Australia opener David Warner, who was the Player of the Tournament in the last T20 world cup held in Dubai, didn’t even find a place in Kevin Pietersen’s best eleven of the recently-concluded T20 World Cup 2022.

Instead, the former England captain opted for Alex Hales and Jos Buttler as the two openers, followed by the leading run-scorer of the tournament, Virat Kohli, who scored 296 runs in 6 matches. Kevin Pietersen hailed the Indian as “among the most consistent and best T20 batters in the world.”

For middle-order sports, Kevin Pietersen picked India’s Suryakumar Yadav who amassed 239 runs at an extraordinary average and strike-rate of 59.75 and 189.68 respectively while New Zealand’s Glenn Phillips accumulated 201 runs at a strike rate of 151, including a match-winning hundred against Sri Lanka. 

For lower-order sports, Kevin Pietersen picked Pakistan’s Shadab Khan. Pakistan’s premier all-rounder played a number of impactful knocks for his team including his heroics against South Africa that got his team into the semi-finals and his wicket-taking ability throughout the tournament was impressive.

Sri Lanka’s Wanindu Hasaranga and Zimbabwe’s Sikandar Raza are the two all-rounders Kevin Pietersen opted for. Hasaranga has topped the wicket charts in the last two T20 world cups, this time he took 15 scalps and struck runs at a strike rate of 130.
Sikandar Raza was Zimbabwe’s leading bowler in the world cup, conceding at 6.4 runs per over, and took 10 wickets.

The right-hander finished with 219 runs with the bat while striking at 121.
Sam Curran, the second-leading wicket-taker with 13 wickets, was a part-time pick as the medium pacer made regular strikes, and also bagged wickets at crucial moments throughout the tournament. Kevin Pietersen stated that Curran’s wicket-taking ability in the middle overs “was one of the key reasons why England won the tournament.”
Amongst pacers, the 42-year-old former England batsman chose Anrich Nortje and Shaheen Shah Afridi. Nortje snapped up 11 wickets, and Afridi also returned with 11 wickets in the tournament. Both pacers were instrumental in the success of their sides.

Kevin Pietersen’s best XI of T20 World Cup 2022:
Alex Hales, Jos Buttler, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Glenn Phillips, Sikandar Raza, Shadab Khan, Sam Curran, Wanindu Hasaranga, Anrich Nortje, Shaheen Shah Afridi.