Shocking omissions in Mark Taylor's Rest of the World XI of the decade
Yesterday former captain Mark Taylor revealed his Australian Test team of the decade, and today he unveils his Rest of the World XI to take on the Aussies.
There's no shortage of talking points, with England failing to earn a single spot in the eleven, although Taylor admits the likes of James Anderson, Stuart Broad and Ben Stokes were firmly in the mix for a spot.
Players from South Africa and India make up a large percentage of the side, which is perhaps not surprising given those two nations, along with Australia, enjoyed the highest winning percentage in Test cricket this decade.
The difficulty of fitting so many great players into the lineup means it's not necessarily the best 11 players in each position, but what Taylor considers the best balanced team.
Taylor's two sides throw up many interesting questions about how a theoretical match would play out, so let the debate begin!
Graeme Smith – I'm not sure Australian fans ever saw the very best of Graeme Smith, but at his peak he was a very fine player, who knew his game well and played to his strengths. Despite retiring in 2014, he still made nine centuries this decade, including a 10-hour epic against Pakistan in Dubai where he made 234. I'm certain England supporters were glad to see Smith retire, because he averaged an impressive 56.97 against England over 21 Test matches.
Cheteshwar Pujara – It seemed every time I looked up in the Australia summer of 2018-19 Cheteshwar Pujara was batting. And batting. And batting some more. A key figure in India's series win over Australia, he's averaged a very impressive 49.48 over the decade. Never happy to settle for "just" a hundred, he's turned seven of his 18 centuries into scores of 150+, including innings of 204, 202 and 193 against Australia.
Virat Kohli – Kohli and Steve Smith are the two outstanding batsmen of their generation, and the number of Test centuries this decade confirms that fact. Kohli has scored 27 hundreds, the most of any player, although Smith is only one behind heading to the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne this week. Kohli's appetite for runs is amazing, since 2016 he's scored an incredible seven double-hundreds, in the same timeframe nobody else has scored more than two.
AB de Villiers – Injuries hampered him through the second part of the decade, but even if he'd retired in 2015 I reckon he'd still have walked into this side. He averaged 57.49 this decade, a figure that actually went up in matches where he also wore the wicketkeeping gloves.
Kane Williamson – New Zealand's best batsman since Martin Crowe, Williamson announced himself with a century on debut against India in Ahmedabad, and has since gone on to score a hundred against each of the nine nations he's played against. Currently ranked the third best batsman in the world, he remains the key wicket when you're playing against New Zealand.
Kumar Sangakkara – captain and wicketkeeper – I thought about opening with Sangakkara, but I had to draw the line somewhere because I've also made him the captain and wicketkeeper! Sangakkara averaged 61.41 this decade, and joined the triple-century club with 319 against Bangladesh in 2014.
Jacques Kallis – Slightly lower than where you'd normally find him in a batting order, but the quality of the middle order means Kallis drops down to number seven. This spot was just about a 50-50 call between Kallis and Ben Stokes, but Kallis' performances with both bat and ball over a longer period of time mean he gets the nod.
Ravichandran Ashwin – 362 Test wickets at 25.37 is probably enough to get Ashwin selected solely as a bowler, but a more-than-handy batting average of 28.73 with four centuries doesn't hurt either. Deadly on subcontinental pitches, he's still very effective away from home.
agiso Rabada – This spot could so easily have gone to Rabada's countryman Vernon Philander, but I went with Rabada's extra pace. The emergence of Rabada has been one of the best stories to come out of South Africa since they were re-admitted to international cricket, with former spinner Pat Symcox referring to him as "the best fast-bowling talent we have ever produced."
Jasprit Bumrah – If you go on numbers alone it's probably a surprise to see Bumrah in this team, given he hasn't yet reached 100 Test wickets, but he's something special. His 21 wickets in Australia last summer showed what a fine bowler he is. Only 13 players in the history of the game have taken more than 50 Test wickets at an average under 20, and Bumrah is the only name on that list to have played after 1960.
Dale Steyn – Like many bowlers the latter part of his career was interrupted by injury, but still managed 267 wickets for the decade at 22.30, which is top-drawer. Averaged 21 in India, which for a fast bowler is mind-blowing.
12th man: Yasir Shah – I figure with Rabada, Steyn, Bumrah and Kallis I don't need another quick, so I looked for a wrist spinner to complement Ashwin if conditions suited. A good leg-spinner is such a benefit to a team, and Yasir is so dangerous when he's coming on to bowl after the opening bowlers have made some early breakthroughs.
https://wwos.nine.com.au/cricket/ma...e-decade/7299b769-d45c-4487-8a4d-f8a5420ed790
(no Imam)
