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ToggleAakash Chopra is the latest to join the bandwagon of cricket experts, who picked the Test XI of the decade. Much like every other, the former opening batsman of the Indian Cricket Team came up with surprise names in his lineup. Aakash Chopra named AB de Villiers as 12th man of his team.
He asked the Australian opening batsman David Warner and England’s Alastair Cook to open the innings of his team. Both the left-handers have been fantastic for their respective teams in the last decade. Warner scored 7000-plus runs in the past ten years, whereas Cook scored the maximum (8818) runs in the previous decade.
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Virat Kohli, Steve Smith form middle-order –
At number 3, Aakash Chopra picked Joe Root of England, who have grown from strength to strength in the last decade. He scored 7359 runs in his career so far. The skipper of the Indian team Virat Kohli followed Root in the lineup, who amassed 7202 runs at an average of 54.98.
Without any further considerations, Aakash Chopra named Steve Smith, who surpassed 7000-mark in the last decade. Then comes Shakib Al Hasan, outsmarting Ben Stokes, to find a place in his lineup. Shakib has scored over 3000 runs and claimed 162 wickets in the past decade.
The surprise name on the chart is BJ Watling, who was picked as the wicket-keeper of the team. With the bat, he scored 3616 runs in 106 innings. Among the bowlers, Aakash has picked the Proteas pacer Dale Steyn, along with the speedster duo of England; James Anderson and Stuart Broad. The trio has taken 1099 wickets in the past ten years.
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Coming to the spin category, Aakash Chopra picked Ravichandran Ashwin, who has claimed 362 wickets in the last decade. The lineup of Aakash ended with AB de Villiers, who will be doing the job of a 12th man.
Here is Aakash Chopra’s Test XI Of The Decade:
Alastair Cook, David Warner, Joe Root, Virat Kohli, Steve Smith, Shakib Al Hasan, BJ Watling, Ravichandran Ashwin, Dale Steyn, Stuart Broad, James Anderson, AB de Villiers (12th man).