Cricket Twitter often throws up intriguing questions: who’d make up a world XI, is Virat Kohli a truly elite T20 player, would eleven Mark Wood sized horses beat one horse sized Mark Wood, that sort of thing. But this reply from Ben Jones of CricViz got my neurons well and truly firing:

From the mouths of statistically gifted babes comes…if not wisdom, then certainly intrigue. I imagined a Designated Survivor or Homer at the Bat scenario whereby, through injury, illness or inadvertent chicken impersonation, that the 16 teams who qualified for this year’s men’s T20 World Cup all lost their first choice XIs on the eve of the tournament, and had to call on their second string. Who gets picked, who comes out best, and who really suffers from a lack of strength in depth?

A note on methodology: I used Statsguru data on T20I matches played, innings batted and bowled in the last 12 months (or 24 months in some cases) to determine each team’s typical starting XI, adjusted for special circumstances where an obvious starter has been rested or injured for a while, and selected my 2nd XI from the remaining player pool. It’s wobbly, but it stands. Let the musing begin!

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AUSTRALIA

1. D’Arcy Short
2. Chris Lynn (c)
3. Travis Head
4. Marcus Stoinis
5. Peter Handscomb (wk)
6. Ben McDermott
7. Chris Green
8. Nathan Coulter-Nile
9. Jason Behrendorff
10. Jhye Richardson
11. Billy Stanlake

(First XI: Aaron Finch (c), David Warner, Steve Smith, Glenn Maxwell, Alex Carey (wk), Ashton Turner, Ashton Agar, Kane Richardson, Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins, Adam Zampa)

Strengths: Powerful top order with lots of BBL and international experience; good depth of fast bowling
Weaknesses: Shaky middle order; only one spinner; only one obvious death bowler

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PAKISTAN

1. Imam-ul-Haq
2. Ahmed Shehzad
3. Hussain Talat
4. Umar Akmal
5. Shoaib Malik
6. Khushdil Shah
7. Sarfaraz Ahmed (c) (wk)
8. Wahab Riaz
9. Hasan Ali
10. Usman Shinwari
11. Shaheen Shah Afridi

(First XI: Fakhar Zaman, Babar Azam (c), Haris Sohail, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Asif Ali, Iftikhar Ahmed, Faheem Ashraf, Imad Wasim, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Hasnain)

Strengths: Good if samey pace attack (all left-arm quicks)
Weaknesses: No specialist spinner; batting lineup is mostly discards

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INDIA

1. Shikhar Dhawan
2. Prithvi Shaw
3. Sanju Samson
4. Manish Pandey
5. Dinesh Karthik (wk) (c)
6. Shivam Dube
7. Krunal Pandya
8. Ravindra Jadeja
9. Shardul Thakur
10. Yuzvendra Chahal
11. Navdeep Saini

(First XI: Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Virat Kohli (c), Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant (wk), Hardik Pandya, Washington Sundar, Deepak Chahar, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah)

NB - the assumption is that MS Dhoni is unavailable for selection

Strengths: Loads of international and/or IPL experience; excellent spin attack; good number of all-rounders; good opening bowlers; experienced and talented top 5
Weaknesses: Lack of genuine third seamer; top order lacks power; no obvious death bowler

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ENGLAND

1. Tom Banton
2. James Vince
3. Joe Root (c)
4. Joe Denly
5. Sam Billings (wk)
6. Lewis Gregory
7. Sam Curran
8. David Willey
9. Saqib Mahmood
10. Matt Parkinson
11. Pat Brown

(First XI: Jonny Bairstow, Jason Roy, Dawid Malan, Eoin Morgan (c), Jos Buttler (wk), Ben Stokes, Moeen Ali, Tom Curran, Chris Jordan, Jofra Archer, Adil Rashid)

NB - the assumption is that Alex Hales is unavailable for selection

Strengths: Strong top 3; six genuine bowling options; plenty of international and some franchise league experience; two out-and-out fast bowlers; two left-arm seamers
Weaknesses: No true second spinner; no proven international power-hitter in the middle order; possibly a batter short

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SOUTH AFRICA

1. Aiden Markram
2. Janneman Malan
3. Temba Bavuma (c)
4. Heinrich Klaasen (wk)
5. JP Duminy
6. Christiaan Jonker
7. Farhaan Behardien
8. Bjorn Fortuin
9. Junior Dala
10. Anrich Nortje
11. Beuran Hendricks

(First XI: Quinton de Kock (wk), Reeza Hendricks, Faf du Plessis (c), David Miller, Rassie van der Dussen, Chris Morris, Andile Phehlukwayo, Dwaine Pretorius, Kagiso Rabada, Tabraiz Shamsi, Imran Tahir)

