In the first instalment of Dream Team, a new series where we ask our writers to pick all-star teams based on certain criteria, we selected the best XI from among all the Asian World Cup-winning sides. In episode two, George Dobell, Osman Samiuddin and Andrew Fernando take up the unenviable task of selecting the best Test XI (along with a 12th man) from among the world’s current cricketers. Quite a few players were unanimous choices, but there was plenty of debate too. Watch how our selectors arrived at their picks in the video above.
4:38
Our in-house selectors pick an opening pair not too many would have expected
The opener dilemma
Let’s face it. Very few compelling choices exist among openers successful in all conditions. Does Tamim Iqbal’s form in England earn him a place? Has Tom Latham proved his worth in Asia? Does Mayank Agarwal’s Test average of 57.29 make him an obvious choice? Who did our selectors eventually pick?
Come down to the middle order and it’s the opposite. Smith, Kohli, Williamson, Labuschagne, Pujara, Azam and Co. You can pick only three. Who’d be a selector?
3:28
R Ashwin or Nathan Lyon, who makes it to the best current Test XI?
Who will keep? Who will spin?
Two front-line contenders in the race for the wicketkeeper’s spot. Guess who they are, and who our panel picked. (They didn’t spend too long debating this one.)
Two offies, a leggie, and a left-arm orthodox tweaker were the contenders for the spinner’s spot. One was swiftly discarded based on current form, but the other three offer such varied benefits that they needed to be weighed against each other. Ravindra Jadeja is the ideal allrounder, Nathan Lyon has been excellent on surfaces in Australia – where spin bowling has never been simple – but R Ashwin’s success in Asia cannot be ignored either. Can the experts fit more than one into this XI?
6:44
Who will form the ideal three-man pace attack in our all-star current Test XI?
Does Pat Cummins score over Jasprit Bumrah?
Is it fair to judge Bumrah – who plays most of his Tests in seam-friendly conditions while being rested in Asia, where fast bowling is toughest – on the same yardstick as other seamers? How strong a case do Kagiso Rabada and Trent Boult make? What about one of the other Indian seamers? Questions, questions.
Also read: Who makes it to ESPNcricinfo’s best Asian World Cup-winning XI?