Harsha Bhogle picks his best Test team of 2022

2022 witnessed a lot of action in the cricketing arena. Though T20 World Cup was in focus for the most parts of the year, the Test format also made the headlines thanks to the second edition of the World Test Championship. With an aim to make it to the final of the championship, teams fought tooth and nail in the longest format of the game. 

With 2022 set to end in a few days, cricket experts are picking up their best teams of the year across all formats. Renowned commentator and expert Harsha Bhogle has also jumped into the bandwagon to pick his Best Test XI of the year 2022. Usman Khawaja and Kraigg Brathwaite are the openers of his XI with both the players from Australia and West Indies batting superbly on most of the occasions in the whites.

While Khawaja smashed 1080 runs in 11 Tests at an average of 67.5 with four centuries and five fifties, Brathwaite was yet again gritty standing up for West Indies. He scored 687 runs in 14 innings at an impeccable average of more than 62. 

3 England players in middle-order

Harsha Bhogle's XI, picked on Cricbuzz, then comprised of Babar Azam, Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow and Ben Stokes. It turned out to be a brilliant year in Tests for the Pakistan skipper who smashed the most runs in the format scoring 1170 runs in 16 innings. On the other hand, Root, Bairstow and Stokes were the reason why England did extremely well this year in the whites. The trio is in the top 10 list of most runs scored this year.

Rishabh Pant, thanks to his fearless cricket, made it to the XI and is the only Indian in the XI while Marco Jansen, Kagiso Rabada, Nathan Lyon and James Anderson formed the potent bowling attack. While Rabada and Lyon are the joint-highest wicket-takers of the year picking 47 wickets each, Jansen and Anderson scalped 36 wickets each.

Here's Harsha Bhogle's Best Test XI of 2022: Usman Khawaja, Kraigg Brathwaite, Joe Root, Babar Azam, Jonny Bairstow, Ben Stokes, Rishabh Pant (wk), Marco Jansen, Kagiso Rabada, Nathan Lyon, James Anderson.