Strengths: International-class pace attack; good opening pair; experience at 4 and 5
Weaknesses: No true second spinner; no true all-rounder; lack of power

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NEW ZEALAND

1. Colin Munro
2. Glenn Phillips (wk)
3. Mark Chapman
4. Ross Taylor (c)
5. Tom Bruce
6. Anaru Kitchen
7. Todd Astle
8. Scott Kuggeleijn (BOOOOOO)
9. Seth Rance
10. Adam Milne
11. Blair Tickner

(First XI: Martin Guptill, Tim Seifert (wk), Kane Williamson (c), Daryl Mitchell, Colin de Grandhomme, Jimmy Neesham, Mitchell Santner, Tim Southee, Ish Sodhi, Lockie Ferguson, Trent Boult)

Strengths: Powerful top 3; experience of Ross Taylor; pacey opening pair
Weaknesses: Weak middle order; no real all-rounders; middle order could be pedestrian; Scott Kuggeleijn

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WEST INDIES

1. Evin Lewis
2. Lendl Simmons
3. Brandon King
4. Rovman Powell
5. Denesh Ramdin (wk)
6. Carlos Brathwaite
7. Fabian Allen
8. Jason Holder (c)
9. Khary Pierre
10. Obed McCoy
11. Oshane Thomas

(First XI: Chris Gayle, Sunil Narine, Shai Hope, Shimron Hetmyer, Nicholas Pooran (wk), Andre Russell, Kieron Pollard (c), Keemo Paul, Sheldon Cottrell, Kesrick Williams, Hayden Walsh Jr)

Strengths: Outstanding opening pair; international and franchise league experience throughout the XI; 6 genuine bowlers, including complementary spinners
Weaknesses: No obvious death bowler; two fairly unproven fast bowlers; bits and pieces middle order; one power hitter in Brathwaite is inconsistent

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AFGHANISTAN

1. Usman Ghani
2. Karim Sadiq
3. Shafiqullah (wk)
4, Najeeb Tarakai
5. Ibrahim Zadran
6. Samiullah Shinwari (c)
7. Sharafuddin Ashraf
8. Qais Ahmad
9. Amir Hamza
10. Ziaur Rahman
11. Shapoor Zadran

(First XI: Hazratullah Zazai, Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Karim Janat, Asghar Afghan (c), Mohammad Nabi, Najibullah Zadran, Gulbadin Naib, Rashid Khan, Fareed Ahmad, Naveen-ul-Haq, Mujeeb Ur Rahman)

Strengths: Qais Ahmad; good international experience in the bowling attack; power hitters in Shafiqullah and Samiullah
Weaknesses: Too many top order players in the same XI; 5th bowling options are weak; no obvious death bowler

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SRI LANKA

1. Kusal Mendis
2. Sadeera Samarawickrama (wk)
3. Bhankua Rajapaksa
4. Oshada Fernando
5. Angelo Mathews
6. Shehan Jayasuriya
7. Thisara Perera (c)
8. Jeffrey Vandersay
9. Lakshan Sandakan
10. Lahiru Kumara
11. Kasun Rajitha

(First XI: Avishka Fernando, Danushka Gunathilaka, Kusal Perera, Niroshan Dickwella (wk), Dasun Shanaka, Dhananjaya de Silva, Wanindu Hasuranga, Isuru Udana, Akila Dananjaya, Lasith Malinga (c), Nuwan Pradeep)

Strengths: Good stroke-players in the top 4; wealth of experience in Mathews and Thisara; two attacking wrist-spinners and two decent fast bowlers
Weaknesses: 5th bowling option is iffy; lack of power in the top order; no death bowling; Thisara is the only real power hitter and is very inconsistent

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BANGLADESH

1. Najmul Hossain Shanto
2. Mohammad Naim
3. Sabbir Rahman (c)
4. Mohammad Mithun (wk)
5 Afif Hossain
6. Ariful Haque
7. Mehidy Hasan Miraz
8. Mahedi Hasan
9. Abu Jayed
10. Rubel Hossain
11. Al-Amin Hossain

(First XI: Tamim Iqbal, Liton Das, Soumya Sarkar, Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), Mahmudullah (c), Afif Hossain, Mossadek Hossain, Mohammad Saifuddin, Aminul Islam, Shafiul Islam, Mustafizur Rahman)

NB - the assumption is that Shakib Al Hasan is unavailable for selection

Strengths: Decent pace attack; well-balanced top 4; lots of bowling options
Weaknesses: No specialist wicketkeeper; no standout option as captain; weak in the middle order; long tail

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NETHERLANDS

1. Stefan Myburgh
2. Antonius Staal
3. Vikramjit Singh
4. Wesley Barresi (c) (wk)
5. Bas de Leede
6. Sikander Zulfiqar
7. Sebastian Braat
8. Hidde Overdijk
9. Shane Snater
10. Fred Klaasen
11. Philippe Boissevain

