India and New Zealand will play against each other for the title of the inaugural edition of the World Test Championship. The match will be played from June 18 to 22 at the Rose Bowl Cricket Stadium in Southampton. The winner will receive $1.6 million as the prize money.
We have compiled out picks for an all-time Test squad for the WTC final against New Zealand. We chose the top five batsmen, the top-ranked wicketkeeper, one top-ranked all-rounder, and the top four bowlers for the team.
Sunil Gavaskar
Test matches played: 125
Runs scored: 10,122
No of 100s: 34
Gavaskar, India’s greatest Test opener and arguably the best
of all time, was the run-machine of Indian cricket for much of the 1970s and
1980s. He is one of only two openers to average over 50 while playing 100+
Tests, and he has the most centuries of any opener.
Also Read | World Test Championship: New Zealand’s road to the final
Rahul Dravid
Test matches played: 164
Runs scored: 13,288
No of 100s: 36
Dravid is India’s second-highest Test run-scorer, with five
double-centuries, including memorable knocks of 233 (in Australia) and 270 (in
New Zealand) (in Pakistan). In every country he visited, he also scored at
least one Test century.
Cheteshwar Pujara
Test matches played: 85
Runs scored: 6,544
No of 100s: 18
Pujara, the unshakable rock of India’s current line-up,
exemplifies grit and determination in modern-day cricket, combining sound
technique with unmatched determination. Pujara’s best performance came on the
2018/19 Australia tour when he scored 521 runs at an average of over 45 and
three double-centuries.
Sachin Tendulkar
Test matches played: 200
Runs scored: 15,921
No of 100s: 51
Tendulkar, the most prolific run-maker in Test history, bats
at number four, where he has scored over 13,000 runs. Tendulkar averaged over
40 in every Test-playing nation, with an away average of 54.74 compared to
52.67 at home. He first ascended to the top of the Test rankings in 1994, and
he maintained that position throughout his career.
Also Read | From Headingly to Gabba: Best matches of the World Test Championship
Virat Kohli
Test matches played: 91
Runs scored: 7,490
No of 100s: 27
Kohli‘s Test career has been on an upward trajectory since
his debut, making him one of the greatest all-format batsmen of the modern era.
In the second half of the last decade, his status as a Test cricketer grew
significantly, and he scored seven double-centuries between 2016 and 2019. He
ascended to the top of the batting rankings for the first time in 2018 and is
India’s highest-rated Test batsman ever.
Rishabh Pant
Test matches played: 20
Runs scored: 1,358
No of 100s: 3
Pant‘s fame has risen dramatically in the last six months as
the only Indian wicketkeeper to enter the ICC top-10 Test rankings for batsmen.
Pant has already set numerous records, including the most dismissals in a Test
match and the fastest Indian wicketkeeper to 1000 Test runs, despite only
having been in the game for three years.
Kapil Dev
Test matches played: 131
No of wickets taken: 434
Kapil Dev‘s reputation and records remain unblemished nearly
three decades after his retirement as India’s greatest all-rounder of all time.
He finished his career as the No. 1 Test all-rounder, a position he had held
since 1992, and was also ranked second in bowling in 1979. His 434 Test wickets
are still the most by an Asian seamer.
Also Read | How much prize money will the World Test Championship winner get?
Ravichandran Ashwin
Test matches played: 78
No of wickets taken: 409
Runs scored: 656
No of 100s: 5
Given his trajectory, Ashwin could end up being India’s
greatest spinner of all time. His Test career took off after 2016, and he
became the fastest bowler to reach 250, 300, and 350 Test wickets. Since 2015,
he has never had a bowling average higher than 28 in a calendar year. He rose
to the top of the all-rounder rankings for the first time in 2013 and has five
Test centuries to his name.
Ravindra Jadeja
Test matches played: 51
No of wickets taken: 220
Jadeja, the highest-ranked Indian all-rounder, ascended to
the top of the all-round rankings in 2017, the same year he also climbed to the
top of the bowling rankings. Jadeja, a prolific wicket-taker, has taken the
majority of his wickets at home (157 out of 220), averaging 21.06.
Anil Kumble
Test matches played: 132
No of wickets taken: 619
Kumble, arguably India’s greatest matchwinner, had a huge
impact on Indian and international pitches. Kumble is one of only two bowlers
in history to take ten Test wickets in a single inning, making him India’s
all-time leading wicket-taker in the format. From 1992 to 2007, he took at
least one five-wicket haul every season and finished with a career average of
just under 30.
Also Read | World Test Championship: India’s road to the final
Jasprit Bumrah
Test matches played: 19
No of wickets taken: 83
Bumrah has emerged as India’s Test bowler in just over three
years, using his white-ball prowess to capture wickets with the same zeal. He
has the best bowling average among Indian quicks and has already taken five
wickets in Australia, England, and South Africa. He’s also one of only three
Indians to score a hat-trick in a Test match.
