The leg spin maestro and former Australia cricketer Shane Warne has picked his dream World Cup XI and it includes one Indian and two Pakistani cricketers.
The only Indian cricketer in his team is Sachin Tendulkar. Other big names range from Ricky Ponting, Brian Lara and Sri Lanka spin legend Muttiah Muralidharan.
Warne went with Adam Gilchrist and Sachin Tendulkar as the openers with former skipper Ricky Ponting at No.3. Brian Lara and Mark Waugh came in at No.4 and No. 5 respectively with Kumar Sangakkara at No.6.
“It’s a pretty good top-four,” Shane Warne said during Salaam Cricket 2019.”No.5 wasn’t as clear-cut as the top-four. I wanted an all-rounder at No.5 and I went with Mark Waugh because he was the greatest all-round cricketer I played with.
“For No.6, I wanted a left-hander and I went with Kumar Sangakkara. If you wanted to change it up, he could go up the order. If something happened to the wicketkeeper, Sangakkara could keep wickets.
When it came to the bowling attack, Warne chose Andrew Flintoff, Wasim Akram and Glenn McGrath. In the spin department, he chose Pakistan all-rounder Shahid Afridi and Sri Lanka’s Muralidharan.
“Andrew Flintoff can bowl a good yorker and he has good hitting capabilities. I thought of Andrew Symonds but went with Flintoff at the end.
“Shahid Afridi’s bowling was underrated and his fielding was good. Akram at No, 9 is a good fielder and could smash it out of the park. At No.11, there would be so many options but I ended up going with my mate,” Warne said.
Shane Warne’s World Dream XI: Adam Gilchrist, Sachin Tendulkar, Ricky Ponting, Brian Lara, Mark Waugh, Kumar Sangakkara, Andrew Flintoff, Shahid Afridi, Wasim Akram, Muttiah Muralitharan, Glenn McGrath