Antony’s Domestic T20 Dream XI
Much respected cricket and sports ‘superfan’, Maldives cricket supporter, friend of everyone and Malé match-day commentator Mr. Singh K Antony has been squirrelling in his lockdown hideaway to come up with his T20 Domestic Dream XI of recent years.
Have a read a let us know your Dream T20 XI in the comments…
1. Adam Nasif Umar.
Right arm off-break / Right hand bat
Automatic choice for the opening slot. Capable of being aggressive from the word go. Very stylish. Proved his class at international level. Bowling an added advantage to the team. Great fielder. Perfect team man. Capable of lifting the spirit of the team.
2. Ahmed Ameel Mauroof.
Left arm medium / Left hand bat
Surprise package for the other opening slot. Capable of playing a cameo. Can make use of the fielding restrictions. Believes in power rather than in technique. Right and left opening will never allow bowlers to settle down. A sharp left arm fast bowler. Likes to bowl across the right-handed batsmen. Excellent fielder in the deep.
3. Yousuf Azyan Farhath.
Right arm medium / Right hand bat
Highly rated all rounder. More achievement with the bat than with the ball. Can be at No.3, if batting first or if openers are out early while batting second. Otherwise need to be dropped down the order after the aggressive ones. Capable of anchoring the innings and play long innings, so that others can rally around him. Technically sound. Likes to play within the ‘V’ in front of the wicket.
4. Mohamed Rishwan.
Right arm slow / Right hand bat / Keeper
A class act, with 3 T20 international fifties. Should be given opportunity to play maximum number of overs. Capable of playing all around the park and can be bowlers nightmare on his day. Unstoppable on song. Thirsty for runs. An impact player.
5. Hassan Haziq Rasheed.
Right hand bat / Keeper
Natural Captain and wicketkeeper – A born leader. Needs to take up the keeper’s gloves to have an extra aggressive batsman in the playing XI. A batsman for all seasons and reasons – can be an anchor or very aggressive, if required. Likes to build partnerships. Very stylish on and off the field.
6. Ismail Ali.
Right arm slow / Right hand bat
Aggressive batsman with some records against his name. No inhibitions to play his shots. Capable of playing to the canopy around, more often lofted
drives over cover and extra-cover.
7. Nilantha Cooray.
Right arm leg-spin / Right hand bat
Well experienced, both as a player and as a coach. Aggressive batsman. Spinner who could make any batsman dance in trouble. Takes a bag full of wickets on his day.
8. Simeon Harris.
Right arm medium / Right hand bat
Quality all rounder. Rich experience in playing cricket at different levels in India. Aggressive batsman with special six-hitting abilities. Can be the finisher. Needs to be promoted based on the match situation.
9. Muaviath Abdul Ghani.
Right arm medium / Right hand bat
Utility cricketer. Great team man with perfect attitude. World class fielder. Capable of saving 30 runs. Can play a cameo. Could be used as a bowler to break a partnership.
10. Hassan Ibrahim.
Right arm fast / Right hand bat
Bowling all rounder with rich experience. Likes to bend his back and hit the deck. He bowls really fast and with bounce that can square any batsman. Capable of playing very aggressive cameo. Can be promoted as the situation demands.
11. Leem Shafeeg.
Right arm medium / Right hand bat
Bowler for the death overs. Takes wickets and remains economical. Not a rabbit with the bat.
12th Man. Ibrahim Raid.
Great fielder in the deep mid-wicket. Can be used for fielding, especially towards the end of the innings.
