Cricket Australia announce Test team of 2021; includes four Indians

Cricket Australia (CA) have announced their Test team of the year on December 31 (Friday). Indian opener Rohit Sharma, who had a cracking year was picked as the opener alongside Sri Lanka’s Test captain Dimuth Karunaratne. Rohit finished behind only Joe Root for most runs with 906 runs under his belt while Karunaratne has accumulated 902 runs from 13 innings in this year with the top score of 244.

Cricket Australia picked Australai’s most consistent Marnus Labuschagne at the no. 3 batsman, who has had a superlative run in international cricket ever since he came as a concussion substitute to Steve Smith during Ashes 2019. The right-hander passed 50 in six of his nine innings, including hundreds against India in Brisbane and England in Adelaide, as he surged to top spot in the ICC’s Test batting rankings.

England captain Joe Root, who finished as the highest scorer with 1708 runs at 61, was picked in the middle-order alongside Fawad Alam, who continued to script one of the greatest comebacks. Rishabh Pant, who continues to impress with each passing match, was picked as the wicket-keeper batsman.

India’s spin duo of Ravichandran Ashwin and Axar Patel were picked up as the spinners in Cricket Australia’s Test XI. Ashwin (54 wickets) had a sensational finishing as the highest wicket-taker while Axar went from strength to strength ever since his debut against England earlier this year at home.

New Zealand’s Kyle Jamieson and Pakistan’s Hasan Ali and Shaheen Afridi were picked as fast bowlers in Cricket Australia Test XI. Hasan and Shaheen had a remarkable year finishing with 41 and 47 wickets while Jamieson ended 2021 with 27 scalps from five matches.

Cricket Australia’s Test XI: Rohit Sharma, Dimuth Karunaratne (c), Marnus Labuschagne, Joe Root, Fawad Alam, Rishabh Pant (wk), Ravi Ashwin, Kyle Jamieson, Axar Patel, Hasan Ali, Shaheen Shah Afridi