Players who missed out on ICC Test XI 2015

Players who missed out on ICC Test XI 2015: The ICC announced its Test and ODI Teams of the Year, which was elected by a specially appointed selection panel, chaired by the ICC’s Cricket Committee chairman and former India captain Anil Kumble and a Panel of experts comprising of former West Indies fast bowler Ian Bishop, ex-England batsman Mark Butcher, former Australia women’s captain Belinda Clark and G. Viswanath, Deputy Editor of The Hindu & Sportstar. The qualification period ran from September 18, 2014, to September 13, 2015. Test cricket has always been a challenge. While there were a few stalwarts of the game who made it to the top XI for the year 2015, there were a few others, whose performances cannot be overlooked. Here is the list of Players who missed out on ICC Test XI 2015, though had an excellent record to back their performances. Murali Vijay: Murali Vijay. (Photo Source: BCCI) Currently the top ranked Indian Test batsman, Murali Vijay, has been in ominous touch since September last year. He has played just 6 Test matches in this period but has scored heavily and has 714 runs under his belt at an average of 64.90. Vijay has struck 2 centuries with a highest of 150 in this phase. He also has 5 half centuries under his name. He has the best average among all Indian players who have scored over 600 runs in this phase. Also Read – Players who missed out on ICC ODI XI 2015 Chris Rogers: Chris Rogers. (© Getty Images) The Australian opener has had a stunning record since September 2014. He enjoyed a lot of success before retiring in August 2014. Rogers definitely ended on a high as he was the third highest run scorer for Australia in this phase with 985 runs. Only Steve Smith and David Warner were running ahead of him. Although he struck just one century, 173 v England in the Ashes, he was consistent enough to put on 9 half centuries in the 21 innings that he played. Azhar Ali: Azhar Ali. (Photo Source: AFP) Azhar Ali is the fourth leading run-scorer since September 2014 with 1088 runs. Only Steve Smith, Younis Khan and David Warner have scored more runs than him. Ali has featured in 10 Test matches in this time frame and has scored 4 Test centuries and 5 half centuries. He has a highest score of 226 runs which he scored against Bangladesh in March 2015. He has scored at an average of 64 in this time period. Mohammad Hafeez: Mohammad Hafeez. (© Getty Images) The veteran Pakistani all-rounder featured in 8 Test matches in the last 14 months. Hafeez has 796 runs under his name in 14 innings at an average of 66.33. He has struck 3 centuries in these 14 innings and has a highest score of 224 runs. He has also picked up 17 wickets in the 8 matches that he has played. Hafeez certainly has a good all-round performance under his name to boast of. He could have made it to the ICC Test XI of 2015. Virat Kohli: Virat Kohli. (Photo Source: AFP) Star Indian batsman Virat Kohli did not feature in either of the ICC ODI and Test teams, which was much to the amazement of Indian fans. Kohli is 7th on the list of top scorers in last 14 months in Tests and has scored 939 runs. He might have looked out of sorts for his fans, but he had been performing with a consistent blitz. The Indian Test skipper also led his side to his first Overseas Test series win in Sri Lanka. Kohli has notched up 5 centuries and 2 half centuries in this period with an average of 62.60. Angelo Mathews: Angelo Mathews. (© Getty Images) The Sri Lankan skipper has had a good all-round show since September 2014. He has been among the runs and wickets alike. Mathews played in 8 Test matches scoring 747 runs with the highest score of 122. He struck 3 centuries and 4 half centuries. He has scored runs at an average of 49.80. Mathews has also taken 10 wickets in the 8 matches that he has played with a best of 3/39. Well, if there was any other all-rounder apart from the ones who have already been named in ICC Test XI, then it would definitely be this man. Ben Stokes: Ben Stokes. (© Getty Images) The English all-rounder who is already being compared to legendary all-rounder Andrew Flintoff has been in a good form too. He could have made it to the ICC Test XI owing to his all-round performances. He has played 10 Test matches since September 2015 and scored 605 runs with best of 105. He has also picked up 18 wickets with a best figure of 6/36 that dismantled the Aussie batting lineup in the 4th Ashes Test this year. Nathan Lyon: Nathan Lyon. (Photo Source: Getty Images) The Australian off-spinner has been the best off-spinner in terms of wickets recorded in the time frame from September 2014 to September 2015. He is the second leading wicket takers in this time period with 50 wickets after Yasir Shah who has picked up 61 wickets. Lyon has 2 five-wicket hauls in an innings, in addition to a 10-wicket haul in a match. He has bowled 79 maiden overs and has been very economical for the Aussie bowling. Definitely Lyon has been the mainstay of Aussie spin department. Dhammika Prasad: Dhammika Prasad. (© Ishara S.KODIKARA/AFP/Getty Images) The Sri Lankan fast bowler, who recently grabbed eyeballs of the crowds for getting into a spat with Indian pacer Ishant Sharma, has had a good outing with the ball in the last 14 months too. Prasad has featured in 8 matches picking up 33 wickets at an average of 29.21. He has been a highly economical pace bowler for Sri Lanka in Tests and has conceded runs at less than 4 runs an over, with 3.52 being his economy rate. Mitchell Johnson: Mitchell Johnson. (© Getty Images) The master left-arm fast bowler, who recently retired from Test cricket, had a memorable outing since last September. Johnson is the fourth highest leading wicket taker in this period. He played in 12 matches and picked up 42 wickets with best match figures of 6/80 and bowled 90 maidens. In addition to that, he was quite handy with the bat too and came up with little cameos to boost up the Australian batting. James Anderson James Anderson. (© Getty Images) The modern day king of swing missed out on being featured in the ICC Test XI and we simply wonder why. James Anderson has picked up 33 wickets in this period with a best of 6/42. Considering his performances in the year 2015, Anderson has taken more wickets than Josh Hazlewood who features in the list. We do not object his inclusion but the performances put on by Anderson have been quite phenomenal too. He has bowled 77 maidens, next best to Johnson’s 90 in the pace department. Also Read – ICC Test team of the year 2015

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Players who missed out on ICC Test XI 2015

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