Former England captain Michael Vaughan, who has donned the hat of an expert now and was seen doing commentary in the recently concluded five-match Test series between India and Australia, picked his combined best Border-Gavaskar Trophy XI. He included five Indian players in his combined XI, but surprisingly there was no place for Nitish Kumar Reddy. Reddy was one of India’s top performers in the series, which the Aussies won with a scoreline of 3-1 on Sunday, January 5.
The 21-year-old cricketer from Andhra, after making his Test debut on November 22 in Perth, played in all five matches and scored 298 runs along with taking 5 wickets. His best performance with the bat was in the Boxing Day Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, where, after coming out to bat at No. 7, he scored 114 runs from 189 balls.
In his team, Vaughan, who led England to the Ashes series win at home in 2005, included Yashasvi Jaiswal as opener, KL Rahul at 3, Rishabh Pant as wicketkeeper-batter, Ravindra Jadeja as spinner, and Jasprit Bumrah. Among the Aussie stars, he included Sam Konstas as Jaiswal’s opening partner and picked Steve Smith, Travis Head, Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, and Scott Boland.
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While speaking about his selections on the Fox Sports show on Sunday, following the conclusion of the fifth India-Australia Test at Sydney Cricket Ground, which the Aussies won by six wickets, Vaughan said, “Sam Konstas was in, and he still is in because he’s just played a horrific stroke, but I’m keeping him in because I want the young kids to go out there and completely smash the ball to all parts, so (Yashasvi) Jaiswal is in with Konstas. KL Rahul is going in at number three.”
Michael Vaughan’s combined XI for BGT 2024/25 🔥 What would your combined AUS-IND XI look like? And, which player has impressed you the most?
(credits: Fox Cricket)#AUSvsIND | #TestCricket pic.twitter.com/lT8U2mmCjm
— Cricket.com (@weRcricket) January 6, 2025
He added, “I think he’s been consistent for India throughout the series. Steve Smith goes in at four, Travis Head at No. 5, and Rishabh (Pant) at No. 6. My spinning all-rounder is Jadeja, and just look at that quartet of bowlers you’ve got: Cummins, Starc, Bumrah, and Boland, and it doesn’t get much better than that.”
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“That’s a very good 11. I would have thought of instead of Constas, but you know, like Vaughany said, a lot of young people watching, they want to, you know, see the game of Test cricket advancing, so love it.”
Michael Vaughan’s combined Border-Gavaskar Trophy XI: Sam Konstas, Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Steve Smith, Travis Head, Rishabh Pant (WK), Ravindra Jadeja, Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Jasprit Bumrah, Scott Boland
