Best Test XI for each country since 2000

[Unbiased-Fan]

Presenting best Test XI for each country since 2000 assuming they are playing at home.


India
Gautam Gambhir
Virender Sehwag
Rahul Dravid
Sachin Tendulkar
Virat Kohli *
Ravindra Jadeja
MS Dhoni (w)
Ravi Ashwin
Anil Kumble
Zaheer Khan
Mohammad Shami


Pakistan
Azhar Ali
Mohammad Hafeez
Younis Khan
Mohammad Yousuf
Inzamam Ul-Haq
Misbah Ul-Haq *
Mohammad Rizwan (w)
Wasim Akram
Yasir Shah
Shoaib Akhtar
Saeed Ajmal


Srilanka
Sanath Jayasuriya
Tillekaratne Dilshan
Kumar Sangakkara
Mahela Jayawardene *
Thilan Samaraweera
Angelo Mathews
Dinesh Chandimal (w)
Chaminda Vaas
Rangna Herath
Suranga Lakmal
Muttiah Muralitharan


Australia
Mathew Hayden
David Warner
Ricky Ponting *
Steven Smith
Michael Hussey
Michael Clarke
Adam Gilchrist (w)
Mitchell Johnson
Shane Warne
Pat Cummins
Glenn McGrath


New Zealand
Tom Latham
Brendon McCullum
Kane Williamson *
Stephen Fleming
Ross Taylor
Daniel Vettori
BJ Watling (w)
Tim Southee
Neil Wagner
Trent Boult
Shane Bond


South Africa
Graeme Smith *
Dean Elgar
Hashim Amla
Jacques Kallis
AB deVilliers
Shaun Pollock
Quiton deKock (w)
Keshav Maharaj
Vernon Philander
Dale Steyn
Kagiso Rabada


England
Alastair Cook
Michael Vaughan *
Joe Root
Kevin Pietersen
Ian Bell
Ben Stokes
Matt Prior (w)
Andrew Flintoff
Stuart Broad
Greame Swann
James Anderson


West Indies
Chris Gayle
Kraigg Brathwaite
Ramnaresh Sarwan
Brian Lara *
Shiv Chanderpaul
Jason Holder
Dinesh Ramdin (w)
Kemar Roach
Devendra Bishoo
Shanon Gabriel
Curtley Walsh


England and Australian teams are looking very balanced.
Please Discuss

 

[Robert]

England
Alastair Cook
Michael Vaughan *
Joe Root
Kevin Pietersen
Ian Bell
Ben Stokes
Matt Prior (w)
Andrew Flintoff
Stuart Broad
Greame Swann
James Anderson

Please Discuss

Vorn only averages 36 as skipper so I would be inclined to bring in Strauss instead.

I would drop Flintoff and bring in Hoggard n England, though it leaves them lacking a pace option.

Maybe also Thorpe who was more clutch than Bell.

 

[sweep_shot]

England
Alastair Cook
Michael Vaughan *
Joe Root
Kevin Pietersen
Ian Bell
Ben Stokes
Matt Prior (w)
Andrew Flintoff
Stuart Broad
Greame Swann
James Anderson

That would be my England XI:

England

Alastair Cook (c)
Joe Root
Jonathan Trott
Kevin Pietersen
Ian Bell
Andrew Flintoff
Ben Stokes
Matt Prior (w)
Stuart Broad
Greame Swann
James Anderson.

 

[mastimasti]

Some odd choices in those XIs but it takes a lot of work putting together a combined team across many years, so good job!

I will start with an Indian XI:

1. M. Vijay
2. V. Sehwag
3. R. Dravid
4. S. Tendulkar
5. V. Kohli
6. MS. Dhoni wk/c
7. R. Ashwin
8. Z. Khan
9. A. Kumble
10. M. Shami
11. J. Bumrah

 

[mastimasti]

Ok I am into this now, so let's do an Aussie XI too:

1. J. Langer
2. M. Hayden
3. R. Ponting c
4. M. Clarke
5. S. Smith
6. A. Gilchrist wk
7. S. Watson
8. M. Johnson
9. S. Warne
10. B. Lee
11. G. McGrath

 

[Joseph Gomes]

Ok I am into this now, so let's do an Aussie XI too:

1. J. Langer
2. M. Hayden
3. R. Ponting c
4. M. Clarke
5. S. Smith
6. A. Gilchrist wk
7. S. Watson
8. M. Johnson
9. S. Warne
10. B. Lee
11. G. McGrath

Replace Lee with Cummins, Lee was absolutely mediocre in tests.

