No Rohit Sharma, no Pak player in ICC’s ‘Team of the Tournament’
The ICC’s 'Team of the Tournament’, however, has all-time great Virat Kohli, middle-order batter Shreyas Iyer, wicketkeeper-batter K.L. Rahul (wk), pacer Mohammad Shami and spinners Varun Chakravarthy and Axar Patel
HYDERABAD: ICC Men’s Champions Trophy team of the tournament doesn’t include India’s Rohit Sharma, who led the team to a record third championship title in Dubai.
The ICC’s ‘Team of the Tournament’ after they beat New Zealand in a pulsating final, has all-time great Virat Kohli, middle-order batter Shreyas Iyer, wicketkeeper-batter K.L. Rahul (wk), pacer Mohammad Shami and spinners Varun Chakravarthy and Axar Patel.
And, there is no Pakistan player in the team too! The Black Caps saw four members of their squad make the team, including Player of the Tournament Rachin Ravindra, with Mitchell Santner being named captain.
Two players from Afghanistan also made the cut after the Asian nation won their first-ever ICC Men’s Champions Trophy match in their debut appearance.
Iyer was India’s top run-scorer, with two half-centuries helping him to 243 runs in total, while Rahul finished with an average of 140 thanks to unbeaten knocks of 42 and 34 in the semi-final and final respectively.
New Zealand’s Glenn Phillips’ diving one-handed catch to dismiss Shubman Gill in the final was one of three iconic catches across the tournament, while the 28-year-old scored one half century against Pakistan and took two wickets against South Africa in the semi-final to go alongside an unbeaten 49.
Azmatullah Omarzai is the second Afghan named in the team. The fast-bowling all-rounder had a fantastic tournament with both bat and ball and finished with seven wickets at 20 and 126 runs at 42.00.
The selection panel consisted of commentators and former international players Ian Bishop, Simon Doull and Aaron Finch, Hindustan Times journalist Rasesh Mandani and ICC General Manager Events and Corporate Communications, Gaurav Saxena.
ICC Team of the tournament: Mitchell Santner (New Zealand – capt), Rachin Ravindra, Ibrahim Zadran (Afghanistan), Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, K.L.Rahul, Glenn Phillips (New Zealand), Azmatullah Omarzai (Afghanistan), Mohammed Shami, Matt Henry (Afghanistan), Varun Chakravarthy and Axar Patel.
