Best Test XI of the Year 2018

Test Cricket once again gave us many reasons to love the pristine form of the game. There were some fine performances in the longest format of the game. The best players in the game brought their best to the table to revive the multi-day format.

India’s captain Virat Kohli had a stellar year and players like Mohammad Abbas and Jasprit Bumrah made an impressive entry in the red ball version.

In fact, some matches went down to the wire. There were some intriguing series like South Africa-India, South Africa-Australia, India-England and many more. Let’s try to decode the Best Test XI based on the performances of the players.

Here is the best Test XI of 2018.

Tom Latham

The southpaw opener scored 658 runs in seven Test matches at a fine average of 59.81. Latham has been a consistent performer for the Kiwis and has ticked the right boxes. The left-hander scored two hundred and two fifties in 2018 with the highest score of 264, which came against Sri Lanka.

Dimuth Karunaratne

Dimuth Karunaratne took giant strides for Sri Lanka. The left-handed batsman scored 743 runs in nine matches at an average of 46.43. The southpaw batsman scored seven fifties and one century with the best score of 158. Thus, he was a consistent performer for Sri Lanka.

Kane Williamson (C)

New Zealand captain Kane Williamson was once again consistent in his batting. The classic right-hander scored 651 runs in seven matches at an average of 59.81. Thus, Williamson once again showed his value in the team. The Kiwis captain is the best in the business. Kane Williamson is going to lead the Best Test XI side.

Virat Kohli 

Virat Kohli once again had a stellar year with the bat. Kohli scored 1322, which are the most runs in 2018 at 55.08 in 13 matches for the number one side in Test format. The Indian skipper also led with aplomb. In fact, there were doubts raised over the credibility of Kohli for the tour of England. However, he ended up as the leading run-getter with 593 runs in England.

AB de Villiers

AB de Villiers decided to retire from all forms of the game. However, the Proteas talisman batsman had a big impact on the series against India and Australia. The linchpin scored 638 runs in seven matches at 53.17 in 2018. De Villiers will go down as the best players for South Africa.

It is a strong side.

Jos Buttler (wk)

England blistering batsman Jos Buttler is going to take the wicketkeeping duties. Buttler played crucial hands in the series against Pakistan and India. The right-hander scored 760 runs in 10 Test matches. However, Buttler didn’t keep wickets a lot for England.

Jason Holder

Jason Holder had a breakthrough season in 2018. The Windies captain Jason Holder makes the cut into the Test XI as he scored 336 runs and picked 33 wickets in six matches. However, Holder was generally the lone warrior in his team.

Pat Cummins

Cummins came up with a fine performance.

Pat Cummins has performed consistently for Australia. The fiery fast bowler scalped 44 wickets in eight matches. Furthermore, Cummins showed the right technique with the bat to add valuable runs for Australia while batting in the lower order.

Nathan Lyon

Nathan Lyon has shown that he is a spinner who doesn’t rely on favourable conditions to take his wickets. Lyon took 49 wickets in 10 Test matches. He has bowled with great control and didn’t let the batsmen off the hook.

Bumrah was the find of the year for India.

Jasprit Bumrah

Jasprit Bumrah was the find of the year for the Indian team. He scalped three five-wicket hauls in South Africa, England and Australia and became the first Asian bowler to do so. The talisman took 48 wickets at a staggering average of 21.02.

Kagiso Rabada

South Africa’s Kagiso Rabada bowled with fire in 2018. Rabada once again was right on the money with his bowling. The Proteas pacer was the leading wicket-taker in the calendar year. Rabada took 52 wickets in ten matches as he bowled with an average of 20.07.