Kane Williamson Excludes Virat Kohli from His 21st Century Playing XI, Only One Pakistani Star Included

Former New Zealand captain Kane Williamson recently made headlines when he revealed his all-time 21st-century playing XI, excluding India’s star batsman Virat Kohli from the lineup. The revelation came during an interaction with former Test cricketer Matthew Hayden and was featured on *Cricket Info*.

Williamson, when asked to pick a playing eleven from the 21st century, left out Kohli, who has been one of the most consistent and influential cricketers in modern cricket. His selection saw only one Pakistani cricketer, Shoaib Akhtar, making it to the list.

The Kiwi captain’s playing XI included openers Matthew Hayden and Virender Sehwag, while the middle-order consisted of Ricky Ponting, Sachin Tendulkar, Steve Smith, AB de Villiers, and wicketkeeper-batsman MS Dhoni. The bowling attack included Dale Steyn, Shoaib Akhtar, Glenn McGrath, and Muttiah Muralitharan.

Interestingly, there was only a single Pakistani cricketer in Williamson’s lineup, highlighting the tough competition faced by players from all nations. The rest of the players were from Australia, South Africa, India, and Sri Lanka.

Meanwhile, former Australian opener Matthew Hayden also revealed his own playing XI, and notably, no Pakistani cricketer made the cut in his selection. Hayden’s team featured Alastair Cook, David Warner, Jacques Kallis, Brian Lara (captain), Virat Kohli, VVS Laxman, Adam Gilchrist, Shane Warne, Pat Cummins, Brett Lee, and James Anderson.

These selections have sparked debates among cricket fans, especially concerning the exclusion of Kohli, who has been a pillar in Indian cricket for over a decade.