Best Asian ODI XI of the year 2020

Virat Kohli (IND) (c)

It’s not often that one can raise doubts over Virat Kohli’s inclusion in any best XI team. After all, the top-ranked ODI batsman in the world has played quite a few innings of note to warrant his place as one of the best modern-era cricketers. But this year, King Kohli’s story of world-wide domination has had some slightly deeper angles to itself.

Statistically, 2020 has been quite a rewarding year for the India captain. In 9 ODI games, spanning across India, New Zealand, and Australia, Kohli accumulated 431-runs at a healthy average of 47.88. In the process, he also struck 5 half-centuries while simultaneously captaining the white-ball team.

But while King Kohli’s performances look impressive on paper, the fact that he went through his first century-less year since 2008 (across all three international formats) is a massive let-down. Additionally, his style of captaincy was found wanting on several areas.

Regardless of those blemishes, purely from a stats and performance-based perspective, there’s hardly any doubt that Kohli should assume his rightful, one-down position in this year’s best Asia XI.