Bangladeshi opening batsman Tamim Iqbal has been included in the team of the ICC Champions Trophy’2017 announced by the International Cricket Council on Monday.
The ICC Champions Trophy team comprises players from five of the eight participating teams with four players from champions Pakistan, three each from runners-up India and hosts England and the remaining one from Bangladesh.
Kane Williamson of New Zealand was named the 12th man, according to an ICC media release issued on Monday.
The Team of the ICC Champions Trophy 2017 (in batting order): Shikhar Dhawan (India, 338 runs), Fakhar Zaman (Pakistan, 252 runs) Tamim Iqbal (Bangladesh, 293 runs), Virat Kohli (India, 258 runs), Joe Root (England, (258 runs), Ben Stokes (England, 184 runs & three wickets), Sarfraz Ahmed (Pakistan, captain, wicketkeeper, 76 runs and nine dismissals), Adil Rashid (England, seven wickets,) Junaid Khan (Pakistan, eight wickets), Bhuvneshwar Kumar (India, seven wickets, Hassan Ali (Pakistan, 13 wickets), Kane Williamson (New Zealand, 12th, man, 244 runs).
The team was selected by a jury of cricket experts including former captains Michael Atherton of England, Sourav Ganguly of India, Ramiz Raja of Pakistan as well as Lawrence Booth (Editor, Wisden Almanack and cricket writer, The Mail) and Julian Guyer (cricket correspondent, Agence France-Presse) with ICC General Manager – Cricket, Geoff Allardice, as chairman.
Dhawan and Hassan won the Golden Bat and Gold Ball trophies for finishing as the most successful batsman and bowler respectively, while Tamim was selected after driving Bangladesh to its maiden semifinal in a major ICC event.
Pakistan’s Fakhar Zaman was picked as Dhawan’s opening partner after he aggregated 252 runs in four matches at a strike-rate of 113.
Joe Root was rewarded for his 258 runs in the tournament, while Ben Stokes was selected as an all-rounder following his aggregate of 184 runs and three wickets.
Fast bowlers Junaid Khan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Hassan shared 28 wickets between them in the tournament, while wrist-spinner Rashid finished with seven wickets with an economy rate of 4.73.
Sarfraz was chosen as the captain following his inspirational leadership during the 18-day tournament that was the cornerstone of his team’s 180-run victory over India in front of a full house. Pakistan had started disastrously when it suffered a 124-run thrashing at the hands of India, before it bounced back to defeat South Africa by 19 runs, Sri Lanka by three wickets and England in the semifinal by eight wickets.
Pakistan had entered the tournament ranked eighth on the MRF Tyres ICC ODI Team Rankings, but courtesy its victories against higher-ranked sides, finished in sixth place, which means it now looks well set to qualify automatically for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019.
