The International Cricket Council announced the teams of the decade (2010-2020) in a special broadcast show on all ICC Digital Channels. The announcements coming on Sunday featured the ‘teams of the decade’ across the three formats. Indian skipper Virat Kohli was the only player to feature in all the three teams whereas MS Dhoni was chosen as the captain for the ODI and T20 side.

An elite pool of top players flooded the the 33 spots available for grabs in the three teams of the decade. Starting from 12:30 PM GST/2 PM IST, the award show was hosted by Alan Wilkins.

Test team:

Starting with the Test team of the decade, the likes of English great Alastair Cook and Australian mainstay David Warner fill in the opening slot. Cook announced his retirement from the five day format in 2018, becoming the fifth batsman to score a century in his first and last test match. The Kiwi skipper, Kane Williamson who has been in a surreal touch against Pakistan in the ongoing series features next in the lineup. The No 4 spot has been well earned by Virat Kohli, who has scored 7,318 runs in the format so far.

After Kohli, it is Steve Smith who stands in the lineup. The current No 1 Test batsman has had an eventful career in the whites, his best coming during the Ashes last year. Kumar Sangakkara, his 12,400 Test runs, a splendid average of 57.14 and a 15-year long career wear the gloves in the team of greats. It is Ben Stokes, who features as the only pure all-rounder in this team. The Englishman has been quite handy for his national team with the bat, ball and on the field. His resume features one of the best modern day test knocks- a sensational match-saving 135* at Headingley in 2019.

Ravichandran Ashwin is the next name in the list, the only Indian bowler in the team. The off-spinner has been India’s mainstay with the red ball for the most part of the past decade. He must’ve been spinning webs around the Aussie batsmen during the ongoing Border-Gavaskar trophy, when his name was short-listed. The team’s tail consists of Dale Steyn, Stuart Broad and James Anderson- that is 1553 test wickets to be precise. Some unfortunate surprises in the Test team of the decade to be lead by Virat Kohli could be no Cheteshwar Pujara and Nathan Lyon in the side.

One Day International team: 

The ODI team of the decade opens up with the names of Rohit Sharma and David Warner. While the Indian vice-captain is arguably the best batsman to currently play this format, his 2019 World Cup show and three double-centuries just being the standing proofs, his leadership skills are also commendable. The next pair in the side is made by Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers. Virat’s ability to make difficult chases like cake walk and De Villiers’ strokeplay all over the field make them them the dream combination for any side.

Shakib Al Hasan goes next in the line, as an all-rounder who can not only suffocate the batsmen with tight spin but can also take on the best bowling line-ups with sheer ease. MS Dhoni, also selected as the skipper for the team, will also keep the wickets. Dhoni not only has demonstrated the correct balance between hard-hitting and innings building but his understanding of the game makes the 39-year-old a must have. Ben Stokes is the second all-rounder included in the ODI team of the decade.

The bowling unit includes the likes of the best swing bowler in current cricketing scene in Trent Boult. Mitchell Starc riding on his supremacy in the death overs and ICC tournaments follows next. The greats of Imran Tahir’s leg-spin and Lasith Malinga’s slinger bowling are also included in the side.

T20 International team:

“A whole lot of 6-hitters in that XI!” ICC tweeted while announcing the T20 team of the decade. The team includes the likes of Rohit Sharma (2773 runs), Universal Boss Chris Gayle (1627 runs) and Aaron Finch (2149 runs) make the top order. They are followed by Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers and Australia’s Glenn Maxwell.

The core of the team stands in the hard-hitting in the lower middle-order where MS Dhoni- the skipper and wicketkeeper- sits along with West Indies’ captain Kieron Pollard. The bowling unit is a clever mix of Rashid Khan’s lethal leg-spin with a popular unorthodox action pair- Jasprit Bumrah and Lasith Malinga.