 

[Joseph Gomes]

Presenting best Test XI for each country since 2000 assuming they are playing at home.

Australia
Mathew Hayden
David Warner
Ricky Ponting *
Steven Smith
Michael Hussey
Michael Clarke
Adam Gilchrist (w)
Mitchell Johnson
Shane Warne
Pat Cummins
Glenn McGrath


South Africa
Graeme Smith *
Dean Elgar
Hashim Amla
Jacques Kallis
AB deVilliers
Shaun Pollock
Quiton deKock (w)
Keshav Maharaj
Vernon Philander
Dale Steyn
Kagiso Rabada

Please Discuss

Your Australia side is obscenely strong, it's a legit GOAT contender. South Africa is also extremely good.

 

[sweep_shot]

Some odd choices in those XIs but it takes a lot of work putting together a combined team across many years, so good job!

I will start with an Indian XI:

1. M. Vijay
2. V. Sehwag
3. R. Dravid
4. S. Tendulkar
5. V. Kohli
6. MS. Dhoni wk/c
7. R. Ashwin
8. Z. Khan
9. A. Kumble
10. M. Shami
11. J. Bumrah

You did not include Laxman! I would make Tendulkar and Sehwag open while dropping Vijay for Laxman.

 

[mastimasti]

You did not include Laxman! I would make Tendulkar and Sehwag open while dropping Vijay for Laxman.

I know I know, I wanted to keep players as close to their playing positions as possible and I don't remember Tendulkar opening much in tests. For me Vijay is such an underrated opener but yes, if I wasn't keeping an eye on positions then I'd be happy with Tendy going up and Laxman coming into the side.

 

[YousafTheBeast]

Azhar Ali and Mohammad Rizwan *

Pakistan

Taufeeq Umar
Ahmad Shahzad
Younis Khan
Mohammad Yousuf
Inzamam ul Haq (c)
Shahid Afridi
Kamran Akmal (wk)
Shoaib Akhtar
Umar Gul
Mohammad Asif
Saeed Ajmal

Misbah misses out to balance out the xi

 

[Unbiased-Fan]

Vorn only averages 36 as skipper so I would be inclined to bring in Strauss instead.

I would drop Flintoff and bring in Hoggard n England, though it leaves them lacking a pace option.

Maybe also Thorpe who was more clutch than Bell.

I selected Vaughan mostly for his leadership role.
Andrew Strauss has similar batting numbers but Vaughan is better as captain.
Also i was unable to neglect Bell's 8000 runs and 120 matches experience.

 

[Unbiased-Fan]

Some odd choices in those XIs but it takes a lot of work putting together a combined team across many years, so good job!

I will start with an Indian XI:

1. M. Vijay
2. V. Sehwag
3. R. Dravid
4. S. Tendulkar
5. V. Kohli
6. MS. Dhoni wk/c
7. R. Ashwin
8. Z. Khan
9. A. Kumble
10. M. Shami
11. J. Bumrah

I assumed teams to play at home. So i went with only two quicks.
I choose Gambhir to open as he has better stats than Vijay and more match winning knocks. He was no. 1 batsman in ICC rankings for some time.. He and Sehwag are probably best ever openers for India in tests..

 

[Unbiased-Fan]

Azhar Ali and Mohammad Rizwan *

Pakistan

Taufeeq Umar
Ahmad Shahzad
Younis Khan
Mohammad Yousuf
Inzamam ul Haq (c)
Shahid Afridi
Kamran Akmal (wk)
Shoaib Akhtar
Umar Gul
Mohammad Asif
Saeed Ajmal

Misbah misses out to balance out the xi

Ahmed Shahzad, Afridi and Umar Gul in tests??
Are you sure?

