Harsha Bhogle picks his Test XI of 2016

Indian commentator Harsha Bhogle might not have been in the thick of action in the recent times. But that has not kept him away from the game. He has been giving his opinions about his favorite sport time and again. As the year of 2016 came to an end, the ICC and many players jotted down their playing elevens of the year.

The performances were many but a few stood out among the rest. Harsha also came up with his Test XI for the year. In an exclusive for Cricbuzz, he named Virat Kohli as the player to lead his Test XI of 2016. He cited that the year of 2016 has not been the best for the openers. If September is to be taken as the cut off date, then English skipper Alastair Cook makes the cut. However, his form dwindled towards the end. Hence, the much-revered commentator went on with West Indies opener Kraigg Brathwaite in his side.

For a team that is not doing great, Brathwaite was an exception. He scored 613 runs in 8 matches at an average of 55 this year. Pakistan’s opener Azhar Ali joins Brathwaite in Harsha’s list. Ali scored a triple ton this year and ended it with a double hundred. With 1198 runs at an average over 63, Ali looked solid for the Pakistani team.

The middle order was not very hard to guess. The trio of Joe Root, Virat Kohli, and Steve Smith make to the list. Root finished as the leading run scorer of the year. Virat Kohli had a breakout year as he plundered 3 double centuries in Tests in 2016. Steve Smith ended 2016 as the number one ranked Test batsman.

Talking about the all-rounders, Harsha rightly said that it was an obvious choice. England’s Ben Stokes scalped 33 wickets this year and averaged close to 45 with the bat. Among the wicketkeepers, it was England’s Jonny Bairstow, who had a dream run in 2016. Bairstow finished as the second leading run scorer in Tests in 2016. He amassed 1470 runs in just 17 matches at an average just under 60.

Also read – CricTracker fan poll – 5 best Test batsmen of the year

The spin department saw Ravi Ashwin’s name pop up as the obvious choice. Ashwin recently won the ICC Test Cricketer of the year. He picked up 72 wickets in the last calendar year. Sri Lanka’s wily old man Rangana Herath was the next in the list for Bhogle. Herath scalped more than 50 wickets in the season.

Australia’s Mitchell Starc performed exceedingly well on spin friendly tracks in Sri Lanka to show why he is the best pacer at the moment. The last slot went to South Africa’s Kagiso Rabada. Rabada went on to scalp more than 40 wickets and was fiery in the Perth Test for his side in absence of Dale Steyn.

Talking about the guiding principle for his selection of the team, Bhogle quoted, “u look at certain numbers and the character of the players and what he means to the side.”

Harsha Bhogle’s Test XI of 2016:

Kraigg Brathwaite, Azhar Ali, Joe Root, Virat Kohli (C), Steve Smith, Ben Stokes, Jonny Bairstow (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Rangana Herath, Mitchell Starc, Kagiso Rabada