Your Test Team of the year (2018)

[Ab Fan]

Well, as the year is about to end, let's try to make a test team of the year 2018. I gave a shot and below is the team I came up with: -

<B>Openers: -</B>

Karunaratne
Khawaja

Some interesting picks available but went eventually with Khawaja and Karunaratne. Karunaratne had a very good year 2018 with an average of 46 and is an obvious choice while alongside him went with Khawaja for his brilliant 141 & 85 in UAE.

Dean, Aiden and Latham did well at home but were clueless in their away venue to SL and UAE. So, they misses out.

<B>Middle order: -</B>

Kane Williamson/Cheteswar Pujara
Virat Kohli
Joe Root

Of the fab four, Smith had a disappointing year but the trio of Virat, Root and Kane made sure they continue ruling the test chart and were my obvious 3,4 and 5.

Close miss: - Cheteswar Pujara

<B>6th position: -</B>

Angelo Mathews

Primarily, a batsmen but can bowl some overs and give breathe to pacers.

Close miss: - Ben Stokes

<B>Wicket-Keeper: -</B>

Tim Paine

Quinton de kock had a mediocre year with the bat. Under his absence, it was a close call between Tim Paine and Rishabh Pant, the latter averaged the best 38 but eventually went with Paine, whose 61 in UAE in match saving cause was one of highlight of year. He averaged 35 in 2018.

Close miss: - Rishabh Pant

<B>Fast bowlers: -</B>

Pat Cummins
Kagiso Rabada
Jasprit Bumrah

The two top bowlers of the year were Kagiso Rabada and Pat Cummins. Pat Cummins was a rare successful Australian bowler/player in the tough SA tour and is also having a great series vs India as well. Jasprit Bumrah also gets a nod as he was brilliant in the three tough complete away tours to SA, England and Australia.

Close miss: - Mohammad Abbas

<B>Spinner: -</B>

Yasir Shah

It was a tough call between Yasir and Lyon but eventually went with Yasir because he completely owned the NZ series irrespective of result.

Test XI: -

Khawaja
Karunaratne
Kane(c)
Kohli
Root
Mathews
Paine(wkt)
Cummins
Rabada
Yasir
Bumrah

What would be your XI? Discuss!

 

[Ab Fan]

Captaincy was a toss between Kane and Kohli but Kohli had made some selection mistakes during the year, hence gave the nod to Kane, who won the series in UAE.

 

[Gullycricket]

Latham
Elgar
Williamson(c)
Kohli
Babar
S.Hope
Bairstow(wk)
Ashwin
Bumrah
Abbas
Rabada

 

[Reverse Sweep]

Henry Nicholls at 5 instead of Joe Root.

Big unbeaten hundred vs Anderson, Broad and Woakes with a pink ball. Battled hard then finished the innings with aggressive batting before a declaration. Won the match and series as a result.

Big unbeaten hundred vs Shah and co. Battled hard then finished the innings with aggressive batting before a declaration. Won the match and series as a result.

Big unbeaten hundred vs Sri Lanka. Battled hard then finished the innings with aggressive batting before a declaration. Won the match and series as a result.

Average of 73 for the year.

 

[pratiktc]

Elgar
Pujara
Williamson
Kohli
Root
Stokes
Bairstow (k)
Cummins
Rabada
Lyon
Bumrah

 

[ManFan]

Latham (Stoic)
Karunaratne (Run-Machine)
Williamson (C) (Calm and Collected)
Kohli (Game-Changer)
Root (Mr. Fifty)
Stokes (Fiery All-Star)
Pant (Explosive)
Yasir (Leggie)
Cummins (Lionhearted)
Rabada (The Package)
Abbas (Metronome)

I hate to miss Bumrah but I want to have one spinner and Yasir is a more attacking variant than Ashwin.

 

[Rayyman]

Latham (Stoic)
Karunaratne (Run-Machine)
Williamson (C) (Calm and Collected)
Kohli (Game-Changer)
Root (Mr. Fifty)
Stokes (Fiery All-Star)
Pant (Explosive)
Yasir (Leggie)
Cummins (Lionhearted)
Rabada (The Package)
Abbas (Metronome)

I hate to miss Bumrah but I want to have one spinner and Yasir is a more attacking variant than Ashwin.