 

[Unbiased-Fan]

Your Australia side is obscenely strong, it's a legit GOAT contender. South Africa is also extremely good.

Arthur Morris for Warner.
Don Bradman for Clarke.
Keith Miller for Hussey.
Allan Davidson for Johnson.
Dennis Lillee for Cummins..
You will get your All Time Great XI for Australia

 

[Robert]

My Aussies
—————

Langer
Hayden
Ponting
Clarke (c)
Smith
Hussey
Gilchrist (w)
Johnson
Warne
Gillespie
McGrath

 

[Robert]

I selected Vaughan mostly for his leadership role.
Andrew Strauss has similar batting numbers but Vaughan is better as captain.
Also i was unable to neglect Bell's 8000 runs and 120 matches experience.

The thing about Bell was he did great when someone about him scored a century but if the top order failed he often failed too. Whereas Thorpe usually got England out of trouble.

 

[Unbiased-Fan]

My Aussies
—————

Langer
Hayden
Ponting
Clarke (c)
Smith
Hussey
Gilchrist (w)
Johnson
Warne
Gillespie
McGrath

Great team.
Gillespie is very underrated..
He was absolutely great in India.

 

[drubwrubnat]

Sehwag
Rohit sharma
Dravid ( c )
Sachin
Laxman
Rishab Pant
Hardik
Ashwin
Kumble
Bumrah
Z khan

 

[Ab Fan]

Good list. Much appreciated!

My India XI :-

Rohit
Sehwag
Dravid
Tendulkar
Kohli(c)
VVS/Jadeja
Dhoni(wkt)
Ashwin
Kumble
Z Khan
M Shami

It is a tricky one between VVS and Jadeja. I want to pick VVS but also want five bowlers in my team. Rohit has done enough in my opinion to go past Gambhir and Vijay and his test hundred in England showed us that he can bat overseas too.

 

[Unbiased-Fan]

Sehwag
Rohit sharma
Dravid ( c )
Sachin
Laxman
Rishab Pant
Hardik
Ashwin
Kumble
Bumrah
Z khan

Hardik
Even Jayant Yadav has better stats than overrated Hardik.

 

[Ab Fan]

Aus and SA XI :-

SA XI :-

Smith (c)
Elgar
Amla
Kallis
ABD
Qdk(wkt)
S Pollock
Maharaj
Philander
Rabada
Steyn

Aus XI :-

Warner ( Langer in 2000s didn't do enough)
Hayden
Ponting
S Smith
Clarke(c)
Hussey
Gilchrist (wkt)
Cummins
Johnson
Warne
McGrath

 

[drubwrubnat]

Good list. Much appreciated!

My India XI :-

Rohit
Sehwag
Dravid
Tendulkar
Kohli(c)
VVS/Jadeja
Dhoni(wkt)
Ashwin
Kumble
Z Khan
M Shami

It is a tricky one between VVS and Jadeja. I want to pick VVS but also want five bowlers in my team. Rohit has done enough in my opinion to go past Gambhir and Vijay and his test hundred in England showed us that he can bat overseas too.

Sachin is there to bowl

 

[Ab Fan]

Sachin is there to bowl

Oh yes, good point! Sehwag also can bowl off spin.

Then I will go with VVS Laxman at 6 in my team. Ashwin and Kumble are enough to bowl long spells anyways and that too in tandem.

 

[Ab Fan]

Pakistan XI :-

Saeed Anwar
Azhar Ali
Younis Khan
Mohammad Yousuf
Inzamam ul haq
Misbah ul haq(c)
Mohammad Rizwan (wkt)
Wasim Akram
Shoaib Akhtar
Mohammad Asif
Danish Kaneria

Asif was too good to leave out from this team.

