Former Australian spinner Brad Hogg picked his World Test Championship XI where he named four Indian players. Interestingly, Indian skipper, Virat Kohli wasn’t picked by Hogg in his team, to which he says it was quite hard to put him in his team.
Team India recently played in the World Test Championship Final against New Zealand and came second. Kane Williamson’s team won the final by eight wickets on the sixth day to bag their first ICC title since 2000.
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Kohli played 15 Test matches in the first cycle of WTC where he scored 943 runs at an average of 42.45, which includes two centuries. His highest score in this period was 254* against South Africa. However, his performance wasn’t enough to be picked in the squad. His last international century came in November 2019 against Bangladesh.
The former left-arm spinner instead went with Rohit Sharma as opener along with Sri Lanka’s Dimuth Karunaratne as his partner. Rohit played 12 matches and scored 1094 runs at an average in excess of 60.
“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,” Brad Hogg said in his YouTube video.
Kane Williamson, Steve Smith and Babar Azam were named in the middle-order with Williamson leading the side as well. Ben Stokes is slotted in at six while Rishabh Pant will don the gloves at number seven.
“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,” Brad Hogg added.
“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.”
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Mohammed Shami and Ravichandran Ashwin are other Indian players in this squad. Kyle Jamieson and Stuart Broad will be sharing the fast-bowling duties along with Shami.
“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,” Brad Hogg pointed out.
“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: 1 Rohit Sharma, 2 Dimuth Karunaratne, 2 Kane Williamson (C), 4 Steve Smith, 5 Babar Azam, 6 Ben Stokes, 7 Rishabh Pant (WK), 8 Kyle Jamieson, 9 Ravichandran Ashwin, 10 Stuart Broad, 11 Mohammed Shami. 12th man: Marnus Labuschagne
