After two weeks of action and entertainment in the ICC World Twenty20, the staff at Cricinfo nominate their Twenty20 XI
Andrew McGlashan25-Sep-2007
Matthew Hayden showed no signs of rustiness as he finished the tournament as the leading run-scorer © Getty Images
Matthew Hayden
At the ICC Awards prior to the World Twenty20, Hayden collected theOne-Day Player of the Year award and, despite a five-month break from the game,continued his form in South Africa. He didn’t have to adapt his normalapproach too much and thumped the ball as hard as anyone in the game.He appeared to be sending Australia into another final with 62 off 47balls in the semi-final against India, but his dismissal was theturning point. However, he still finished as the tournament’s leadingscorer with 265 runs at an average of 88.Gautam Gambhir
A quiet achiever throughout and his superbly crafted 75 in the finalleft him in second spot overall among batsmen. Often overshadowed byhis more illustrious colleagues, Gambhir went about his task in workmanlike fashion. He played second fiddle to Virender Sehwag inblazing starts against England and New Zealand, but his most importantinnings was saved for the final. On the most sluggish Wandererssurface of the event, Gambhir held India’s innings together andensured they reached a target that proved defendable. Just.Yuvraj Singh
Produced two of the most destructive innings of the tournament and,unlike Chris Gayle’s century, both were match-winning ones. He will beremembered for hitting six sixes in an over off Stuart Broad on hisway to a 12-ball half-century in a match India had to win to keeptheir tournament alive. The shots weren’t slogs, and each maximum almost wentto a different part of the ground. Following that would be hard, butYuvraj managed it with a 30-ball 70 against Australia in thesemi-final and his celebrations in that match – and latterly the final- showed what team success meant to him.Shoaib Malik
A captain who led by example, though ultimately he couldn’t carry hisside to the title, Malik is slowly building an exciting team inpartnership with Geoff Lawson. He showed great maturity with the bat,particularly in the run chase against Australia, and rarely reverted tougly strokes. Considering he took over the captain’s job in theaftermath of the World Cup, his early performances have spoken volumesfor his character. His offspin provides a useful option and he is astrong fielder.
Misbah-ul-Haq was the surprise package, finishing as the third-highest run scorer © Getty Images
Misbah-ul-Haq
Came into the tournament under huge pressure after controversiallybeing selected ahead of Mohammad Yousuf. But, at 33, he made the mostof his recall to end as the third-highest run scorer. He struck amatch-winning, unbeaten 66 against Australia, spurring Pakistan to avictory that made them believe they could go all the way. Although histournament will be clouded by twice falling short in chases againstIndia, his team wouldn’t have got close in either the group game orthe final without him. How he must wish he could undo that lap shot.MS Dhoni
In his first significant appointment as Indian captain, one oftoughest jobs in the game, Dhoni showed himself to be an astute andcharismatic leader who instilled a self-belief in his team to playwithout fear. He finished as India’s second-highest run scorer despite atop score of 45 and played the correct innings for each, except for awild mow during the final. But we all knew what Dhoni could do withthe bat, his leadership skills were less obvious. He broughta relaxed air to the team which responded to his flair and also showedacute tactical awareness, particularly towards his death bowlers inthe crunch games against Australia and Pakistan.Shahid Afridi
It was meant to be a tournament made for Afridi’s batting, but it waswith the ball that he made the biggest impression. He bowled in anattacking vein, but was rarely taken to pieces. Tellingly, his two mostexpensive performances came against India, but his spell of 3 for 18against Sri Lanka was one of the best spells of spin bowling duringthe two weeks. However, despite earning the Man of the Tournament prize, Afridinearly lost his place in this XI after his careless batting in thesemi-final and final, which completed a disappointing time with thewillow as he made 91 runs at 15 (although the strike-rate was 197,topping that list) and Pakistan needs Afridi to contribute with batand ball.Daniel Vettori
Although Vettori said he hoped Twenty20 wouldn’t detract from thetraditional forms of the game, he was New Zealand’s stand-outperformer with the ball in his first major tournament as captain. Henever conceded more than 25 runs – finishing as the most miserlybowler – and consistently picked up wickets, using subtle changes ofpace and flight to show that guile has a place even in the shortestformat. His 4 for 20 against India, at Johannesburg, was amatch-winning spell, while he out-thought Kevin Pietersen.Umar Gul
Without Shoaib Akhtar, Pakistan needed someone to stand up and becounted. Gul proved to be a revelation, performing a new role as aspecialist death bowler in the latter half of the innings to finish asthe leading wicket taker. Despite bowling when the ball was meantto be flying to all corners, Gul finished with an economy rate of 5.60to go alongside his 13 wickets. In the semi-finals and final heproduced outstanding spells of controlled swing and didn’t deserve tofinish on the losing side.Stuart Clark
After a World Cup where he was a late inclusion and played one match, Clark showed that line and length has a place in Twenty20. Hebenefited from playing four matches in Cape Town, a wicket that suitshis back-of-length bowling, and ended Sri Lanka’s hopes with 4 for 20in the Super Eights clash. But he also showed added variety, includinga clever slower ball and a useful yorker. Clark appears ready to fillGlenn McGrath’s boots in all forms of the game.RP Singh
Followed up his impressive performances in England with an outstandingtournament, Singh’s displays in the semi-final and final proveddecisive. He didn’t go for more than 33 in any spell and showed nervesof steel against Australia in the semi-final. Then came the final,with India defending a middle-of-the-road 157 and Singh struck early withthe new ball. His 4 for 13 against South Africa, at Durban, was hismost lethal spell of left-arm swing and sent the hosts crashing out.12th man – Morne Morkel
Narrowly missed out on one of the fast-bowling slots, but Morkel’stournament confirmed his potential to be a key figure in SouthAfrica’s attack as he collected nine wickets including four againstNew Zealand.
