Akash Chopra Picks World XI to take on winners New Zealand, no place of Virat Kohli

Former Indian opener Aakash Chopra has picked his World XI which can take on the World Test Champions New Zealand. Chopra picked three Indian players in his team but didn’t include the skipper, Virat Kohli. The renowned commentator picked Rohit Sharma and Dimuth Karunaratne as his openers.

Rohit Sharma scored a total of 1094 runs in 12 Test matches in the WTC cycle whereas Dimuth Karunaratne scored 999 runs in 10 matches for Sri Lanka.

Marnus Labuschagne, who was the leading run-getter of the tournament, will bat at number three for Aakash Chopra. The Australian scored 1675 runs in 13 matches while Chopra picked Joe Root to bat at number four. Root gathered 1660 runs in 20 matches and he is also named as the captain of the side.

Steve Smith is picked by the renowned commentator to bat at number five. Smith amassed 1341 runs in 13 matches for Australia in WTC. Ben Stokes is picked as the all-rounder of the team as the Englishman scored 1334 runs in 17 matches for England and also delivered with the ball.

Rishabh Pant is the wicket-keeper batsman in the team as the southpaw has been in sublime form in the recent past and has grown in confidence. Pat Cummins, Stuart Broad and Josh Hazlewood constitute the pace battery whereas Ravichandran Ashwin is the solitary spinner of the team.

Ashwin finished as the leading wicket-taker of the WTC as he scalped 71 wickets whereas Cummings took 70 wickets. Stuart Broad took 69 wickets for England while Josh Hazlewood snared 48 wickets in 11 matches.

Aakash Chopra’s World XI: Rohit Sharma, Dimuth Karunaratne, Marnus Labuschagne, Joe Root (c), Steve Smith, Ben Stokes, Rishabh Pant, Pat Cummins, Ravichandran Ashwin, Stuart Broad, Josh Hazlewood