'Some kind of joke' - Twitterati perplexed as Iceland Cricket pick Virat Kohli as 12th man in India’s all-time Test XI

Former Indian skipper Virat Kohli is arguably the best Test batter of the current generation and would easily make into any playing XI. However, much to everyone’s surprise, Iceland Cricket did not pick Kohli in their all-time India Test XI. As a result, it did not go down well with the Indian fans, as they launched an all-out attack on Iceland Cricket on Twitter.

Iceland Cricket have always been known for their quirky remarks on micro-blogging sites on various cricketing topics, but on April 13 (Wednesday), their Twitter handle left cricketing fans fuming after they named former captain Virat Kohli as the 12th man in their all-time Test XI for India. To note, Iceland cricket have named veteran Rahul Dravid to lead despite having MS Dhoni and Kapil Dev in the XI.

“Resuming our series on best ever XIs, today it’s the Indian Test team: Gavaskar, Sehwag, Dravid (c), Tendulkar, Hazare, MS Dhoni (w), Kapil Dev, Ashwin, Kumble, Srinath, Bumrah. 12th man: Kohli, 13th man: Chandrasekhar, 14th man: Jadeja, 15th man: Z Khan, 16th man: Laxman, 17th man: H Singh,” they tweeted.

VVS Laxman and Harbhajan Singh also added as extras in the team

Resuming our series on best ever XIs, today it's the Indian Test team:

Gavaskar
Sehwag
Dravid (c)
Tendulkar
Hazare
MS Dhoni (w)
Kapil Dev
Ashwin
Kumble
Srinath
Bumrah

12th man: Kohli
13th man: Chandrasekhar
14th man: Jadeja
15th man: Z Khan
16th man: Laxman
17th man: H Singh

— Iceland Cricket (@icelandcricket) April 11, 2022

Talking about Kohli’s numbers in the longest format of the game, the right-handed batter has played 101 Tests and has amassed 8043 runs at an average of 49.95 with 27 centuries and 28 half-centuries. He also happens to be the sixth leading run-scorer in Tests for India and hence it is a surprise that he has been made the 12th man.

The 33-year-old is currently playing in the 15th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL), representing Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB). The Red Army lost their previous encounter against the defending champions Chennai Super Kings on April 12 (Tuesday). Kohli couldn’t make his bat talk in the game as he was dismissed after scoring one off three deliveries.

RCB will play their next game against the Delhi Capitals (DC). The match will be played at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai on April 16 (Saturday). After losing their previous match, the Bengaluru-based tea, will want to make a strong comeback against the Capitals.

Meanwhile here are some Twitter reactions:

Gavaskar
Sehwag
Dravid
Sachin
Virat Kohli
Pant(wk)
Kapil Dev (c)
R Ashwin
Anil Kumble
Javagal
Zaheer

— Arun Singh (@CA3AS) April 11, 2022

Laxman………………………… Then kohli

— puffbear (@adamhembrow1) April 11, 2022

Zaheer was a better test bowler than Srinath… And bedi might come in too…

— Mehul (@DrMehulsingh) April 11, 2022

I think you have zero knowledge on test cricket the man who made us to watch test cricket is virat Kohli u made him 12th man please stop watching cricket 😏

— Abhishek Gowda (@Abhishek2761580) April 12, 2022

I think Shami or Ishant ahead of Srinath and Virat Kohli at number 5.

— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) April 12, 2022

Sacrilege! Kohli is the first name after Gavaskar on the team sheet

— adi 🇮🇳 (@adiupadhyay) April 12, 2022

This would beat the current 6th ranked test team, Pakistan 🤣🤣

— Aman mishra (@mishraaman96) April 12, 2022

Keeping India's most successful test captain as 12th man. Hmmm.

— Pranav Gulati (@pranav_gulati) April 12, 2022

Kohli 12th man?? Some kind of joke??

— Moiz Amjad (@moizamj) April 11, 2022

12th Man virat
Are u kidding me????
For test, he's place is cemented in the squad. I don't need to elaborate his stats. Any venue in the world.
It's a treat for eyes to watch him bat.

— Ashish Bhardwaj 🇮🇳 (@AshishB79821946) April 12, 2022

Dhoni in tests ahead of Kohli😂 pic.twitter.com/0yu2shEV3a

— Tarak Rajesh🌊ᵀʰᵒᵏᵏᵘᵏᵘⁿᵗᵘᵖᵒᵛᵃᵃˡᵉ (@TarakRajesh9) April 12, 2022