ICC Men's T20I team of 2021: Babar Azam leads star-studded XI, no Team India player makes the cut

No Team India player made the cut in ICC Men's T20I team of 2021. The International Cricket Council (ICC), on Wednesday (January 19), announced the elite XI with Babar Azam named captain. Babar, who led Pakistan to the semi-finals of the 2021 T20 World Cup, has two more Men in Green players in the star-studded list.

Babar's opening partner and wicketkeeper Md Rizwan and Shaheen Afridi were a part of the list. Rizwan had a dream run in 2021 in the shortest format, ending with 1,326 runs in 29 matches with his skipper Babar being a distant second (with 939 runs). Shaheen, on the other hand, was impressive throughout the calendar year and ended with 23 wickets. He was also the Player-of-the-Match in Pakistan's first-ever victory over India in a World Cup clash (during the T20 WC). 

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Some other big names in the list are England's Jos Buttler (only centurion in the T20 WC), Mitchell Marsh -- who was the Player-of-the-Match in the World Cup final last year, Sri Lanka's find Wanindu Hasaranga, South African trio Aiden Markram, David Miller and Tabriaz Shami (who was also the joint-highest wicket taker in the format in 2021). Shamsi returned with a whopping 36 scalps, along with SL's Hasaranga.

The other players in the list are Bangladesh's Mustafizur Rahman (28 wickets in 2021) and Australia's pacer Josh Hazlewood. The latter played a key role in Aaron Finch-led Australia's maiden T20 WC win, finishing with 11 scalps in 7 games at an average of 15.91.

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No Team India player made the cut in the elusive list shared by the ICC. None of the Indian batter or bowler managed to finish in the top-ten, for most runs and wickets, respectively. Team India also had a forgettable 2021 in T20Is, being eliminated in the Super 12 round in the World Cup. Though Rohit Sharma did manage some good performances and ended with 424 runs, he wasn't impressive enough to enter the list.

Other big names such as David Warner, Glenn Maxwell, Kagiso Rabada, Quinton de Kock, Nicholas Pooran, Shakib Al Hasan, etc. also didn't feature in the XI.
 
ICC Men's T20I Team of the Year for 2021

Babar Azan (captain), Jos Buttler, Mohammad Rizwan, Aiden Markram, Mitchell Marsh, David Miller, Tabraiz Shamsi, Josh Hazlewood, Wanidu Hasaranga, Mustafizur Rahman, Shaheen Afridi