Former England captains and renowned broadcasters Nasser Hussain and Michael Atherton have unveiled their Team of the Tournament after the conclusion of the group stage of the ongoing ICC T20 World Cup 2024 in the USA and West Indies.
As the action moves to the Caribbean islands, the England legends have announced their Team of the Tournament so far based on the player’s performances in the first round of the ongoing T20 World Cup 2024.
However, Hussain and Atherton picked the team together on Sky Sports. Well, it was so surprising and obvious that both of them did not pick T20 World Cup all-time leading run-scorer and Indian batting superstar Virat Kohli in their Team of the Tournament right now.
Nasser Hussain and Michael Atherton choose T20 World Cup 2024 Team of the Tournament
Unfortunately, Kohli failed to perform as an opener, scoring just five runs in his three outings and failing to make Hussain and Atherton’s Team of the Tournament. Jasprit Bumrah is the only Indian player to have eliminated his Team of the Tournament from the group stage of the T20 World Cup 2024.
Surprisingly, Hussain and Atherton did not name any England players in their team, saying that they had not played good enough cricket to impress them. They have named two Australians and two West Indians in their team.
Hussain and Atherton’s Team of the Tournament comprises Scottish batsman Brandon McMullen, American all-rounder Aaron Jones, Australian opener Travis Head, Afghanistan wicketkeeper-batsman Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Australian all-rounder Marcus Stoinis and South Africa batting great David Miller.
In their bowling attack, the former England captains picked West Indies pacer Alzarri Joseph, left-arm spinner Akeal Hossain, Australian spinner Adam Zampa, Afghanistan pacer Fazalhaq Farooqi and Indian speedster Jasprit Bumrah in your Team of the Tournament so far.
They also talked about Bangladesh bowler Mustafizur Rahman, but they needed two left-arm bowlers, and that is why they chose Alzarri Joseph, who has been instrumental in West Indies’ unbeaten campaign in the ongoing T20 World Cup. 2024 so far.
“Jasprit Bumrah must be there”
Hussain and Atherton also joked that if Bumrah is not picked, they will have to face a backlash on social media before praising the Indian pacers’ economical bowling for Team India in the ongoing T20 World Cup 2024. So far , Bumrah has only managed five wickets in three games.
Michael Atherton was quoted by Sky Sports Podcast: “We came up with Gurbaz at the top of the order for Afghanistan. He’s had a good time, along with Travis Head. McMullen has had a good time with Scotland at 3. Aaron Jones, who you’ve seen play for the USA, who played a role in those early wins against Canada and Pakistan. Marcus Stoinis has had a good tournament in the middle order, along with David Miller. You mentioned that South Africa’s top order is not about shooting, but Miller, from the lower order, got them out of a hole.”
Nasser Hussain said: “We had Bumrah. “I had to be inside.”
Watch the debate between Michael Atherton and Nasser Hussain here –
“We had Bumrah, obviously he has to be in!” 🇮🇳
Nasser and Athers debate their team of the tournament so far on the Sky Sports Cricket podcast pic.twitter.com/qXMb5QABpw
– Sky Sports Cricket (@SkyCricket) June 18, 2024
Here is Michael Atherton and Nasser Hussain’s team of the tournament:
Brandon McMullen, Aaron Jones, Travis Head, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Marcus Stoinis, David Miller, Alzarri Joseph, Akeal Hossain, Adam Zampa, Fazalhaq Farooqi and Jasprit Bumrah.