World Cup 2019: Harbhajan Singh picks his best XI

The World Cup 2019 has been one of its kind. After a month packed with cricketing action, we are down to the final game of the tournament. For the first time after 1996, the cricketing world will see a new champion. England are the favourites, but they might be wary of New Zealand’s bowling attack. India has already paid a heavy price for taking the Kiwis for granted and England can’t afford to be casual against them.

There have been some standout performances from the tournament. The tournament will be remembered for Rohit Sharma’s 5 centuries, David Warner’s outstanding redemption to world cricket, Kane Williamson single handed guiding New Zealand throughout — just to name a few. Starc’s laser-guided yorker to dismiss Ben Stokes was another attraction. Ben Stokes arguably took the catch of the decade in the very first game.

Judging the performance of the players in this edition, the experts all over the world have picked their best XI for the tournament. It is always a tough decision to choose a particular player since there have been many performers in the World Cup. But some deserving and standout performers have made it to the XI. Harbhajan Singh, the former Indian off-spinner who has been presenting the games in the World Cup, is one of them.

Four Indians on Harbhajan’s best playlist

While speaking on Star Sports experts panel, Harbhajan picked Rohit Sharma and David Warner as his openers. The two have scored 648 and 647 respectively. and laid solid foundations for their respective teams. He has gone with Kane Williamson as his No. 3 batsman and the captain of the team. Virat Kohli, Ben Stokes, and Jos Buttler have made it into the middle order. All three have silently gone about their businesses in the tournament, playing the second fiddle to in-form players of their teams.

Surprisingly, he has kept Shakib in the lower middle order. The southpaw had a fantastic tournament as an all-rounder. Batting at the No. 3 for Bangladesh, he scored 606 runs and picked up 11 wickets. Hardik Pandya also features in his XI. Harbhajan went with Shakib as the lone spinner in his team. He went with 3-pronged pace attack, comprising Mitchell Starc, Jasprit Bumrah, and Jofra Archer. The three have been the spearhead of the bowling departments of their teams.

Harbhajan’s best XI: Rohit Sharma, David Warner, Kane Williamson (c), Virat Kohli, Jos Buttler (wk), Shakib-Al-Hasan, Hardik Pandya, Mitchell Starc, Jofra Archer, Jasprit Bumrah.