Former India international Aakash Chopra picked his Test team of the year for 2021 and made some big exclusions. Four Indians featured in his Test Xi for 2021 with New Zealand’s Kane Williamson being named captain of the team.
Chopra talked about his picks on his YouTube Channel and named Rohit Sharma and Sri Lanka’s Dimuth Karunaratne as the openers of the XI.
"The first name coming to my mind is Rohit Sharma. It was a huge year for him, it was the year in which he fell in love with the longest format. He played amazing knocks, whether it was the century in Chennai or the consistent performances in England.
My second opener is Sri Lanka's Dimuth Karunaratne. He has also made runs which also includes a double century. He was playing well against West Indies also. He might not be too pleasing on the eye but scores run,” Chopra said in a video on his YouTube channel.
Chopra then picked England’s Joe Root at no.3 and New Zealand captain Kane Williamson at no.4. The former India opener also named Williamson the captain of this Test XI, given that he had led the Black Caps to the ICC World Test Championship (WTC 2021) victory.
"There was no contest at No.3. Joe Root is part of this team. He is the best Test batter of 2021, miles above the rest. He is just in a different league altogether. He gave amazing performances, whether it was the double century in India or Sri Lanka.
"At No.4, I have got Williamson. He scored a double century against Pakistan and he won his team the final. He played a very important knock in the final as well. Kane Williamson is also the captain of this team," Chopra further said.
The rest of the middle order saw the likes of Pakistan’s Fawad Alam and Rishabh Pant taking the keeping gloves. Pant notched up 706 runs at an impressive average of 41.52 this year.
Chopra said: "My team has Fawad Alam. It is a story of persistence, that he will keep on playing whether you select him or not. He has made runs, the noticeable performances being 109 against South Africa, 140 against Zimbabwe, and 124 against West Indies.
The keeper is Rishabh Pant. I was thinking about Jos Buttler as well but no one was close to him. The sort of performances Rishabh Pant has given - 101 against England, 89 at Gabba, and a ninety in Sydney as well. He has been very very good."
Next Chopra picked three all-rounders with New Zealand’s Kyle Jamieson being the pace-bowling all-rounder, while the Indian duo of R Ashwin and Akshar Patel being the spin all-rounders.
Ashwin is the leading Test wicket-taker this year with 52 plucks in eight matches. Axar, who had a memorable debut series against England, has 21 wickets to his name in just six innings.
He said: "After that, I am picking two Indians. Ravichandran Ashwin - he has taken a lot of wickets. He was brilliant in India against England. He made a century against England as well. He is the no.1 spinner in Test cricket, there is no doubt about it."
The last two picks saw Chopra picking veteran England pacer James Anderson and young Pakistani sensation Shaheen Afridi.
"Last but not the least, I have got Shaheen Afridi. His performances this year have been very good. He was also taking five-wicket hauls like Axar. It will also give a left-armer, he is tall, pitches the ball up and makes it swing," he said.
Aakash Chopra's Test XI of the year 2021:
Rohit Sharma, Dimuth Karunaratne, Joe Root, Kane Williamson (c), Fawad Alam, Rishabh Pant, Kyle Jamieson, Ravichandran Ashwin, Akshar Patel, James Anderson, Shaheen Afridi
