Sanjay Bangar picks his Current World XI; Cricket legends dropped

Former India cricketer Sanjay Bangar has picked his World Test XI of the current generation.

In a huge surprise, Sanjay Bangar did not include two of the best Test batters of the last decade, Steve Smith and Joe Root.

Australia batter Steve Smith is arguably the best Test batter of this generation. He has scored runs all around the world in red-ball cricket.

In 109 Tests, Steve Smith has scored 9685 runs so far at an average of 56.97 with 32 hundreds and 41 fifties.

On the other hand, England batter Joe Root is not too far behind. He has played way more Tests than Steve Smith and therefore, is quite ahead of him in terms of runs.

Root has scored 12131 runs so far in 144 Tests at an average of 50.33 with 32 hundreds and 64 fifties.

Also read: Ben Stokes termed irrelevant as Michael Vaughan names the most important England player

Sanjay Bangar does not pick Steve Smith and Joe Root in World Test XI of this generation

Recently, during a podcast, Sanjay Bangar picked his World Test XI of the current generation. In a huge surprise, he included 7 Indians in the Playing XI.

Those seven Indian players are Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Jasprit Bumrah, and Mohammed Shami.

However, Sanjay Bangar did not include Steve Smith and Joe Root in his list, which was a huge surprise. Both Joe Root and Steve Smith have been the stalwarts in Test cricket for a while now and have been one of the most consistent batters in the format.

Sanjay Banger picks his World XI in Test Cricket in this Generation: (Rao Podcast)

1. Rohit Sharma.
2. David Warner.
3. Kane Williamson.
4. Virat Kohli.
5. Rishabh Pant.
6. Ben Stokes.
7. Ravindra Jadeja.
8. Ravi Ashwin.
9. Jasprit Bumrah.
10. Mohammed Shami.
11. Josh Hazelwood. pic.twitter.com/YlmL3PpE0i

— Tanuj Singh (@ImTanujSingh) August 25, 2024

Joe Root is at the seventh spot in the list of all-time run scorers currently. He is even seen by many experts can break Sachin Tendulkar's run tally in Test cricket.

Not only these two batters, Sanjay Bangar did not include world-class bowlers like Pat Cummins, Kagiso Rabada, Tim Southee, and Nathan Lyon in his XI.

Cummins and Rabada are the most fearsome fast bowlers of this generation while Lyon is one of the greatest spinners of all time.

Sanjay Bangar's World Test XI of this generation

1. Rohit Sharma
2. David Warner
3. Kane Williamson
4. Virat Kohli
5. Rishabh Pant
6. Ben Stokes
7. Ravindra Jadeja
8. Ravichandran Ashwin
9. Jasprit Bumrah
10. Mohammed Shami
11. Josh Hazlewood

A well-balanced squad but missing some key players

The squad looks well-balanced but the absence of the above-mentioned players raises questions. Interestingly, there was no place for any batter from South Africa, New Zealand, Bangladesh, and Pakistan in this Playing XI.

The squad has three genuine fast bowlers in the form of Jasprit Bumtah, Mohammed Shami, and Josh Hazlewood. Ravindra Jadeja and R Ashwin are also available as two high-quality spinners. Ben Stokes also provides a solid all-round option at No. 6.

Among these players, David Warner is the only cricketer who has retired from Tests. Warner played his last Test earlier this year against Pakistan at his home ground in Sydney.