Best Test XI of the year 2015

2016 has arrived and promises to be a much exciting ride for cricket fans. With T20 World Cup in sight and many bilateral encounters between the Test-playing nations awaiting after that, makes a mouth-watering line-up for the fans around the world. 2015 was an exciting year for Test cricket fans. Albeit controversies around the DRS technology and the supposed pitch doctoring by home nations, the on-field action has overshadowed them by a long way. Be it the historic day-night Test match, or England reclaiming the Ashes; be it India’s resurgence under Virat Kohli, or end of South Africa’s dominance, there were quite a few memorable moments in Test cricket. And a certain few players stood above the rest, with some excellent match-winning performances for their respective teams. Here we have the best Test XI of the year 2015. 1. David Warner (Australia): David Warner of Australia. (Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images) David Warner has been absolutely berserk in the longer formats this year, with the Black Caps facing his wrath a month ago. The southpaw has scored 1317 runs in the longer format this year, with an exceptional average of 54.87 and a Sehwag-sque strike-rate of 81.85. Despite the Ashes debacle, Warner was at his best in the summer Down Under and has been a decent deputy to the newly appointed Australian captain Steve Smith. Warner will look to continue his form to an eventful cricketing year ahead. 2. Alastair Cook (England) Captain: Alastair Cook. (© MARWAN NAAMANI/AFP/Getty Images) After a couple of tame years, Alastair Cook was back to his best this year and stands at a whisker length away from becoming the first ever English batsman to score 10,000 runs in Test cricket. With 1364 runs at an average of 54.56, Cook slowly regained his form to re-establish himself as one of the best openers around. His marathon 263 was enough to shut down any doubts about his success in the sub-continent in 2015, and will be eager to continue his success this year. 3. Steve Smith (Australia): Steve Smith. (© Getty Images) The cocoon has broken and led to the birth of a new world-class batsman and leader in the name of Steven Smith. Bagging ICC Player of the Year and Test Player of the Year awards, this was truly Australian’s year in the longer format. Despite a disappointing Ashes from the team’s perspective, Smith was ruthless with his batting skills in England, with the highlight being a 215 at the Mecca of cricket. His form continued in the summer Down Under against New Zealand and West Indies, ending up with a mammoth 1474 runs in 2015, consisting of 6 centuries and 5 fifties. 4. Kane Williamson (New Zealand): Kane Williamson. (© Cricket Australia/Getty Images) To be named as one of the best ever players to have come out of New Zealand, at a very tender age of 25 says a lot about the caliber of Williamson. And his 1172 runs at an incredible average of 90 is just a statistical number of how talented this player is. Starting with an unbeaten double earlier this year, he was perhaps the only player who stood toe to toe against the Aussies in the away series. And on top of that, this is just the start for the diminutive Black Cap, who has a long career ahead. 5. Adam Voges (Australia): Adam Voges. (© Getty Images) For a player who has made his debut just 6 months ago, 1000+ runs and a few centuries in the bag is a great achievement. Adam Voges showed us that age is just a number in modern day cricket, with some excellent knocks over the past year. The highlight was his unbeaten 269 against the hapless West Indies attack. But not taking credit from his abilities, Voges had truly been exceptional in 2015 and looks to make his mark in the international arena with the available opportunities. 6. Sarfaraz Ahmed (Pakistan) Wicket Keeper: Sarfaraz Ahmad. (Photo Source: AFP) With 33 dismissals in 8 Tests, Sarfaraz Ahmed is among the wicketkeepers with most dismissals in 5-day cricket playing most of it in the sub-continent the Pakistan bowlers finally had someone reliable behind the wickets. Not only with the gloves Sarfaraz had a convincing year as a batsman as well, scoring 464 runs with an average of 51.55. He surely had a great 2015 and was among the best wicketkeepers during the year and deservingly earns a spot for himself in the best Test XI of the year. 7. Ravichandran Ashwin (India): Indian cricketer Ravichandran Ashwin. (Photo by Ishara S.KODIKARA/AFP/Getty Images) Considering that he is currently occupying the No 1 spot in the Test all-rounder’s rankings, Ashwin may be considered as an all-rounder and is perfectly suitable for No. 7 slot in the team. But he makes it into the XI thanks to his incredible performances over the past year with the red cherry. Having rediscovered his form, Ashwin bamboozled his opposition with some intelligent off-spinners. And quite aptly, he won consecutive man of the series awards for his performances against Sri Lanka and South Africa. With 62 Test wickets to his name this year, Ashwin finished as the world No. 1 in the Test bowlers rankings as well. 8. Yasir Shah (Pakistan): Yasir Shah. (© Getty Images) Excluding the suspension received due to alleged doping charges against him, Yasir Shah gained more than a few fans with his orthodox leg-spinners bowling. With series winning performances against Sri Lanka and England, Shah established himself as one of the premier bowlers this year and resurfaced the dying art of leg-spin. His energy and skills with the ball was appreciated by Shane Warne, who predicted that Shah will end up more than 200 wickets in his bag towards the end of his career. Having picked up 49 wickets this year, Shah will look to rectify the doping issue with the ICC soon enough and come back to the 22 yards. 9. Stuart Broad (England): Stuart Broad. (© Getty Images) Overshadowing James Anderson is not an easy feat, but Broad achieved just that with some exceptional bowling with the new ball. With his devastating 8/15 being the highlight, Broad truly matured as a bowler in the longer format this year and is well poised to break more than a few records by the time he ends his career. He sits 2nd in the tally of bowlers with most Test wickets in 2015 with 56 and ended the year ranked 3rd in the ICC Test bowler rankings. With Anderson slowly but surely getting towards the twilight, England will expect Broad to take up the reins soon by continuing to perform consistently. 10. Mitchell Starc (Australia): Mitchell Starc. (© Getty Images) The man with the golden arm was ferocious with the white ball but looked equally menacing with the red cherry as well. With 46 wickets this year in the longer format, Starc established himself as the leader of the pack in all the formats of the game. Though an unfortunate stress fracture in the ankle rules him out of cricket for the coming few months, Starc had a memorable year in Tests. The highlight of the year for him was the 160.4 kmph scorcher that he bowled against New Zealand. During the year, Starc quite convincingly grabbed the baton from Mitchell Johnson. 11. Josh Hazlewood (Australia): Josh Hazlewood. (© Getty Images) Josh Hazlewood showed us that the old-school bowling still gained many dividends in this modern arena. Sticking to the basics, Hazlewood was impressive with the new ball and the old ball throughout this year, excluding a rare failure in the boxing day Test against the Windies. With 51 wickets in 12 matches this year, he has established his place in the team just a year after his debut and has shown shades of Glenn McGrath over the course of this year. A lot of expectations ride on his shoulders in the coming year, and he may very well be the man for Australia with the ball. *Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are the personal views and opinions of the author. The facts and opinions appearing in the article do not necessarily reflect the views of CricTracker and CT does not assume any implied responsibility or liability for the same.

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Best Test XI of the year 2015

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