No. Stop it bro.

 

[Reverse Sweep]

Karunaratne
Pujara
Williamson (c)
Kohli
Nicholls
Watling (wk)
Holder
Cummins
Rabada
Abbas
Yasir

 

[IndianMafia]

Latham(wk)
khawaja
Kane
Virat (c)
ABD
Root
Stokes
Lyon
Cummins
Rabada
Bumrah

 

[leatherface58]

Karunaratne
Latham
Williamson
Kohli
Nicholls/Mendis
Mathews
Buttler(wk)
Cummins
Rabada/Abbas
Yasir
Bumrah/Anderson

 

[Nikhil_cric]

Elgar
Karunaratne
Pujara
Williamson
Kohli
Nichols
Pant(WK)
Yasir
Rabada
Cummins
Abbas

Honourable mentions - bumrah, BJ Watling, Root, Babar, Lyon but I found Cummins, pant ,pujara , Nichols,Yasir better respectively .

 

[ManFan]

No. Stop it bro.

Ha Ha.

It’s all in good fun.

 

[Bilal Ahmad15]

Karunaratne
Khawaja
Williamson
Kohli (c)
Nicholls
Babar
Buttler (wk)
Cummins
Rabada
Lyon
Abbas

 

[Akki malhotra]

Lol people here are putting only one or two players from consistently n.o 1 test side in the world for years and more players from bottom ranked teams. Illusions ,but not unexpected

 

[Balthazar]

Dimith
Pujara
Williamson (C)
Kohli
Mathews
Stokes
Bairstow (WK)
Cummins
Rabada
Lyon/Ashwin
Bumrah

 

[BreadPakoda]

Karunaratne
Khawaja
Williamson
Kohli (c)
Nicholls
Babar
Buttler (wk)
Cummins
Rabada
Lyon
Abbas

Excellent team. I will replace Nicholls with Haris who is the best player of swing and seam and Rabada with Amir (need a left armer for variety).

 

[Hitman]

K.L. Rahul deserves a place after his phenomenal exploits this year.

 

[Ab Fan]

Well, as the year is about to end, let's try to make a test team of the year 2018. I gave a shot and below is the team I came up with: -

<B>Openers: -</B>

Karunaratne
Khawaja

Some interesting picks available but went eventually with Khawaja and Karunaratne. Karunaratne had a very good year 2018 with an average of 46 and is an obvious choice while alongside him went with Khawaja for his brilliant 141 & 85 in UAE.

Dean, Aiden and Latham did well at home but were clueless in their away venue to SL and UAE. So, they misses out.

<B>Middle order: -</B>

Kane Williamson/Cheteswar Pujara
Virat Kohli
Joe Root

Of the fab four, Smith had a disappointing year but the trio of Virat, Root and Kane made sure they continue ruling the test chart and were my obvious 3,4 and 5.

Close miss: - Cheteswar Pujara

<B>6th position: -</B>

Angelo Mathews

Primarily, a batsmen but can bowl some overs and give breathe to pacers.

Close miss: - Ben Stokes

<B>Wicket-Keeper: -</B>

Tim Paine

Quinton de kock had a mediocre year with the bat. Under his absence, it was a close call between Tim Paine and Rishabh Pant, the latter averaged the best 38 but eventually went with Paine, whose 61 in UAE in match saving cause was one of highlight of year. He averaged 35 in 2018.

Close miss: - Rishabh Pant

<B>Fast bowlers: -</B>

Pat Cummins
Kagiso Rabada
Jasprit Bumrah

The two top bowlers of the year were Kagiso Rabada and Pat Cummins. Pat Cummins was a rare successful Australian bowler/player in the tough SA tour and is also having a great series vs India as well. Jasprit Bumrah also gets a nod as he was brilliant in the three tough complete away tours to SA, England and Australia.

Close miss: - Mohammad Abbas

<B>Spinner: -</B>

Yasir Shah

It was a tough call between Yasir and Lyon but eventually went with Yasir because he completely owned the NZ series irrespective of result.

