LONDON: Mahela Jayawardene, former Sri Lanka captain and ICC Hall of Famer, has revealed the first five players he would pick if he was in charge of selecting a dream Twenty20 (T20) side.
While Jayawardena forged a magnificent career for Sri Lanka in all three forms of the game, the 44-year-old now spends much of his time following 20-over cricket with his current role as coach of IPL side Mumbai Indians.
In that role Jayawardena sees the best 20-over players in the world up close and personal on a daily basis and the Sri Lanka legend revealed the first five players he would pick if he could select a dream XI on the most recent episode of The ICC Review.
1. Rashid Khan (Afghanistan)
“For me the bowlers are the most important aspect of T20 cricket and Rashid Khan is a proper spinner that can bat,” Jayawardena told Sanjana Ganesan on The ICC Review.
The batting legend further said, “He is a very good number seven or number eight batter and you can use him in different circumstances depending on your combinations.
“He can also bowl in different phases of an innings like during the Powerplay, the middle overs and also at the death he is not a bad option depending on the conditions, so Rashid would be my first pick,” he concluded.
2. Shaheen Afridi (Pakistan)
“I am then going to go with two more bowlers actually and the first one is going to be a left-armer in Shaheen Afridi,” Jayawardena said.
“He had a great World Cup last year, bowls very well with the new ball and is more than capable of getting some swing early too.
“He is a wicket taking option too that bowls very well at the death as well, so can be considered a good attacking option,” he concluded.
3. Jasprit Bumrah (India)
“Jasprit Bumrah is a guy I have always admired as he is capable of bowling in different phases of an innings,” Jayawardena noted.
“He is another wicket taking option and, when you need guys to close an innings off, there is no one better than Jasprit Bumrah.”
4. Jos Buttler (England)
“I would probably open the batting with Jos,” Jayawardena said. “He is very aggressive and plays both pace and spin well.
“He has been in great form at the IPL of late and did well at the last T20 World Cup as well where he played really well in tough conditions in the UAE,” he added.
5. Mohammad Rizwan (Pakistan)
“The next option is the wicketkeeper-batter and I am going with Mohammad Rizwan,” Jayawardena said.
“I know he does often open the batting for Pakistan, but I think he can bat in that middle order,” he said, adding: He is a good player of spin and a very busy player.”