(First XI: Max O'Dowd, Ben Cooper. Tobias Visee, Colin Ackermann, Ryan ten Doeschate, Pieter Seelar (c), Roelof van der Merwe, Scott Edwards (wk), Timm van der Gugten, Paul van Meekeren, Brandon Glover)

Strengths: Myburgh is a powerful and experienced opener; three bowlers (Snater, Klaasen, Boissevain) all potential first XI options; decent no.4 and 5
Weaknesses: Barresi isn’t a specialist keeper; back-up bowling options an issue; lack of international and franchise league experience

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PAPUA NEW GUINEA

1. Vani Morea
2. Gaudi Toka
3. Igo Mahuru
4. Ovia Sam
5. Hiri Hiri
6. Mahuru Dai
7. John Reva
8. Simon Atai (wk)
9. Chad Soper
10. James Tau (c)
11. Alei Nao

(First XI: Assad Vala (c), Tony Ura, Lega Siaka, Charles Amini, Sese Bau, Kiplin Doriga (wk), Norman Vanua, Jason Kila, Riley Hekure, Nosaina Pokana, Damien Ravu)

Strengths: International experience at the top and bottom of the order; blend of youth and experience
Weaknesses: Lack of depth to the batting order; 4th+ bowling options a bit weak

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IRELAND

1. James McCollum
2. William Porterfield (c)
3. Lorcan Tucker (wk)
4. Stuart Thompson
5. Shane Getkate
6. George Dockrell
7. Andy McBrine
8. Tyrone Kane
9. Barry McCarthy
10. David Delany
11. Peter Chase

(First XI: Paul Stirling, Kevin O'Brien, Andy Balbirnie (c), Gareth Delany, Harry Tector, Gary Wilson (wk), Mark Adair, Simi Singh, Craig Young, Boyd Rankin, Joshua Little)

Strengths: Lots of all-rounders; wicket-taking pace bowlers; loads of bowling options
Weaknesses: Too many all-rounders, so a batter light; rather steady-eddy opening pair; lack of power-hitters; no wrist-spinner

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NAMIBIA

1. Lo-handre Louwens (wk)
2. Michiel du Preez
3. Louis van der Westhuizen
4. Jean Bredenkamp
5. Karl Birkenstock
6. Pikky Ya France
7. Nicol-Loftie Eaton
8. Sarel Burger (c)
9. Tangeni Lungameni
10. Ben Shikongo
11. Jan-Izak de Villiers

(First XI: Stephan Baard, Niko Davin, JP Kotze, Craig Williams, Gerhard Erasmus (c), JJ Smit, Zane Green (wk), Jan Frylinck, Christi Viljoen, Zhivago Groenewald, Bernard Scholtz)

Strengths: Experienced middle order; good pace options; Louwens is a good attacking keeper-batter-opener
Weaknesses: Lack of depth in the batting order; weak spin options; lots of players out of position

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SCOTLAND

1. Michael Jones
2. Ollie Hairs
3. Dylan Budge (c)
4. Craig Wallace (wk)
5. Tom Bradburn
6. Finlay McCreath
7. Chris Greaves
8. Josh Davey
9. Chris Sole
10. Stuart Whittingham
11. Adrian Neill

(First XI: George Munsey, Kyle Coetzer (c), Calum MacLeod, Richie Berrington, Michael Leask, Matthew Cross (wk), Tom Sole, Mark Watt, Safyaan Sharif, Alasdair Evans, Hamza Tahir)

Strengths: Powerful top 3; Josh Davey is unlucky to miss out on first XI; lots of seam options
Weaknesses: No wicket-taking spinner; lack of 5th bowling option; middle order is very inexperienced; Budge has little senior captaincy experience

———

OMAN

1. Naseem Khushi
2. Twinkal Bhandari (wk)
3. Wasim Ali
4. Khurram Nawaz
5. Moonamchery Michal
6. Ajay Lalcheta (c)
7. Mohammad Sanuth
8. Badal Singh
9. Sufyan Mehmood
10. Kaleemullah
11. Jay Odedra

(First XI: Jatinder Singh, Khawar Ali, Aqib Ilyas, Zeeshan Maqsood (c), Mohammad Nadeem, Suraj Kumar (wk), Mehran Khan, Sandeep Goud, Amir Kaleem, Fayyaz Butt, Bilal Khan)

Strengths: Plenty of experience with Khushi, Khurram, Michal and Lalcheta;
Weaknesses: Not much power from no.s 2, 3 and 4; weak middle-order; lots of players out of position

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Thanks for the delicious and nutritious brain food, Ben! Do you agree with my selections? Who would you leave out, and who would you pick for your team’s second XI? Talk to me in the comments or on Twitter.