Test XI: -

Khawaja
Karunaratne
Kane(c)
Kohli
Nicholls
Mathews
Paine(wkt)
Cummins
Rabada
Yasir
Bumrah

What would be your XI? Discuss!

As apparent by most answers, I would like to replace Root by Henry Nicholls.

 

[Sidilicious]

Latham
Pujara
Williamson
Kohli (c)
Nicholls
Pant (wk)
Ashwin
Cummins
Rabada
Bumrah
Yasir

Pushed Pujara to open, given how instrumental he has been in all of Indias overseas wins this year. Didnt go for Karunaratne, as it was between Pujara overseas vs Karunaratne mostly at home. Either would have been a decent choice.

I only chose WK who kept wickets during most of the tests. So Butler and a couple of other were out. Latham only considered as a batsman. The ones remaining did not offer anything extraordinary, leaving only Pant, Paine and Bairstow. Either of Pant and Paine would have been a fine choice.

I wanted to go with 2 spinners to cover for games in Asia. This was between Yasir, Lyon and Ashwin. Lyon would be the first choice spinner, since he has done well despite playing mostly in Aus and SA this year. Yasir only played in spin friendly conditions, and Ashwin was not that effective in SENA. But since going with 5 bowlers would have made the batting a bit slim, went with Ashwin at 7 to offer some batting support.

 

[maddgenius]

How can an inconsistent Pujara with the avg of 38 in 2018 make it to team of the year.
Abbas is well ahead of Bumrah, Rabada and Cummins in all respects so should be the first pacer in the line up. Rabada and Cummins make it to the XI ahead of Bumrah because of their batting.

My team along with their batting/bowling avgs:

1- Karunaratne (46)
2- Latham (59)
3- Kane (59)
4- Kohli (55)
5- Nicholls (73)
6- Buttler (44)
7- Holder (37, 12)
8- Cummins (20)
9- Rabada (20)
10- Abbas (14)
11- Yasir (23)

 

[Perth93]

Firstly, what a year for bowlers.

New talent everywhere, leading to great series through the year.

Latham and Karunaratne have to open. Both score consistent albeit boring fifties. Khwaja is a one-hit wonder, less reliable than an icetray in the Sahara.

3,4,5 are shoo-ins. Kane, Kohli, Root. (Pujara misses out because the top 3 would be too soporific if we add him to Latham and Karunaratne. Nichols and Hope were the other two considerations.)

At 6, it's a tossup between Stokes and Holder, both all-rounders won their teams tests. I go with Stokes only because he'll rattle Kohli in the locker room and that is how good teams should be.

For the keeper at 7, I go with Watling, who's a great keeper to the quicks. He edges out Mushfiqur Rahim, who's the better batter but hasn't kept to pace since high school, in all probability.

The spinner at 8, is the current best tweaker of the game. Naiice Garry Lyon.
What a terrific year he had. Sorry, Keshav Maharaj.

And then the terrific pacy RCB trio: Rabada, Cummins and Bumrah. (Notable ommisions: Abbas of course, who really needs to get fitter. Gabriel, who has finally arrived but still has to go places. And Boult. Oh Boult, you were too good, but sadly the RCB trio is even better.)

So that's my team: Latham, Karunaratne, Kane (c), Kohli, Root, Stokes, Watling (wk), Cummins, Rabada, Bumrah, Lyon.

And to take them on, my B team of the year:
Elgar, Khwaja, Pujara, Hope, Nichols, Holder, Mushfiqur (wk/c), Maharaj, Boult, Gabriel, Abbas.

 

[sindhiboy]

Test Team of 2018

Brilliant year of test cricket. So many thrillers, Who do you think should be part of 2018's test team?

My team is :

1. Dean Elgar

(Extremly good player of fast bowling and a grinder. )

2. Henry Nichols

(Yes he does not open in international cricket, but he does for his domestic team. NZ should make him open at some stage, he is a gritty batter who plays spin, seam and swing equally well. There are no other openers who are of this quality.)


3. Williamson

(class player, incredible technique. deservedly no .2 best in tests.)


