CricTracker fans’ Test XI of the year 2021

Out of all the three formats, Test cricket was the ultimate winner of the year 2021. The year gave fans some of the best matches of recent times and also helped to forget the misery of 2020 when cricket had stopped for a couple of months.

We witnessed the final of the first-ever final of the World Test Championship in 2021 between India and New Zealand. The Blackcaps won the match and ultimately became the first-ever team to achieve the feat of being called the world champions in the longest format of the game.

This year, India won several matches in overseas conditions and destroyed the fortresses of Australia, England, and South Africa. We saw a debutant Kyle Mayers winning a match away from home on his own on the fifth day against Bangladesh. Sajid Khan of Pakistan picked eight wickets in an innings and Ajaz Patel of New Zealand became only the third bowler to pick ten wickets in an innings. Also, Australia won the Ashes in a record 12 days after defeating England in the Boxing Day Test. A lot of players made significant contributions to their team this year. Here we present to you-

Test XI of the year picked by CricTracker fans

1. Dimuth Karunaratne: Sri Lanka

Dimuth Karunaratne made 902 runs in seven matches in 2021 at an average of 69.38 and he was placed in the third position in the list of players with the most Test runs in 2021. He made four centuries and three half-centuries including his highest total of 244 runs that came against Bangladesh in April. He even scored a century in the second innings of the second Test against South Africa in Johannesburg where only three other batters could make a double-digit score.

2. Rohit Sharma: India

Rohit Sharma made the most runs for India in Test cricket and the second-highest runs in 2021. He scored 906 runs in 11 matches at an average of 47.68 which included two centuries and four half-centuries. Both of his centuries came against England in Chennai and Oval. Rohit was the leading run-scorer for India in both the away and home series against the English team.

3. Marnus Labuschagne: Australia

Australia played only five Test matches in 2021 – two against India and three against England. Marnus Labuschagne came out as the highest run-scorer for Australia in these five matches. He made 526 runs at an average of 65.75 including two centuries and four half-centuries. Apart from two innings against India and England, Labuschagne scored over 50 runs in each of the innings. He finished 2021 by being the number one Test batter in ICC Rankings.

4. Joe Root: England

Joe Root made 1708 runs in 15 matches in 2021 at an average of 61 and was the only batter to score over 1000 Test runs last year. Root had a dominant run in Test cricket last year and no team could restrict him. Only Mohammad Yousuf and Vivian Richards scored more runs in a calendar year than Root, the difference between Richards and Root was of mere two runs. Root made six centuries in 2021 and went past 150 runs on four occasions.

5. Dhananjaya de Silva: Sri Lanka

Dhananjaya de Silva made 530 runs in six matches at an average of 58.88 and was the third-highest run-getter for Sri Lanka in 2021. De Silva made two centuries and two half-centuries. His last century came against West Indies during the second Test of West Indies tour of Sri Lanka, he made 155 not-out and won the player of the match award.

6. Rishabh Pant: India

Rishabh Pant made 748 runs in 12 matches at an average of 39.36 and was the second-highest run-scorer for India in 2021. Pant made one century and five half-centuries last year. His only century came against England in the fourth Test and helped India win the match by an innings and 25 runs. But, without a doubt, his best innings came against Australia during the second innings of the Brisbane Test when he made 89 not-out and helped India chase down the target of 328 runs.

7. Liton Das: Bangladesh

Liton Das made 594 runs in seven matches in 2021 at an average of 49.50 and hit one century and five half-centuries. Bangladesh batters had a very dismal show last year as the team could win only one of the seven games. Das was the only batter who scored runs consistently but failed to win the match due to not receiving enough support from the other end. In the first Test against Pakistan, Das made a century in the first innings followed by a half-century in the second innings, but Bangladesh lost the match by eight wickets.

8. Ravichandran Ashwin: India

Ravichandran Ashwin’s dominant run in 2021 helped him clinch 54 wickets in nine matches at an average of 16.64 and a strike rate of 43. Ashwin took the most number of wickets in the 2021 calendar year. Ashwin was at his best when England toured India to play four Test matches. He took 32 wickets in four matches at an average of 14.72. His efforts helped him win the player of the series award and he is now just two short to equal Muttiah Muralitharan’s record of 11.

9. Axar Patel: India

Axar Patel made his Test debut for India last year and finished as the second-leading wicket-taker for India. He picked 36 wickets in five matches at an average of 11.86 and a strike rate of 33.6 including five five-wicket hauls in an innings and one ten-wicket haul in a match. In his debut series, Axar picked 27 wickets and became the highest wicket-taker in the debut Test series.

10. James Anderson: England

James Anderson is still going pretty strong in Test cricket after 18 years of his debut. Anderson became the third-highest wicket-taker in Test cricket history in 2021. He picked a total of 39 wickets in 12 matches at an average of 21.74 and a strike rate of 61.5.

11. Kyle Jamieson: New Zealand

Kyle Jamieson picked 25 wickets in his debut year in 2020. He improved his records in 2021 with 27 wickets in five matches at an average of 17.51 and a strike rate of 41.8. Jamieson won the player of the match award in the WTC final against India for picking seven wickets in total including a fifer in the first innings.