World Cup 2019: Mohammad Kaif picks his best XI

India vice-captain Rohit Sharma seems to have overtaken his skipper Virat Kohli by far as taking place in the experts’ World Cup XIs are concerned. Former India batsman Mohammad Kaif too came up with his favourite XI based on the just-concluded World Cup and he chose the ace India opener along with seamer Jasprit Bumrah as the only two Indian players in his team.

England lifted their first World Cup title in the fourth attempt since 1979 when they beat New Zealand in the Super Over in the final of the World Cup 2019 at Lord’s on Sunday. The game saw not one but two ties – the scheduled 100 overs as well as the Super Over – but yet England went through by the virtue of hitting more boundaries in the match. The criterion looked unconvincing for many and New Zealand seemed more perfect a team with moral victory in the title clash.

Kaif’s favourite World Cup XI, he chose England opener Jason Roy to accompany Rohit Sharma for the top two slots and went for David Warner at No.3. The Australian batsman made his presence felt at the World Cup in a big way months after returning from a year-long ban because of the Sandpapergate. Warner slammed 647 runs in 10 matches, just one less than the table topper Rohit (648 runs) with help of three centuries against Pakistan, Bangladesh and South Africa.

Kane Williamson captain of Kaif’s XI

Kaif, like many others, chose Kane Williamson as the captain of his side and he was picked at the No.4 slot. Williamson became the second Kiwi captain after Brendon McCullum to take his country to the final of the cricket World Cup but missed the trophy by a whisker. He was also successful as a batsman in the tournament as he slammed 578 runs in 10 matches to end up as the captain with the most number of runs in a single World Cup edition.

My World Cup 11

Rohit Sharma
Jason Roy
David Warner
Kane Williamson (c)
Shakib Al Hasan
Ben Stokes
Alex Carey (wk)
Mitch Starc
Jofra Archer
Lockie Ferguson
Jasprit Bumrah

12th man – Jadeja#CWC19Final

— Mohammad Kaif (@MohammadKaif) July 14, 2019

The next three players that Kaif picked are Bangladesh all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan who excelled with both the bat and ball in this tournament. Ben Stokes was a vital cog in England’s campaign and Alex Carey, the Australian wicketkeeper-batsman, who certainly made an impact with his talent. He will certainly be a player the cricketing world will look up to in the near future.

The final four slots in Kaif’s team were occupied by Mitchell Starc, Jofra Archer, Lockie Ferguson and Jasprit Bumrah. All these bowlers finished among the top five in this World Cup with a tally of wickets between 27 and 18. Kaif didn’t take any spinner in his XI but kept Ravindra Jadeja as the 12th player.