Rating performance of top 10 teams in Tests in 2021

Test cricket was the show stopper in 2021 and the entire credit should go to World Test Championship. This single tournament changed the way Test cricket was perceived by both the fans and cricket teams. Every team knew this year that if they perform well, they might be able to do something that has not been done in cricket’s history. Ultimately, New Zealand and India played the final of the World Test Championship. New Zealand won the final by defeating India by eight wickets. Kyle Jamieson picked a fifer in the first innings and picked two more wickets in the second innings. He won the player of the match award for this performance. Some of the other teams apart from India and New Zealand also had a decent year. Here we rate the Test teams based on their performance in 2021: 1. Zimbabwe (2/10) Zimbabwe. (Photo Source: Twitter) Zimbabwe played a total of five Test matches in 2021 against Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. Against Afghanistan, they won the first Test and lost the second match as the series ended in a draw. Against Afghanistan, Zimbabwe were asked to follow on after they scored only 287 runs in reply to 545 runs scored by Afghani batters. Hashmatullah Shahidi of Afghanistan scored a double century while Rashid Khan picked 11 wickets in total. Zimbabwe lost the two matches against Pakistan by an innings margin and against Bangladesh, they lost by 220 runs. 2. Bangladesh (4/10) Bangladesh Cricket Team. (Photo Source: Twitter) Bangladesh played a total of seven Test matches this year against West Indies, Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe, and Pakistan. They won only one match and one against Sri Lanka ended in a draw while they ended up losing rest of the games. The Tigers then played a two-match home series against West Indies and lost both of tem. In the first Test of the series, Kyle Mayers of West Indies hit a sensational double century in the second innings and guided his team to a record chase 395 runs. Against Zimbabwe, Bangladesh won the only Test by 220 runs courtesy to Mahmudullah’s 150 not-out in the first innings. 3. West Indies (5/10) West Indies Cricket Team. (Photo by RANDY BROOKS/AFP via Getty Images) West Indies played a total of 10 Test matches in 2021 winning three. Two of these wins came against Bangladesh and one against Pakistan. The Caribbean side won the first Test against Pakistan in Kingston. Pakistan made 217 runs followed by 203 runs in the second innings. The Men in Green set a target of 168 runs for the West Indies to win. The West Indies chased down this total thrillingly with one wicket in hand. Jayden Seales who picked eight wickets in total won the player of the match award. Pakistan came back stronger in the second match and the series ended in a draw. West Indies last played a two-match series against Sri Lanka in November and lost both matches. 4. South Africa (5/10) Lungi Ngidi. (Photo by CHRISTIAAN KOTZE/AFP via Getty Images) South Africa are currently playing a Boxing Day Test match against India. Apart from that, the Proteas played a total of five matches this year and lost two of those, both against Pakistan. The three wins came against Sri Lanka and West Indies. In January, South Africa traveled to Pakistan to play a two-match series. They lost the first match by seven wickets as they could only set a target of 88 runs for the hosts. Fawad Alam scored a century in the first innings and won the player of the match award. The second Test match started on February 4, which Pakistan won by 95 runs. Hasan Ali who picked a fifer in both innings won the player of the match award. 5. England (5/10) England. (Photo by Robert Cianflone/Getty Images) England played a total of 15 matches this year including the Boxing Day Test match against Australia which ended on Tuesday (December 28). England started its year on a high note by defeating Sri Lanka at home in a two-match Test series. Joe Root, who has scored the most runs in Test cricket in this calendar year won the player of the series award for scoring 426 runs. After that win, England’s campaign suffered a massive blow in India as it lost the four-match series by a margin of 3-1 despite winning the opening game. England played the next series against New Zealand just before the WTC final. They lost that series as well by a margin of 1-0. In August, India was going to play a five-match series against the English team to kick off the next edition of the World Test Championship. India won two of the first four matches and got a lead of 2-1 before the last match was called off due to the Covid-19 outbreak in the Indian camp. They ended the year with even more embarrassment losing the first three Ashes Tests. 6. Sri Lanka (6/10) Sri Lanka vs West Indies. (Photo by ISHARA S. KODIKARA/AFP via Getty Images) Sri Lanka played a total of nine matches this year. They lost the first three matches to South Africa and England. The next two matches against West Indies ended in a draw. In April, Bangladesh toured Sri Lanka to play a two-match series. The first match of this series ended in a draw and Sri Lanka’s search for a win continued. In the second Test, Lanka delivered an all-round performance to shock Bangladesh as the Island nation won the match by 209 runs. Praveen Jayawickrama picked 11 wickets on debut in this match. Sri Lanka’s next assignment was against West Indies in November. They won both the matches comfortably to end the year on a positive note. 7. Australia (6/10) Australia cricket team. (Photo by Daniel Pockett – CA/Cricket Australia via Getty Images) Australia played a total of five Test matches this year against India and England. The Australian team suffered a massive blow when India managed to draw the Sydney Test and conquered the Gabba fort to win the Border Gavaskar Trophy. They didn’t play any Tests in between with their South Africa tour getting cancelled due to COVID-19 fears. They faced England in the Ashes earlier this month and have managed to win the first three Test matches. They won the Gabba Test by nine wickets, Adelaide Test by 275 runs and the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne by an innings and 14 runs. The Boxing Day Test was a testament to their dominance at home as the pacers literally sent chills through the spines of hapless England batters to bundle them out for just 68 in the second innings. 8. Pakistan (8/10) Pakistan vs Bangladesh. (Photo by MUNIR UZ ZAMAN/AFP via Getty Images) Pakistan played a total of nine matches in 2021. They won seven of these nine matches and the two losses came against New Zealand and West Indies. Pakistan defeated South Africa at home by a 2-0 margin. They then breezed past Zimbabwe in a two-match series winning both matches by an innings margin. Pakistan traveled to West Indies in August to play a two-match series where they lost the opener by just one wicket. However, they managed to make a comeback and level the series. In November, Pakistan played two Test matches in Bangladesh. They won the first match by eight wickets. In the second match, the Babar Azam-led side defeated the Bangla Tigers by a margin of an innings and eight runs. 9. New Zealand (9/10) New Zealand. (Photo Source: Instagram) New Zealand played a total of six matches this year, including the WTC final. The Kiwis defeated Pakistan in their first match of the year by an innings and 176 runs margin. The team then traveled to England in June to play a two-match series. The first match of the series against England ended in a draw. New Zealand won the second Test by eight wickets. The series was followed by the WTC final, which they won by eight wickets as well to win a major ICC title after a long time. New Zealand played two matches against India in November. They fought well to end the series opener with a draw but India were too good for them in the second Test beating them by 372 runs. 10. India (9/10) Team India. (Photo Source: BCCI) India played a total of 13 matches and is currently playing the Boxing Day Test against South Africa. The team’s year started with a drawn game against Australia and won the fourth Test historically at the Gabba chasing down 327 to seal their second consecutive series win down under. India then won the four-match series against England by a margin of 3-1 at home and qualified for the WTC final at Lord’s where they lost to New Zealand. The next series was against England and India won two of the four matches of the series. In November, New Zealand traveled to India and they managed to win the series by a 1-0 margin. The Kiwis managed to draw the opening game but they couldn’t handle the heat in the second eventually conceding the series to the Virat Kohli-led side.

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Rating performance of top 10 teams in Tests in 2021

New Zealand won the WTC final by defeating India by eight wickets.

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