4. Virat Kohli

( No words needed, best batsmen of the decade and legend)


5. Joe Root

( All conditions player, brilliant strike rotation. Top 3 batter)




6. Jason Holder

( Was tempting to include Sam Curran. But Holder's numbers are outstanding. Scores crucuial runs and bowling is becoming more lethal with the ball after every match)


7. Jos Butler

(Could have selected Watling, but butler's lower order contributions have been one of the reasons that england won matches both at home and in sri lanka. Although Ben Foakes is a talented gem who might overtake butler next year)


8. Pat Cummins

(Very close call between him or no. 1 ranked Rabada. I just feel that Cummins' ability to bowl long spells, extract pace consistently for over 30 overs is more valuable. Rabada tends to be wayward after bursts of brilliant spells while Cummins is consistent for 40 overs straight. And Cummo has an edge with his batting. Plus Rabada bowls in the most seamer friendly conditions in the world all year.(not saying he hasn't performed everywhere else.))





9. Nathan Lyon

( He has averaged way above 30 for most of the year and bad stats compared to yasir. But he has taken crucial wickets and still performs in all conditions. Yasir has not been successful in aus, nz and in sa(so far))


10. Mohammad Abbas

(Needless to say, he is incredible. Takes truckloads of wickets on flat UAE pitches and possesses a jaw dropping average )


11. Jasprit Bumrah

( Rabada would have been in if it weren't for the amazing year Bumrah has had in tests . He has a lot of variety in his bowling and the leader of india's improved bowling attack. Good performance in all his 3 tours. Hence his selection. )


I think this team has a monstrous bowling unit, but the batting could slightly improve.

 

[QalandarFan]

1. Tom Latham
2. Babar Azam (Didn't open but I want to change my opening pair)
3. Kane Williamson (C)
4. Virat Kohli
5. AB De Villiers
6. Henry Nicholls
7. Jos Buttler (WK)
8. Jason Holder
9. Kagiso Rabada
10. Yasir Shah
11. Mohammad Abbas

 

[passionatelypakistani]

Latham
Karunaratne
Williamson (c)
Kohli
Mathews
Babar
Buttler (wk)
Cummins
Lyon
Abbas
Bumrah

 

[WengerOut]

Why no love for Kusal Mendis, the second highest scorer for the year?? Also the youngest player to score more than 1000 runs in a calendar year since AB in 2005

 

[Last Monetarist]

Karunaratne
Latham
Williamson (c)
Kohli
Mendis
Stokes
Paine
Rabada
Yasir
Bumrah
Abbas

I am struggling to pick an all-rounder other than Stokes, whose stats are a bit deceptive I reckon. He did a creditable job through the summer against India and was the best fast bowler in the series in Sri Lanka. The other selection that might raise a few eyebrows is Paine, but he was clearly the best pure wicketkeeper on show this year. The other pretenders (Bairstow, de Kock, Watling) were no great shakes with the bat either.

 

[sindhiboy]

Karunaratne
Latham
Williamson (c)
Kohli
Mendis
Stokes
Paine
Rabada
Yasir
Bumrah
Abbas

I am struggling to pick an all-rounder other than Stokes, whose stats are a bit deceptive I reckon. He did a creditable job through the summer against India and was the best fast bowler in the series in Sri Lanka. The other selection that might raise a few eyebrows is Paine, but he was clearly the best pure wicketkeeper on show this year. The other pretenders (Bairstow, de Kock, Watling) were no great shakes with the bat either.

Sam Curran and Holder have had a superb year. Especially holder, who is getting more lethal with the ball after every match. Curran was the reason england won against india.

Regarding the keeper, why not pick Jos Butler?, his lower order contributions are the reason for England's victories against india nad sri lanka.

And Watling has done a pretty good job and is the best batsman out of all the keepers

 

[sindhiboy]

Brilliant year of test cricket. So many thrillers, Who do you think should be part of 2018's test team?

My team is :

1. Dean Elgar

(Extremly good player of fast bowling and a grinder. )

2. Henry Nichols

(Yes he does not open in international cricket, but he does for his domestic team. NZ should make him open at some stage, he is a gritty batter who plays spin, seam and swing equally well. There are no other openers who are of this quality.)