England XI :-

Alastair Cook
Andrew Strauss(c)
Graham Thorpe/ Jonathan Trott
Kevin Pietersen
Joe Root
Ben Stokes
Matt Prior(wkt)
Andrew Flintoff
Graeme Swann
Stuart Broad
James Anderson

 

[Unbiased-Fan]

Aus and SA XI :-

SA XI :-

Smith (c)
Elgar
Amla
Kallis
ABD
Qdk(wkt)
S Pollock
Maharaj
Philander
Rabada
Steyn

Aus XI :-

Warner ( Langer in 2000s didn't do enough)
Hayden
Ponting
S Smith
Clarke(c)
Hussey
Gilchrist (wkt)
Cummins
Johnson
Warne
McGrath

Exactly my team

 

[Extreme Pace]

Pakistan:

1. Taufeeq Umar
2. Azhar Ali
3. Younis Khan
4. Mohammad Yosuf
5. Inzmam-ul-Haq (c)
6. Mohammad Rizwan (wk)
7. Abdul Razzaq
8. Yasir Shah
9. Shoaib Akhtar
10. Saeed Ajmal
11. Mohammad Asif

 

[drubwrubnat]

Saeed Anwar
Salman bhat
M Yusuf
Babar
Inzamam (c)
Misbah
Sarfraz (w)
Wasim
Waqar
Shaheen Afridi
Saqlain

 

[YousafTheBeast]

Ahmed Shahzad, Afridi and Umar Gul in tests??
Are you sure?

Are you judging Shahzad the Test batsman with his LOI performances?

Afridi is our best all rounder in Tests, averages 36 with bat even though he didn’t take his batting seriously.


Probably pre ban Amir over Gul.

 

[mastimasti]

Ok, let's do Pakistan now, seeing as this is pakpassion:

1. S. Anwar (he played a year this century so I get to sneak him in)
2. A. Ali
3. Y. Khan
4. I. ul Haq
5. M. Yousuf
6. M. ul Haq c
7. K. Akmal wk
8. W. Akram
9. W. Younis
10. D. Kaneria
11. S. Akhtar

 

[shamaan]

S.Anwar
Azhar Ali
Younis Khan
Inzy
Yousuf
Kamran Akmal
Akram
Waqar
Ajmal
Shah
Akhtar

 

[shamaan]

Strauss
Cook
Root
Piterson
Bell
Stokes
Flintof
Prior
Broad
Anderson
Swann

 

[Robert]

Great team.
Gillespie is very underrated..
He was absolutely great in India.

Though it means leaving out Cummins, who is pretty much a second Dennis Lillee at least on paper.. Might bring him in for Johnson.

 

[Ab Fan]

Though it means leaving out Cummins, who is pretty much a second Dennis Lillee at least on paper.. Might bring him in for Johnson.

So, according to you this Indian test team is not great even after beating a test team that had Steve Smith and Pat Cummins( who is second Dennis Lillee) in their own backyard. They also had Marnus, Warner, Hazelwood, Lyon and Starc?

 

[jeeteshssaxena]

So, according to you this Indian test team is not great even after beating a test team that had Steve Smith and Pat Cummins( who is second Dennis Lillee) in their own backyard. They also had Marnus, Warner, Hazelwood, Lyon and Starc?

He also thinks Mark Butcher > Joe Root.
Pure Nostalgia.
Anyone who has watched both Gillespie and Cummins would never take the former over the latter until he is not being totally biased.

 

[Ab Fan]

Jasprit Bumrah and Rohit Sharma will make it to the list.

 

[Vikram1989]

I will prefer kuldeep than kumble.kumble was spot on but I will prefer a good Chinamen on a batting pitch than kumble

 

[giri26]

Jasprit Bumrah and Rohit Sharma will make it to the list.

Well if playing at home it would be interesting to see Jaiswal and Sehwag open the innings. Bumrah for sure makes the team where ever the team is playing.

 

[Unbiased-Fan]

Presenting best Test XI for each country since 2000 assuming they are playing at home.


