Brad Hogg picks his Test XI of the Decade; Kane Williamson to lead

After the International Cricket Council (ICC), former Australia spinner Brad Hogg came up with his Test team of the decade from 2011 to 2020. Surprisingly only one Indian player, Virat Kohli featured in this prestigious list as Hogg picked two England players, three Proteas, three Australian cricketers, and one each from New Zealand and Pakistan.

Starting with the opening slot, Hogg chose England’s Alastair Cook and Australia’s David Warner as he believes that for someone like Cook who used to test the patience of the opposition by playing at a strike rate of 40, Warner will be a perfect partner as he is known for his aggressive game.

“At the top of the order is Alastair Cook from England. Loved his temperament and his patience. Cook had a strike rate of 40, so I need someone at the other end to compliment him with a different type of pressure on my opposition bowlers, and that is David Warner from Australia. He has a strike rate of over 70, and he also piled on the runs,” Hogg explained while speaking on his YouTube channel.

Further, the veteran spinner picked Kane Williamson as his Number 3 while he went with Indian skipper Virat Kohli and former Australian captain Steve Smith for strengthening his middle-order. Notably, all the above three players are the best batsmen of the current generation.

“At No.3, I need someone who is reliable, someone who can bat in any situation, and I have gone for the New Zealand captain Kane Williamson. At No. 4, I want someone with a little more aggression who can move the game along. I have gone for Virat Kohli from India.

“At No.5, someone who is a little unorthodox, someone who has a good strike rate, and the scoreboard will motor along if he has a partnership with Virat Kohli, and we are going to get some good entertainment with this partnership. It is Steve Smith from Australia.” Brad Hogg added.

Brad Hogg picks Yasir Shah as the spinner of his team

For the Number 5 and 6 position, Hogg chose the South African duo of wicketkeeper AB de Villiers and all-rounder Jacques Kallis. Though the former cricketer admitted that Kallis had retired early in this decade but Hogg believes that he has some spectacular records to his name to feature in Test XI of the Decade.

As far as the bowling unit is concerned, Brad Hogg picked Pakistan’s Yasir Shah as the only specialist spinner of the XI. This was a tough call by the Australian wrist-spinner as he sidelined some prestigious spinners like Ravichandran Ashwin and Nathan Lyon.

While selecting the pace attack of his team, the 49-year-old chose England’s James Anderson and Australia’s Pat Cummins along with South Africa’s Dale Steyn. Hogg was all praises for all the three quicks as he believes that they were at their peak in the past decade.

Brad Hogg’s Test XI of the decade: Alastair Cook, David Warner, Kane Williamson (C), Virat Kohli, Steve Smith, Jacques Kallis, AB de Villiers (WK), Pat Cummins, Dale Steyn, James Anderson, Yasir Shah