Former Indian spinner Harbhajan Singh has disclosed his picks for the top five Test cricketers of the present time. This was keeping in mind that the third edition of the World Test Championship (WTC 2023-25) has gotten off to a rollicking start with a heated Ashes series between hosts England and Australia.
Last edition’s finalists India will also begin their WTC 2023-25 sojourn against West Indies from July 12 onwards in the Caribbean.
Harbhajan Singh, who played 103 Tests, 236 ODIs, and 28 T20Is for India from 1998-2016 and picked a total of 711 wickets in international cricket, revealed his picks for the top five Test cricketers of today.
He picked Nathan Lyon and Steve Smith from Australia, Ben Stokes from England, and Rishabh Pant and Ravindra Jadeja from India. Interestingly, there was no mention of the world’s no.1 ranked Test bowler R Ashwin and ace India batter, Virat Kohli.
Ravindra Jadeja boasts of a brilliant record for India with 2706 runs and 268 wickets in 65 Tests with 3 centuries and best bowling figures of 7/42.
Rishabh Pant, who is currently out of commission as he rehabs and recovers from his near-fatal car accident, has 2271 runs in 33 Tests with 5 centuries and a best score of 159*. He is the only Indian keeper to score centuries in South Africa, Australia, and England.
Harbhajan also named Steve Smith and Nathan Lyon. Smith is undoubtedly the best Test batter throughout his career, with his numbers speaking for themselves. Averaging nearly 60 in the red-ball format, Smith contributed another match-defining century in the Lord’s Test last week.
Lyon recently became only the sixth player and first specialist bowler to play 100 consecutive Tests and has 496 wickets to his name.
England captain Ben Stokes played a memorable knock of 155 in Lord’s Test recently. In 94 Tests, he has 5928 runs and 197 wickets with 13 centuries and best bowling of 6/22.
