ICC has announced the ‘Team of the Tournament’ for the 2026 T20 World Cup. Four Indian players have got place in this. However, captain Suryakumar Yadav, who made the team champion, was neither included in the team nor given the captaincy. The captaincy of the team has been given to South Aiden Markram.
ICC Team of The Tournament: The Indian cricket team has created history by winning not one, not two, but three T20 World Cups. Team India has the distinction of winning the T20 World Cup twice in a row. In the final held in Ahmedabad last Sunday (8 March), India defeated New Zealand by a huge margin of 96 runs. Now ICC has announced the ‘Team of the Tournament’ consisting of the best players who performed brilliantly in this tournament. Four Indian players have got a place in this. But Suryakumar, the captain who won the T20 World Cup for India, neither got the captaincy nor was given a place in the team as a player. According to the ICC website, the selection committee comprising cricket legends Ian Bishop, Ian Morgan, Natalie Germanos along with ICC representative Gaurav Saxena and journalist Rex Clementine has selected these excellent players.
Players included in ICC Team of the Tournament
1. Sahibzada Farhan: 7 matches, 383 runs, average of 76.60, strike rate of 160.25.
Even though Pakistan’s performance in this tournament was poor, opener Sahibzada Farhan won everyone’s hearts with his brilliant play. Pakistan was eliminated in the Super-8 stage itself, yet they scored 383 runs in seven matches. This is the most runs scored by a batsman in a single T20 World Cup edition. Not only this, this 29 year old opener also made a record by becoming the first batsman to score two centuries in the same T20 World Cup.
2. Sanju Samson: Only 5 matches, 321 runs, average of 80.25, strike rate of 199.37.
Sanju Samson played an important role in helping India finish brilliantly in the 2026 World Cup. For this reason he was also selected as ‘Player of the Series’. Now he has also got a place in the Team of the Tournament. Sanju did not get a place in the star-studded Indian team at the beginning of this ICC mega tournament. But by coming into the team at the last moment, he created a stir. He scored an unbeaten 97 runs in the ‘do or die’ match against West Indies in Super-8. After this, he scored 89 runs against England in the semi-finals and again 89 runs against New Zealand in the final. In this way, he became the third player to score half-centuries in both the final and semi-finals and the second player to score three consecutive 80+ scores in the T20 World Cup.
3. Ishan Kishan: 9 matches, 317 runs, average of 35.22, strike rate of 193.29.
Ishan Kishan impressed with his explosive batting both as an opener and in the middle order. He scored three half-centuries in this World Cup. Helped the team by scoring 38 runs against Zimbabwe and 39 against England. His best performance came against arch-rivals Pakistan. In that match, after the early fall of India’s first wicket, Kishan came to the crease and took charge of the Indian innings by scoring 77 runs in 40 balls with the help of 10 fours and three sixes. Kishan, who was out of the team for the last two years, made his comeback memorable by scoring 54 runs in the final and taking two important catches.
4. Aiden Markram: 8 matches, 286 runs, average of 47.66, strike rate of 165.31.
Aiden Markram captained the South African team brilliantly. Under his leadership, South Africa won the first seven matches of the tournament. Markram, who was always ahead in taking responsibility, scored three half-centuries while opening. Especially his bat was very good in Ahmedabad. Scored 86 not out in the important group match against New Zealand and 82 not out against West Indies in the Super-8. In the match against India, he also showed excellence in bowling and gave a breakthrough to his team by taking the wicket of Ishan Kishan in the very first over. Markram, who impressed with his captaincy, has now been chosen as the captain of the Team of the Tournament.
5. Hardik Pandya: 9 matches, 217 runs, strike rate of 160.74, 9 wickets.
For the last few years, Hardik Pandya has been playing an important role in India’s victory due to his ability to change the course of the match with his bat or ball. He continued the same form in the T20 World Cup and along with scoring 217 runs, he also took 9 wickets. Pandya scored two half-centuries, including a blistering inning of 50 runs in 23 balls against Zimbabwe. In that match, India scored 256/4, which is the highest team total of the 2026 T20 World Cup. His best performance in bowling was taking 2 wickets for 16 runs in three overs against Pakistan.
6. Will Jacques: 8 matches, 226 runs, strike rate of 176.56, 9 wickets.
This tournament proved to be a breakthrough for Will Jacques. He emerged as one of the best all-rounders of the T20 World Cup. Coming down the batting order, he played the role of finisher very well. Scoring unbeaten 53 runs against Italy was his best performance. As an off-spinner, he took three wickets in the Super-8 match against Sri Lanka and helped the team win by 51 runs. Jacques won four ‘Man of the Match’ awards in this tournament.
7. Jason Holder: 7 matches, 10 wickets, 141 runs.
West Indies fast bowler and powerful lower-order batsman Jason Holder was one of the stars of this tournament. His all-round talent was seen in the Super-8 match against India. In that match, he remained unbeaten on 37 runs in 22 balls with figures of 2/38. He created a stir with his performance of 4/27 against Nepal at the Wankhede Stadium. He gave his team a big win by nine wickets by dismissing three out of the top five against the Asian team.
8. Lungi Ngidi: 7 matches, 12 wickets, average of 15.58, economy of 7.19.
Lungi Ngidi, one of the best fast bowlers of the tournament, started the tournament by taking 4/31 against Canada. Even though he did not get a wicket in the match against India, he restricted the Indian batting by giving only 15 runs in his four overs. Even on good pitches for batting, he used his experience, variation and slow balls very well.
9. Adil Rashid: 8 matches, 13 wickets, average of 19.23, economy of 8.15.
The only specialist spinner included in this ‘Team of the Tournament’ is Adil Rashid. He especially took advantage of the conditions in Sri Lanka and helped England win six out of the first seven matches. His best performance was 3/36 against Scotland. He played an important role in the victory against Sri Lanka and New Zealand in the Super-8. Against India, he did wonders by taking the wickets of Ishan Kishan and Suryakumar Yadav.
10. Blessing Muzarabani: 6 matches, 13 wickets, average of 14.46, economy of 7.88.
Blessing Muzarabani played a key role in Zimbabwe’s dream run in this tournament. After being left out of the 2024 edition, Zimbabwe competed in the Super-8 this time and gave their best performance in the T20 World Cup. Zimbabwe proved its strength by winning against Australia by 23 runs. In that match, Muzarabani played a key role in Australia being all out for 146 runs by taking 4/17 wickets.
11. Jasprit Bumrah: 8 matches, 14 wickets, average of 12.4, economy of 6.2.
India’s number 1 fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah once again proved how dangerous a bowler he is in this T20 World Cup. In the final, Bumrah took 4 wickets for just 15 runs and played an important role in making India the champion. Not only this, he also received the ‘Man of the Match’ award in the final match.
12. Shadley Van Schawick: 4 matches, 13 wickets, average of 7.76, economy of 6.80.
USA pacer Shadley emerged as the best bowler in the group stage. Even though USA could not repeat the 2024 performance and qualify for the Super-8, Shadley bowled brilliantly. He started the tournament by taking four wickets against India. Later he repeated the same performance against Pakistan and shone with figures of 4/25.