It was perceived said twenty 20 cricket is for the youngsters but over the years we have seen a lot of senior and retired cricketers turn things around in the format. And it has actually emerged as a blessing for older players helping them extend their careers.
This XI, comprising of players over 35 with an abundance of experience, skill and consistency, can worthily challenge the best teams and shatter the myth of youth over experience, at least in T20 cricket.
Consisting of 5 batsmen, 2 all-rounders, 2 spinners and 2 pacers from 5 nations, the team combination is a settled one. It has all its bases covered with a mix of aggression and assurance. Do you fancy a team that could beat this one?
1. Chris Gayle:
Arguably the best T20 player ever, the 36-year-old is an obvious choice. With an average of over 42, Chris Gayle is the leading run-scorer in the format with over 9000 runs at an unreal strike rate of 150.9. He has actually got better with age, with his 12-ball 50 coming last year and his 175 at 34 he has also slammed 2 centuries this year by far.
Gayle also has the most fifties- 59 along with the most hundreds- 18, which makes him head and shoulders above the rest. Although not evident, he is more than useful with the ball with an economy of 7.5 and 75 wickets, bowling tight lines and uncanny variations.
2. Tillakaratne Dilshan:
The 39-year-old veteran is probably the best T20 player produced by Sri Lanka. He is their leading run scorer as well as the man with the second most T20I runs.
Tillakaratne Dilshan has a passive aggressive approach that proves really effective for him, as it makes him really versatile. He has the most fifties and hundreds for Sri Lanka but his strike rate of 123 ensures that he plays the perfect understudy to Gayle and bats through the innings.
3. Mohammad Hafeez:
The 35-year-old is sublime to watch with his classy and picturesque batting and is a solid No.3 who can bat through the innings. One of the top 10 highest T20I scorers, Mohammad Hafeez has 9 fifties- the most by a Pakistani.
He has 2 hundreds and 25 fifties in domestic T20s with a strike rate of 122, making him a trustable and solid batsman, yet someone who can accelerate at any point in the inning. Considering the aggressive openers, the professor is the perfect man to play second fiddle and ensure that the inning keeps direction.
4. Marlon Samuels:
The man behind West Indies’ two World T20 final victories, Marlon Samuels’ versatility as a batsman and ability to strike the game away from the opposition makes him a great T20 player.
He is capable of playing in contrasting styles according to the game situation and his average of 32, and a strike rate of 120 in complement his economy of 7 and his 66 T20 wickets, adding another potential bowling option to the 11.
5. MS Dhoni (C) (wk):
The recently turned 35-year old is definitely the most successful T20 and T20I captain and still one of the best wicketkeepers in the game. MS Dhoni is India’s fifth highest run getter even though he bats in the lower middle order.
His average of 37 and strike rate of 135 along with 4900 runs make him possibly the best man to have in the lower middle order to finish the innings. His immense skill and power, coupled with his agility and persistence make him a very difficult batsman to bowl to.
6. Albie Morkel:
The third seamer, as well as a more than capable hard hitting batsman, Albie Morkel, has a multitude of experience in the Twenty20 arena having played 287 matches. He can be lethal with both bat and ball on a given day.
Morkel’s strike rate of 147 and 3767 runs make him a fearful batsman, but his ability to bowl with the new ball and accurately and consistently bowl testing lines makes him the seaming allrounder the side needs.
7. Shahid Afridi:
The evergreen 36-year-old maverick is probably Pakistan’s biggest ambassador of cricket and a T20 specialist with a multitude of experience and ability.
Shahid Afridi’s big hitting capabilities come in handy at No.7. It isn’t just his strike rate of 155 that matters , but it is his crafty leg spin that makes him a complete and useful bowling all-rounder.
8. Ashish Nehra:
The 37-year-old Indian pacer has made an unexpected and astonishing comeback at the twilight of his career. Ashish Nehra’s 146 wickets in just 110 matches at 7.61 make him a perfect fit to be the leader of the pace attack.
Nehra specializes in moving the new ball both ways and is not just a wicket-taker upfront but is a threat at the death too with his pinpoint accuracy, and ability to read the batsman’s mind and deliver accordingly.
9. Samuel Badree:
For someone who has played more than 140 T20s, the 35-year old’s economy of 5.5 is exemplary. Samuel Badree is one of the rare leg spinners with the skill to open the bowling and be highly successful, no matter how the pitch behaves.
His average of just 18 is reduced to 14 in T20Is, which is why Samuels is also the top ranked T20I bowler. His superb bowling skills always have the batsmen in a tangle.
10. Imran Tahir:
Another leg-spinner, the 37-year-old Imran Tahir has been a prolific wicket-taker in T20 cricket with 154 wickets from just 125 innings and an economy of 6.8. His average falls to 15 in T20Is and he is a big threat to the batsmen in the later stages of the innings with 5 fielders outside.
Tahir is a conventional leggie and relies on flight, drift and turn to bamboozle the batsmen and will form a fiery trio with Afridi and Badree. He is particularly lethal on wickets that assist spin.
11. Mohammad Sami:
Not many people make a comeback at 35 and be successful, but Mohammad Sami definitely did, proving his critics wrong. His average of 7.05 is outstanding for someone who bowls at the most difficult times in the innings.
His 110 wickets in 99 innings justify his wicket taking ability. Sami may not be very quick, but is very effective with his discipline and tight lines. He is the perfect understudy to Nehra.
