Brad Hogg Omits Virat Kohli From His Current Best Test XI; Picks Quinton De Kock As Captain

Brad Hogg, formed Australian World Cup-winning chinaman spinner, recently revealed his currently best Text XI and there are a lot of notable omissions from the list that is sure to raise a lot of questions among the fans.

For starters, there is no Virat Kohli in Brad Hogg’s best Test XI, Joe Root and Kane Williamson aren’t there either. And, Quinton de Kock, swashbuckling wicketkeeper-batsman from South Africa has been picked to lead the side.

Hogg defended his decision of not including Virat Kohli in his XI by saying-

“Everyone will ask why is Virat Kohli not in this team?” he said. “But if you look at his last 15 Test innings, only four times he has gone over 31 [runs]. That’s whyVirat Kohli is not my Test team this year,” opined Brad Hogg.

Kohli did not have the best of times during his last Test series in New Zealand. The Indian captain managed just 28 runs in four innings- his lowest aggregate in a Test series ever. That said, Kohli still averages 50.00 [650 runs in 15 innings with two hundreds and as many fifties] since the start of 2019.

Also Read: When An Emotional Sachin Tendulkar Painted Bristol With His Artistry, Days After His Father’s Demise

Not Tom Latham but Rohit Sharma find a place in Brad Hogg’s current Test XI

Coming back to the players that Brad Hogg selected in his Test XI, the Aussie leg-spinner omitted Tom Latham, who has the most number of runs as an opener in Test cricket since 2018, and went in with the Indian duo of Mayank Agarwal and Rohit Sharma.

Steven Smith and the young upcoming talents in Marnus Labuschagne, Babar Azam, and India’s vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane dominate the middle-order in Hogg’s Test XI.

As far as bowling is concerned, Pat Cummins and Nathan Lyon from Australia and Mohammed Shami and Neil Wagner from India and New Zealand respectively found place in Brad Hogg’s Test XI. Jasprit Bumrah and Ishant Sharma are the two other notable exclusions from Hogg’s line-up.

Also Read: Virat Kohli Is The Best Batsman In All Three Forms Of The Game: Ian Chappell

Brad Hogg’s Current Best Test XI

Mayank Agarwal, Rohit Sharma, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith, Babar Azam, Ajinkya Rahane, Quinton De Kock (C/WK), Pat Cummins, Mohammed Shami, Neil Wagner, Nathon Lyon.

Watch the video here: