It's difficult when looking at the 1-point teams to pick a proper representative. Sure, Scotland has always been there or thereabouts since the 1990's, and some of their players get the advantage of playing in the English County circuit, which arguably offers better opposition than say, Italy or Jordan. The Asian teams do fare better, being part of the Asia Cup, and where a previous pick, Anshuman Rath, had made India sweat back in 2018.
You can't really say the same for a lot of the other teams, who either have to rely on players who might have represented their home countries in youth tournaments and then emigrated, or who have to hope that their own home-grown players are up to the international standard.
Which is why it makes my next pick all the more unusual, but no less effective. A single ODI representation for the USA, and 9 List A matches in total. Zero ICC youth tournament experience. Some privately-sponsored tournament experience prior to being discovered, and this guy can still get some of the top batsmen in the world out. I've seen it happen. "Franchise cricket" is the simple two-word phrase to the obvious question of how.
You might associate his name more with T20 and T10 formats, but with the ability to deliver inswingers at 135-140kmph on a consistent basis,
Ali Khan is my next pick. When you can impress a guy like Courtney Walsh in a trial game, you know you're onto something good. He is attacking, no matter what format he has played thus far, but he knows when to defend and can bowl a few overs just before the final 5 if need be. YouTube has shown a few bouncers from him, probably not that effective, but with a good captain and a set field, he can bowl to it. He regularly took wickets in the WCL that got the USA back to ODI status, and he showed that he can be just as good as for 10 overs as he is with 4.
That's a pretty potent new-ball attack, and with the strike rates of him and Mustafizur being that low, a team could quickly find themselves 36/2 after 8 overs.
He is Pakistani by birth, and his original country could do much worse than putting him in the coloured kit sooner rather than later. Current ICC rules allow this without a waiting period, as he'd be stepping up from an Associate to a Full Member.
(Just to add, since his CPL stint with the Trinbago Knight Riders, every single woman in the country between the ages of 5 and 105 has taken a massive liking to him. My girlfriend would kill me if I didn't include him in the squad.)
1.
2. Calum MacLeod
3.
4.
5.
6. Kevin O'Brien
7. Tatenda Taibu
8.
9.
10. Mustafizur Rahman
11. Ali Khan
Minus 1 point.
Points available - 17
@Yash.