Afghanistan’s ODI and Test captain Hashmatullah Shahidi made a few questionable decisions as he picked his all-time ODI XI. Shahidi who had a historic run as captain in ODI World Cup 2023 picked Pakistan’s Rashid Latif as the wicketkeeper of the side ahead of former India captain MS Dhoni.
Interestingly, Shahidi was asked whether Kumar Sangakkara, a Sri Lankan legend will keep wickets in his ODI XI. Latif has played 1,709 runs at an average of 19.42 from 116 ODIs. He did not score a single century in 11 years of his ODI career and had just three half-centuries to his name.
No big players from four major ODI-playing nations
On a podcast with Shubhankar Mishra, Shahidi made a few other strange decisions as he did not include any player from six-time ODI champions Australia. The ODI XI was missing players from New Zealand, South Africa and West Indies as well. While New Zealand and South Africa have not won an ODI World Cup, they have had legendary players like AB de Villiers, Jacques Kallis, Brendon McCullum and others.
He picked as many as four Pakistan players in the XI. In his team, Saaed Anwar and Rohit Sharma are openers followed by Virat Kohli at no.3. Apart from Sangakkara, former captain Mahela Jayawardene is another Sri Lankan. In the middle-order, he picked Inzamam-ul-Haq along with fast-bowling all-rounder Andrew Flintoff.
Lack of bowlers in the team
The team does not have many bowling options. The only spinner in the side is Shahidi’s teammate Rashid Khan. The two specialist pacers in the side are Pakistan’s Waqar Younis and India’s pace-bowling spearhead Jasprit Bumrah.
Shahidi’s All-time ODI XI: Saeed Anwar, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Kumar Sangakkara, Inzamam ul Haq, Mahela Jayawardene, Rashid Latif, Andrew Flintoff, Rashid Khan, Waqar Younis, and Jasprit Bumrah.
Shahidi’s run in captaincy
Shahidi recently led Afghanistan to a historic 2-1 ODI series win over South Africa. In the first ODI, they bowled the Proteas out for a mere 106. Shahidi has led Afghanistan in 40 ODIs. Afghanistan have emerged victorious in 19 ODIs whereas one ended in no result.
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