This decade has witnessed the Indian Cricket Team in its full glory. The start of the decade witnessed team India lifting the ODI World Cup after 28-years under the captaincy of MS Dhoni. Then the Indian team further went on to win the Champions Trophy in 2013, and slowly but steadily made their way onto the top of the table in the ICC Test Rankings.
The team won’t succeed without its players and surely the two names which rose to glory with the team are Virat Kohli and Jasprit Bumrah. There is no need to tell anyone about the legacy these cricketers will leave behind for the upcoming young talent when they exit the team. Recently, when Wisden released its T20 International Team for the decade, Virat Kohli and Jasprit Bumrah were to be seen on the list. These two are the only Indian cricketers who have found their place in the Wisden T20I Team.
The Wisden T20 Team of the decade lead by Australia’s Aaron Finch doesn’t include Rohit Sharma who has been in tremendous form this season. When asked about including Kohli in the team Wisden said, “While Kohli’s record in domestic T20 cricket is patchy; the same cannot be said of the T20 international games. Kohli’s averages of 53 were the best in a decade.” He further added that even though Kohli’s consistency compromises his strike-rate slightly, he is still able to score a good rate if not exceptional.
Virat Kohli is to be seen at No.3 position in the team to stabilize the innings in case of early wickets. Virat has also found his place in Wisden’s Test and ODI team as well. The Indian skipper has also been included in the list of five cricketers of the decade, along with Steve Smith, Dale Steyn, AB de Villiers, and Elyse Perry.
Talking about Bumrah, Wisden said that although the young the cricketer has made his debut in 2016, the Indian pacer has proven his worth with an overall economy rate of 6.71 and 51 wickets in the 42 matches played and is the second-best after the Proteas’ spearhead Dale Steyn.
The two young cricketers still have many records to set and also to break, owing to their brilliant cricketing skills and passion for the game.