India
Gautam Gambhir
Virender Sehwag
Rahul Dravid
Sachin Tendulkar
Virat Kohli *
Ravindra Jadeja
MS Dhoni (w)
Ravi Ashwin
Anil Kumble
Zaheer Khan
Mohammad Shami


Pakistan
Azhar Ali
Mohammad Hafeez
Younis Khan
Mohammad Yousuf
Inzamam Ul-Haq
Misbah Ul-Haq *
Mohammad Rizwan (w)
Wasim Akram
Yasir Shah
Shoaib Akhtar
Saeed Ajmal


Srilanka
Sanath Jayasuriya
Tillekaratne Dilshan
Kumar Sangakkara
Mahela Jayawardene *
Thilan Samaraweera
Angelo Mathews
Dinesh Chandimal (w)
Chaminda Vaas
Rangna Herath
Suranga Lakmal
Muttiah Muralitharan


Australia
Mathew Hayden
David Warner
Ricky Ponting *
Steven Smith
Michael Hussey
Michael Clarke
Adam Gilchrist (w)
Mitchell Johnson
Shane Warne
Pat Cummins
Glenn McGrath


New Zealand
Tom Latham
Brendon McCullum
Kane Williamson *
Stephen Fleming
Ross Taylor
Daniel Vettori
BJ Watling (w)
Tim Southee
Neil Wagner
Trent Boult
Shane Bond


South Africa
Graeme Smith *
Dean Elgar
Hashim Amla
Jacques Kallis
AB deVilliers
Shaun Pollock
Quiton deKock (w)
Keshav Maharaj
Vernon Philander
Dale Steyn
Kagiso Rabada


England
Alastair Cook
Michael Vaughan *
Joe Root
Kevin Pietersen
Ian Bell
Ben Stokes
Matt Prior (w)
Andrew Flintoff
Stuart Broad
Greame Swann
James Anderson


West Indies
Chris Gayle
Kraigg Brathwaite
Ramnaresh Sarwan
Brian Lara *
Shiv Chanderpaul
Jason Holder
Dinesh Ramdin (w)
Kemar Roach
Devendra Bishoo
Shanon Gabriel
Curtley Walsh


England and Australian teams are looking very balanced.
Please Discuss

Update for India..

Rohit Sharma
Virender Sehwag
Rahul Dravid
Sachin Tendulkar
Virat Kohli (capt)
Rishabh Pant (wicketkeeper)
Ravindra Jadeja
Ravi Ashwin
Zaheer Khan
Mohammad Shami/Anil Kumble
Jasprit Bumrah

 

[Unbiased-Fan]

Bangladesh :-

Tamim Iqbal
Litton Das
Mominul Haque
Mushfiquer Rahim (wk)
Habibul Bashar (capt)
Shakib Al Hasan
Mahmudullah Riyad
Mehedy Miraz
Mashrafe Mortaza
Taijul Islam
Shahadat Hossain
12th - Mohammad Rafique

 

[Unbiased-Fan]

Zimbabwe

Hamilton Masakadza
Craig Irvine
Brendan Taylor
Andy Flower
Sean Williams
Sikandar Raza
Tatenda Taibu (wk)
Heath Steak
Kyle Jarvis
Tinashe Panyangara
Ray Price
12th man- Andy blignaut

 

[Ab Fan]

Pakistan:

Mohammad Hafeez
Azhar Ali
Younis Khan
Babar Azam
Inzamam ul haq
Mohammad Yousuf
Mohammad Rizwan(wkt)
Mohammad Amir
Yasir Shah
Shoaib Akhtar
Mohammad Asif

Other options:

Backup opener - Salman Butt
Backup M.O - Misbah ul haq
Backup Spinner - Danish Kaneria
Backup pacer - Shaheen Shah Afridi

 

[mominsaigol]

Pakistan:

Mohammad Hafeez
Azhar Ali
Younis Khan
Babar Azam
Inzamam ul haq
Mohammad Yousuf
Mohammad Rizwan(wkt)
Mohammad Amir
Yasir Shah
Shoaib Akhtar
Mohammad Asif

Other options:

Backup opener - Salman Butt
Backup M.O - Misbah ul haq
Backup Spinner - Danish Kaneria
Backup pacer - Shaheen Shah Afridi

Misbah is a better option then Babar in test.

Misbah prevented the opposition from winning, only a draw was possible. He complimented YK well when YK did his magic.

Misbah was good in test.