Sanjay Manjrekar picks his Test XI of the decade

Former Indian cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar picked his best playing eleven in Test cricket in the decade from the year 2011 to 2020. As his openers, he went for the left-handed pair of Alastair Cook and David Warner. Cook retired from the game back in 2018 after scoring a century against India at the Kennington Oval in London. He was one of England’s greatest batsmen without much of a doubt.

As far as Warner is concerned, he is a part of the Australian Test team and has a triple century to his name against Pakistan in 2019. In the middle order, he went for Virat Kohli, Steve Smith and Kane Williamson. Even as Smith and Virat led their national teams with efficiency, Manjrekar went for Kane as the captain. Williamson has been a bedrock of New Zealand’s Test batting for many years.

Manjrekar goes for BJ Watling as his wicketkeeper

Ben Stokes was Manjrekar’s sole all-rounder in the lineup. Stokes has played some masterful knocks for the Three Lions over the years, one of which came in 2019 against Australia at the Headingly in Leeds. As the wicketkeeper, Manjrekar picked BJ Watling ahead of the likes of Quinton de Kock, Mushfiqur Rahim and others. In 71 Tests, Watling has 3688 runs with eight tons and 18 fifties.

Watling also has a top score of 205 and though he might not be an attractive batsman to the naked eye, he knows how to score runs in critical match situations. Among the fast bowlers, Manjrekar went for Pat Cummins, Trent Boult and James Anderson. Cummins is currently ICC’s number-one ranked Test bowler and is a part of the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy against India.

Boult has done well for the Black Caps over the years as well. Anderson is the most successful fast bowler of all-time with 600 wickets to show for his efforts. Even into his late 30s, he hasn’t given any signs of retiring from top-level cricket.

As his sole spinner, Manjrekar zeroed in on Nathan Lyon, the Australian off-break bowler, who is a reliable force for his national team. He named the eleven while commentating during India’s second Test against Australia at the iconic MCG.

Here’s the best eleven-

Alastair Cook, David Warner, Virat Kohli, Steve Smith, Kane Williamson (C), Ben Stokes, BJ Watling (C), Pat Cummins, Trent Boult, James Anderson, Nathan Lyon