses for the tournament but the
middle order hitters have a lot to prove.
De Kock
Bavuma
Bavuma
De Villiers (Du Plessis if not available)
Van Der Dussen
Klaasen
Miller
Phelukwayo
Rabada
Steyn
Tahir
Ngidi
Pretorius
Shamsi
Hendricks
Du Plessis (if De Villiers unavailable Smuts)
Comments: South Africa have undergone something of a
revolution since the World Cup and have found a number of useful white ball options.
Whilst the all rounder options continue to be lacking in South Africa with a
long tail, the top six is strong, particularly if AB De Villiers is coaxed out
of retirement whilst Klaasen showed his class against England. The four main
bowlers are very strong but the fifth bowling option could prove an issue for South
Africa.
Gayle
Lewis
Hetmeyer
Pooran
Russell
Pollard
Holder
Bravo
Narine
Cottrell
Walsh JR
King
Allen
Pierre
Rutherford
Comments: Picking this team was not easy due to the number
of hitters available to the West Indies. I felt it important to ensure Russell
was high enough up the order to influence the match, as often he is left with
too few balls left to face for his teams. In recent selections, West Indies
have tried to force all of their allrounders into the team with mixed results.
Despite the talent of Allen and Rutherford, I have not picked them as it is
important for the West Indies to pick some specialist bowlers as the pair would
be rarely utilised with the bat at 8 and 9. Narine could easily come out at 3 if
an early wicket should fall but with Lewis and Gayle there is no need for a
pinch-hitting opener. One of the favourites for the tournament, but the big
hitters will need to be smart on the long Australian boundaries.
New Zealand
Guptill
Munro
Williamson
Taylor
Seifert
De Grandhomme
Neesham
Santner
Henry
Ferguson
Boult
Nicholls
Sodhi
Southee
Bennett
Comments- As ever with New Zealand, the team largely picks itself,
with only two changes from the World Cup Final side. Southee could replace Henry,
but Henry’s World Cup form means he is worth a go in this side. Sodhi may come
into contention for the latter stages as the pitches start to wear.
Zazai
Gurbaz
Rahmat
Ashgar
Najibullah Zadran
Nabi
Naib
Rashid Khan
Qais Ahmed
Mujeeb
Mujeeb
Naveen Ul Haq
Janat
Shenwari
Zahir Khan
Shapoor Zadran
Comments: A very exciting side and the long boundaries in
Australia should suit the Afghan spin bowlers. As ever, the weakness of this
side is in the batting, but Gurbaz and Zazai have both developed into strong
T20 options, meaning that the side continue to improve their batting
performances. Don’t be surprised if they beat a top side or two.
Bangladesh
Iqbal
Das
Sarkar
Shakib (for second half of tournament once ban is over)
Rahim
Mahmudullah
Afif Hossain
Mohammed Saifuddin
Rubel Hossain
Mustafizur
Al-Amin Hossain
Naim
Hasan Mahmud
Mahedi Hasan
Al-Amin Hossain
Comments: Shakib’s ban is currently due to end in the early
stages of the tournament (who knows if this will be extended as we aren’t
actually playing cricket for a lot of the ban) but I’ve selected this team as
if he is available. Probably the side in here I know the least about.
Avishka Fernando
Kusal Perera
Matthews
Kusal Mendis
Thisara Perera
Dhananjaya De Silva
Shanaka
Hasaranga
Udana
Malinga
Sandakan
Oshada Fernando
Kumara
Dickwella
Pradeep
Comments: Sri Lanka are improving and in Avishka Fernando have
a top quality t20 opener in the making whilst Udana’s bag of tricks make him a
very good operator at the death. This is another side who could cause a few
shocks at the World Cup.
