Former England pacemen Steven Finn and Stuart Broad picked their combined best XI for the ICC T20 World Cup 2026 for the ‘Love of Cricket’ channel on YouTube. The duo went on to pick three players from the title-winning Indian side but made some shocking exclusions.
India won the ICC T20 World Cup 2026 and broke several records, and such a task was not one man’s job. They had several special players who contributed significantly to India, from the smashing openers to the dynamic finishers; everyone played their part to perfection.
However, India were not the only team that played their part well. It also included the other sides like South Africa, New Zealand and England, who qualified for the semi-finals and some teams like Zimbabwe and the West Indies, who, despite missing out on the semi-final spot, were genuine entertainers in the competition.
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Finn Allen wins the opener’s race alongside POTS Sanju Samson
Despite not having made the best start to the ICC T20 World Cup against Namibia and Zimbabwe, Sanju Samson slowly and steadily stood up for India on an occasion when it mattered the most. He almost single-handedly guided India through to the T20 World Cup semi-finals and then continued his peak form in the knockouts.
He finished the tournament with 321 runs in just 5 innings with an average of over 80 and a strike rate of 199.37. He scored three consecutive half-centuries in the last three World Cup games.
Alongside the Indian opener and the Player of the Tournament, several other big names were in the race for the second spot. South African skipper Aiden Markram, Zimbabwean opener Brian Bennett and New Zealand opener Tim Seifert were all left behind by Finn Allen with a blistering century in the World Cup semi-final at a strike rate of over 300.
Winning captain Suryakumar Yadav finds his way into the ICC T20 World Cup Best XI
Following the dynamic opening duo, the English pacers started ignoring many major talents. They did not consider India batter Ishan Kishan, who finished the tournament with 317 runs, the fourth most for any batter.
However, they picked the West Indies explosive no. 3, Shimron Hetmyer and followed him with the victorious skipper Suryakumar Yadav. Both these T20 experts scored over 240 runs in the competition and combined for three half-centuries.
In the all-rounders deck, they again ignored India’s premier all-rounder Hardik Pandya and instead picked Zimbabwean skipper Sikander Raza for his 200 runs and 5 wickets, and his remarkable leadership that saw Zimbabwe through to their first-ever World Cup Super 8.
Will Jacks, the Player of the Series contender from England, with 226 runs and 9 wickets and South Africa’s Marco Jansen, with 11 wickets and a World Cup semi-final half-century, were the other all-rounders in the team. Pandya had, however, scored 217 vital runs and picked up 9 wickets in the competition.
Jasprit Bumrah is the only Indian bowler in Broad-Finn’s World Cup XI
The two pacers carefully crafted a very special bowling lineup for the Best XI. They picked an ace Indian pacer, Jasprit Bumrah, who has been a common name on almost every ICC Best XI over the past two years. He finished the tournament with remarkable figures of 4/15 and was the joint highest wicket-taker in the World Cup alongside teammate Varun Chakravarthy.
USA pacer Shadley van Schalkwyk was a star attraction of this edition of the World Cup. He picked up 13 wickets in just 4 games, which included two four-wicket hauls against India and Pakistan. South African slower ball specialist Lungi Ngidi was the other pacer in the side. Ngidi impressed with his death bowling, which included more slower ball variations than yorkers or bouncers.
Lastly, they picked Adil Rashid as the most successful spinner in this World Cup. Rashid picked 13 wickets at an average just below 20 and an economy of 8.15.
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