TEAM LIST TEST TEAM OF THE YEAR

[1910]

Hard this year, some countries played a lot of Test cricket and some have played very little- but here is my team for 21.

Rohit Sharma- 906 runs at 47- Had a great series against England.

Dimuth Karunaratne- 902 runs at 69- Was great against SA.

Marnus Lanuschagne-526 runs at 65-disrupted year but got runs when it mattered.

Kane Williamson-395 runs at 65 but his quality of runs in the Championship final was outstanding.

Joe Root-1708 runs at 61- Third most runs ever in a year behind Viv and Yousef- sheer volume gets him a spot. So beautiful to watch.

Fawad Alam-571 runs 57-strange set up but got runs- he's old but three tons and he gets runs across a wide range of countries.

Rishabh Pant-748 runs at 39, 33 catches and six stumpings- great batting and great keeping in Australia.

Ashwin Ravichandran- 54 wickets at 16- what more can you say? 46 wickets at 13 against England.

Kyle Jamieson- 27 wickets at 17-Player of the match in the final. Great bounce.

Pat Cummins-21 wickets at 18-Great year with only four Tests.

Shaheen Shah Afridi-47 wickets at 17- came back from a tough series against the Black Caps, best seamer in 21.

12th man- Steve Smith-430 runs at 53.

 

[Unbreakable]

Hard this year, some countries played a lot of Test cricket and some have played very little- but here is my team for 21.

Rohit Sharma- 906 runs at 47- Had a great series against England.

Dimuth Karunaratne- 902 runs at 69- Was great against SA.

Marnus Lanuschagne-526 runs at 65-disrupted year but got runs when it mattered.

Kane Williamson-395 runs at 65 but his quality of runs in the Championship final was outstanding.

Joe Root-1708 runs at 61- Third most runs ever in a year behind Viv and Yousef- sheer volume gets him a spot. So beautiful to watch.

Fawad Alam-571 runs 57-strange set up but got runs- he's old but three tons and he gets runs across a wide range of countries.

Rishabh Pant-748 runs at 39, 33 catches and six stumpings- great batting and great keeping in Australia.

Ashwin Ravichandran- 54 wickets at 16- what more can you say? 46 wickets at 13 against England.

Kyle Jamieson- 27 wickets at 17-Player of the match in the final. Great bounce.

Pat Cummins-21 wickets at 18-Great year with only four Tests.

Shaheen Shah Afridi-47 wickets at 17- came back from a tough series against the Black Caps, best seamer in 21.

12th man- Steve Smith-430 runs at 53.

Pretty hard to leave out Axar Patel - 36 wickets in 5 matches at an average of 11.

Our upcoming Pakistan tour is going to be a lot more difficult than most people realise, they're developing some serious bowling talent over there.

Shaheen Afridi (21) - 47 wickets @ 17 avg
Hasan Ali (27) - 41 wickets @ 16 avg

Strong batting line-up as well, with all 6 of their top order batsmen averaging 40+ in tests.

 

[1910]

Pretty hard to leave out Axar Patel - 36 wickets in 5 matches at an average of 11.

Our upcoming Pakistan tour is going to be a lot more difficult than most people realise, they're developing some serious bowling talent over there.

Shaheen Afridi (21) - 47 wickets @ 17 avg
Hasan Ali (27) - 41 wickets @ 16 avg

Strong batting line-up as well, with all 6 of their top order batsmen averaging 40+ in tests.

Thought about it but he only played home Tests.

 

[Unbreakable]

Thought about it but he only played home Tests.

So did Cummins haha.

It's a tough call for sure, but think I'd lean the way of Patel. He also averaged 30 with the bat in 2021, handy contributor.

If you only want one spinner in there, then Cummins ahead is justifiable.

 

[Bull Shark]

What’s everyone’s current World Test XI ?
mine:
1. Latham
2. Root
3. Labuschagne
4. Smith
5. Kohli
6. Williamson
7. Pant
8. Ashwin
9. Cummins
10. Rabada
11. Bumrah

too many top order guns to squeeze in and Root is almost an opener nowadays anyway given the state of English batting.. that bowling attack would be a nightmare to deal with

Keen to see what others here come up with

 

[Sproj]

What’s everyone’s current World Test XI ?
mine:
1. Latham
2. Root
3. Labuschagne
4. Smith
5. Kohli
6. Williamson
7. Pant
8. Ashwin
9. Cummins
10. Rabada
11. Bumrah

too many top order guns to squeeze in and Root is almost an opener nowadays anyway given the state of English batting.. that bowling attack would be a nightmare to deal with

Keen to see what others here come up with

Well I don't need a second invitation:

1. Sharma
2. Warner
3. Labushagne
4. Williamson (c)
5. Smith
6. Root
7. Pant
8. Ashwin
9. Cummins
10. Rabada
11. Bumrah

You could name any number of fast bowlers and it would still be a gun side. I can't see how you pick Kohli either, he can't buy runs in tests at present, that Indian middle order is a shambles, the rest of the side is on fire though.

Here's a second side:

1. Latham
2. Karunaratne
3. Azam
4. Kohli (purely on previous years)
5. Al Hasan (if he counts, not sure his status)
6. Rizwan
7. Jadeja
8. Jamieson
9. Shami
10. Shah Afridi
11. Hazlewood

There are so many good players omitted - Ngidi, Lyon, Starc, Stokes, Anderson, Broad, Khan, Southee, Boult, Wagner especially, Ali, Nicholls, Pujara, etc.