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The 2026 T20 World Cup is underway and the competition has been exciting so far. Former India captain Ajinkya Rahane has been selected in his all-time right-handed T20 XI. There have been some shocking inclusions and exclusions among the teams he picked while speaking on Cricbuzz. He was shockingly left out of the team despite being a right-hander.
Former India captain Virat Kohli failed to make it into the all-time right-hander XI picked by Ajinkya Rahane. The latter has six Indian cricketers in the squad; however, Kohli failed to find a place. Virat Kohli has been India’s best batsman across all formats for many years. Despite his success in the T20 World Cup and other T20 series, he failed to break into the starting XI.
Virat Kohli left out of Rahane’s starting XI
Virat Kohli is the highest run-scorer in the history of T20 World Cup and TATA Indian Premier League (IPL) with 1292 and 8661* points respectively. He is also the third-highest scorer in T20Is with 4188 runs in the format. The Chase maestro was India’s best player to win the 2024 T20 World Cup final and was also the best player in the 2014 and 2016 T20 World Cup tournaments.
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Ajinkya Rahane picked Rohit Sharma and Jos Buttler as openers, with current India captain Suryakumar Yadav at No. 3. Buttler and Rohit are the two captains who won the T20 World Cup in the previous two editions of the league. Former South Africa captain AB de Villiers is ranked fourth.
This is the video
@ajinkyarahane88 Select his all-time right-handed T20 XI
No Kohli? 😮 Watch it here! pic.twitter.com/h6uVb2OGIU
— Cricbuzz (@cricbuzz) February 11, 2026
Ajinkya Rahane picks two Indian spinners
While MS Dhoni, one of the best finishers in world cricket, was ranked fifth and was selected as the captain and wicketkeeper of the best right-handed T20 XI. Andre Russell and Dwayne Bravo are two versatile players around him.
Coming to the bowlers, he picked two pacers and two spinners. Harbhajan Singh was ranked 8th, Jasprit Bumrah and Lasith Malinga were ranked 9th and 10th respectively. Finally, he selected Yuzvendra Chahal as his last spinner and completed his XI.
Speaking on Cricbuzz Instagram, Ajinkya Rahane said, “So I would go with Rohit Sharma and Jos Buttler. The number three at the moment is our India skipper Surya. We all know how dangerous he is – he hits shots everywhere and is a real 360 A player who can change the game from anywhere, so that’s the third one, Suryakumar Yadav.”
“No. 4, original 360 player AB de Villiers. A very dangerous player who can change the game in any situation and we have seen that many times. No. 5 for me is MS Dhoni. He will be the captain of the right-handers. I will talk about him as a captain – a very sharp leader, a great thinker and someone who remains very calm under pressure. So, MS Dhoni.”
“For me, No. 6 is Andre Russell, who is an all-rounder. An explosive batsman who bowlers are basically afraid of. No. 7, another all-rounder, Dwayne Bravo. No. 8 for me is Harbhajan Singh – a great spinner and wicket-taker.”
Ajinkya Rahane concluded: “At number nine and ten, no batsman wants to face them: Jasprit Bumrah and Lasith Malinga. Both can bowl with the new ball in the middle overs and death overs. No. 11 Chahal – I think is a quality leg-spinner and a very brave bowler.”
Ajinkya Rahane’s All-Time Right-Hand Lineup
Rohit Sharma, Jos Buttler, Suryakumar Yadav, AB de Villiers, MS Dhoni (c/wk), Andre Russell, Dwayne Bravo, Harbhajan Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Lasith Malinga, Yuzvendra Chahal.
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