New Zealand defeated India by 8 wickets to clinch the first-ever World Test Championship (WTC) title in Southampton last Wednesday (June 23).
The WTC final was severely affected by rain and the match officials had to use the backup day to make up for the lost time.
On the reserve sixth day, the Black Caps pacers bowled out India for 170 in their second innings and chased down the target of 139 with ease.
A week after the marquee game, former Australia cricketer Brad Hogg picked his World Test Championship XI and there was no place for India skipper Virat Kohli in it.
Kohli played 15 matches in the inaugural WTC cycle, amassing 934 runs at an average of 42.45 with the best score of 254 not out but it wasn’t enough for him to find a slot in Hogg’s team.
Hogg opted to go with India’s Rohit Sharma and Sri Lanka skipper Dimuth Karunaratne as the opening batsmen.
“Rohit Sharma at the top of the order. He made four hundreds and two fifties. Yes, most of those runs were made in Indian conditions. Very rarely did you see bat away from home. So very tough to put him in there but the amount of runs he put on the board, I have to include him. He also did ok in the World Test Championship final under those tough conditions,” Hogg said in a video posted on his YouTube channel.
Bradd Hogg slotted New Zealand captain Kane Williamson at No. 3 position followed by Australia’s Steve Smith and Pakistan’s Babar Azam.
He preferred England’s Ben Stokes for the all-rounder spot while India’s Rishabh Pant is the designated wicketkeeper-batsman in his WTC XI.
“There are a number of keepers that have really performed throughout the Test Championship series. De Kock from South Africa was one, Rizwan from Pakistan did a fantastic job. But Pant, the way that he dominated Australia on their soil, you could not leave him out,” Hogg stated.
“He scored a number of fifties and a crucial winning innings in the final Test at the Gabba and scored an important 40 in the WTC final to make sure India still kept their head above water before they bowled to New Zealand. So Pant at No. 7, he's a game-changer.”
Veteran off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, highest wicket-taker of WTC, is the third Indian in Hogg’s team, which also features Kyle Jamieson (New Zealand), Stuart Broad (England) and Mohammad Shami (India).
“At No 9 is a spinner, it’s got to be Ashwin. The best spinner in the world at the moment. He’s got a lot of variety. Bowls well under pressure and also can handle the bat,” Hogg opined.
“At No. 11 is one of the best bowlers in the world, someone that you could always turn to when under pressure and need wickets and to really bowl quality pressure deliveries over after over, ball after ball, it’s Shami. He was outstanding, the second pick of the bowlers in that WTC final. He was sensational, quick. He’s got a very good engine.”
Brad Hogg’s WTC XI:
Rohit Sharma, Dimuth Karunaratne, Kane Williamson (c), Steve Smith, Babar Azam, Ben Stokes, Rishabh Pant (wk), Kyle Jamieson, Ravichandran Ashwin, Stuart Broad, Mohammad Shami. 12th man: Marnus Labuschagne