3. Williamson

(class player, incredible technique. deservedly no .2 best in tests.)


4. Virat Kohli

( No words needed, best batsmen of the decade and legend)


5. Joe Root

( All conditions player, brilliant strike rotation. Top 3 batter)




6. Jason Holder

( Was tempting to include Sam Curran. But Holder's numbers are outstanding. Scores crucuial runs and bowling is becoming more lethal with the ball after every match)


7. Jos Butler

(Could have selected Watling, but butler's lower order contributions have been one of the reasons that england won matches both at home and in sri lanka. Although Ben Foakes is a talented gem who might overtake butler next year)


8. Pat Cummins

(Very close call between him or no. 1 ranked Rabada. I just feel that Cummins' ability to bowl long spells, extract pace consistently for over 30 overs is more valuable. Rabada tends to be wayward after bursts of brilliant spells while Cummins is consistent for 40 overs straight. And Cummo has an edge with his batting. Plus Rabada bowls in the most seamer friendly conditions in the world all year.(not saying he hasn't performed everywhere else.))





9. Nathan Lyon

( He has averaged way above 30 for most of the year and bad stats compared to yasir. But he has taken crucial wickets and still performs in all conditions. Yasir has not been successful in aus, nz and in sa(so far))


10. Mohammad Abbas

(Needless to say, he is incredible. Takes truckloads of wickets on flat UAE pitches and possesses a jaw dropping average )


11. Jasprit Bumrah

( Rabada would have been in if it weren't for the amazing year Bumrah has had in tests . He has a lot of variety in his bowling and the leader of india's improved bowling attack. Good performance in all his 3 tours. Hence his selection. )


I think this team has a monstrous bowling unit, but the batting could slightly improve.

Changed my mind on no.5. I think Pujara deserves to be in place of root. His performance overseas and playing tough match winning innings in safrica, england and australia means he has outperformed root. The rest is a solid team

 

[barah_admi]

Well, as the year is about to end, let's try to make a test team of the year 2018. I gave a shot and below is the team I came up with: -

<B>Openers: -</B>

Karunaratne
Khawaja

Some interesting picks available but went eventually with Khawaja and Karunaratne. Karunaratne had a very good year 2018 with an average of 46 and is an obvious choice while alongside him went with Khawaja for his brilliant 141 & 85 in UAE.

Dean, Aiden and Latham did well at home but were clueless in their away venue to SL and UAE. So, they misses out.

<B>Middle order: -</B>

Kane Williamson/Cheteswar Pujara
Virat Kohli
Joe Root

Of the fab four, Smith had a disappointing year but the trio of Virat, Root and Kane made sure they continue ruling the test chart and were my obvious 3,4 and 5.

Close miss: - Cheteswar Pujara

<B>6th position: -</B>

Angelo Mathews

Primarily, a batsmen but can bowl some overs and give breathe to pacers.

Close miss: - Ben Stokes

<B>Wicket-Keeper: -</B>

Tim Paine

Quinton de kock had a mediocre year with the bat. Under his absence, it was a close call between Tim Paine and Rishabh Pant, the latter averaged the best 38 but eventually went with Paine, whose 61 in UAE in match saving cause was one of highlight of year. He averaged 35 in 2018.

Close miss: - Rishabh Pant

<B>Fast bowlers: -</B>

Pat Cummins
Kagiso Rabada
Jasprit Bumrah

The two top bowlers of the year were Kagiso Rabada and Pat Cummins. Pat Cummins was a rare successful Australian bowler/player in the tough SA tour and is also having a great series vs India as well. Jasprit Bumrah also gets a nod as he was brilliant in the three tough complete away tours to SA, England and Australia.

Close miss: - Mohammad Abbas

<B>Spinner: -</B>

Yasir Shah

It was a tough call between Yasir and Lyon but eventually went with Yasir because he completely owned the NZ series irrespective of result.

Test XI: -

Khawaja
Karunaratne
Kane(c)
Kohli
Root
Mathews
Paine(wkt)
Cummins
Rabada
Yasir
Bumrah

What would be your XI? Discuss!

