Harsha Bhogle Picks his Best Test XI of the Year

The famous commentator Harsha Bhogle has picked his best Test XI of the calendar year, 2018. Bhogle has already come up his T20 and ODI XI for Cricbuzz. Thus, it was time for the pristine form of the game. There were some fine performances in the red ball version in 2018 and Bhogle picked his team according to the performances of the players throughout the year.

Harsha picked New Zealand opener Tom Latham as his first opener. The southpaw opener has 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.

It is one strong team.

In fact, Bhogle mentioned that 2018 was the worst year for the Test openers in the history of the game. The commentator picked Dimuth Karunaratne who 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.

New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson takes the one down position in Harsha Bhogle’s Test side. The classical batsman has scored 651 runs in seven matches at an average of 59.81.

India’s captain Virat Kohli bats at number four position. The talisman batsman has had a sublime year as he has scored 1322 runs at 55.08 in 13 matches for the number one side in Test format.

Former Proteas star AB de Villiers takes the fifth place in Bhogle’s team as the right-hander scored 638 runs in seven matches at 53.17. Bhogle picked Jos Buttler as his wicketkeeper-batsman as the England talisman has scored 760 runs in 10 Test matches.

The Windies captain Jason Holder makes the cut into the Test XI as he scored 336 runs and picked 33 wickets in six matches. Bhogle picked Nathan Lyon who has taken 49 wickets in 10 Test matches.

Pakistan new sensation Mohammad Abbas grabs a place as the pacer took 38 wickets in seven matches. Jasprit Bumrah who has had a fine start to his Test career makes the cut. Bumrah has taken 47 wickets in nine matches.

Pat Cummins who picked 42 wickets in eight matches is able to seal a place in Bhogle’s team. Bhogle had a toss-up between Kagiso Rabada and Cummins but eventually picked the Australian.

Here is Harsha Bhogle’s team:

Tom Latham, Dimuth Karunaratne, Kane Williamson, Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers, Jos Buttler, Jason Holder, Pat Cummins, Nathan Lyon, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Abbas.