Very close to the team i posted yesterday, which is:

My Test XI for 2018 -

1. D. Karunaratne SL
2. U. Khawaja AUS
3. K. Williamson c NZ
4. V. Kohli IND
5. J. Root ENG
6. J. Buttler wk ENG
7. A. Mathews SL
8. Y. Shah PAK
9. K. Rabada SA
10. P. Cummins AUS
11. J. Anderson ENG

Pujara is very, very unlucky to miss out.

I could not pick Bumrah over Abbas as the latter was on a different planet when he was injury free and bowling at his best on dead, dead, dead wickets.

 

[Cuts_and_cuts_hard]

Don't know why people are picking Root. He had a very disappointing year. I would even put ab de villiers ahead of him at number 5. Even though he only played a few months, he played several high impact match winning knocks vs India and Australia.

 

[Cuts_and_cuts_hard]

Karunaratne
Latham
Williamson
Kohli
AB de Villiers
Ben Foakes (wk)
Jason Holder
Pat Cummins
Kagiso Rabada
Yasir Shah
Mohammad Abbas /Jasprit Bumrah

 

[Bubby]

Latham
Karunaratane
Williamson
Kohli
Pujara
Buttler
Stokes
Cummins
Rabada
Yasir
Bumrah
12th man lyon

 

[barah_admi]

Don't know why people are picking Root. He had a very disappointing year. I would even put ab de villiers ahead of him at number 5. Even though he only played a few months, he played several high impact match winning knocks vs India and Australia.

Root was crucial in England's annihilation of Sri Lanka in SL. He got a century, scored quickly and took the attack to the bowlers. Not to mention scored several classy fifties and kept his side afloat at a time when they looked vulnerable.

 

[Last Monetarist]

Sam Curran and Holder have had a superb year. Especially holder, who is getting more lethal with the ball after every match. Curran was the reason england won against india.

Regarding the keeper, why not pick Jos Butler?, his lower order contributions are the reason for England's victories against india nad sri lanka.

And Watling has done a pretty good job and is the best batsman out of all the keepers

Buttler didn't play as a specialist keeper this year apart from the test at Southampton where Bairstow was unable to keep, I might as well have picked AB and designated him as keeper. I am old-school and want to pick specialists for the job i.e. players that actually undertake that role for their teams and not just those that can do it in theory. Watling averaged 35 with the bat, which is the same as Paine. Paine is the better keeper in my view.

Regarding the all-rounders, I thought seriously about both Holder and Curran but neither is good enough to bat above number 8 and I had already weakened the batting by picking Paine as my keeper. I stand by what I said that Stokes' contribution was undervalued by his stats, he invariably broke vital partnerships with the ball and did score some vital runs especially in Sri Lanka. But fair enough about both Holder and Curran having great years.

 

[dildilpak]

My test 11 picks

Elgar
Karunaratne
Williamson
Kohli
Root
Stokes
Bairstow/Buttler(w)
Cummins
Rabada
Lyon (outside Asia)/ Yasir Shah (Asia)
Bumrah

12th man- Abbas

 

[BDfanforever]

 

[gazza619]

View attachment 86893

Not a bad eleven actually.

 

[Hasan123]

Elgar
Karunaratne
Pujara
Williamson
Kohli
Buttler
Holder
Rabada
Abbas
Bumrah
Lyon

 

[babajee]

Pujara
Karunaratne
Williamson
Kohli
Babar
Buttler
Holder
Jadeja
Rabada
Bumrah
Abbas

 

[Attiq_Lone]

Khwaja
Karunaratne
Pujara
Kohli
Babar
Nicholls
Buttler
Lyon
Abbas
Rabada
Bumrah

 

[sindhiboy]

This was the year of seam bowing. Picking a spinner means one of rabada, abbas ,bumah, cummins will miss out and all 4 of them deserve to be in the team for entertaining us fans with hostile spells. I think its fit to not include even a single spinner in the test XI. So no Lyon or Yasir in my new XI

Elgar
Henry nichols
Pujara
Williamson
Kohli
Butler
Holder
Cummins
Rabada
Abbas
Bumrah

Imagine all 5 bowlers steaming on a spicy track, good luck batters