Some of the world's leading cricketers put on a stellar performance during the inaugural World Test Championship. ESPNcricinfo gathered the votes of staff members to put together a team for this tournament.
Test: 12, Run: 1094, Avenue: 60.77
Best performance: 161 vs England, Chennai, 2021
His move to the top of the order reigned in Sharma's Test career. In his first series as an opener, against South Africa in 2019, he scored 529 runs in four innings with two hundreds and a double century. On the tour of Australia in 2020-21, he played an easy innings of 52 runs in the second innings at Sydney. Then, in the home series against England, on pitches on which most batsmen struggled, he scored 161 runs on the match-defining first day in the second Test at Chennai, and got two more important scores in the remaining Tests, helping India qualify. got help. WTC Finals.
Test: 10, Run: 999, Avenue: 55.50
Best performance: 244 vs Bangladesh, Pallekele 2021
A relatively new captain when he started the WTC, Karunaratne finished with four centuries, the first of which - 122 against New Zealand - led his team to a comfortable chase of 268 runs. That was Sri Lanka's only century in a disappointing tour of South Africa before a career-best 244 against Bangladesh at Pallekele.
Marnus Labuschagne
Test: 13, Run: 1675, Ave.: 72.82
Best performance: 215 vs New Zealand, Sydney 2020
Labuschagne was also not a regular member of Australia's XI when the WTC cycle began, but there was one occasion when Steven Smith was injured at Lord's. By the end of the WTC cycle, he has not only held the No. 3 spot in Australia's XI, but is also the leading run-scorer in the championship. Three Ashes fifties followed by 185, 162 and 143 in consecutive innings at home, and he scored his first double century against New Zealand in Sydney and was also the leading scorer in the home series against India, in which he scored two fifties. In Sydney and a ton at the Gabba.
Test: 10, Run: 918, Ave.: 61.20
Best performance: 251 vs West Indies, Hamilton 2020
After a quiet start to the WTC, Williamson made a comeback with three centuries during New Zealand's 2020-21 home season. His 251 against the West Indies in Hamilton came in an innings where no other New Zealand batsman got three figures, and his 238 against Pakistan in Christchurch helped New Zealand win by an innings. He made important contributions of 49 and 52* in the low-scoring WTC final against India.
Test: 13, Run: 1341, Avenue: 63.85
Best Performance: 211 vs England, Old Trafford 2019
After returning from his one-year ban, Smith made his WTC debut with a blistering 774 runs in the Ashes in England. At Edgbaston, he scored centuries in both innings to set up a major victory - his 144 in the first innings came when the innings was shattered around him. He returned after scoring 211 in the first innings at Old Trafford from a head injury at Lord's and helped Australia retain the Ashes. In the home series against India, he scored 131 and 81 in the drawn matches in Sydney.
Test: 17, Run: 1334, Ave.: 56.00
Wickets: 34, Bowl Avenue: 26.26
Best Performance: 135* vs Australia, Headingley 2019
Fresh from his heroics in the 50-over World Cup final, Stokes single-handedly led England to the Headingley Test win in the 2019 Ashes, his 135* helping England post 359 and scripting one of great Test victories. He got two more hundreds in the WTC: his 120 at Port Elizabeth helped England take the series lead in South Africa, and his 176 and 78* against the West Indies at Old Trafford made him the player of the match. He also took 34 wickets in the WTC, including 4 for 49 against the West Indies in Southampton and four in hot, spin-friendly conditions in Ahmedabad.
Test: 12, Run: 707, Ave.: 39.27
Best performance: 89* vs Australia, Brisbane 2021 Pant, after a poor 2020 Indian Premier League campaign, lost his place in India's white-ball squad by the time of the 2020–21 tour of Australia, and replaced him in There was doubt. Test side. This all changed after the tour of Australia, when he cemented his place as India's No. 1 wicketkeeper-batsman. His 97 in Sydney gave India an almost impossible victory, and then, at the Gabba, he chased down 328 with 89 to give India a historic series win. He took that form back home, where he scored 91 and 101 against England as India came from behind to win the series 3-1.
Tests: 14, Wickets: 71, Bowl Avenue: 20.33
Best performance: 35 vs Australia, 3 for the MCG, 2020
Ashwin finished the WTC as the leading wicket-taker, and although 52 of his 71 wickets came at home, perhaps his most impressive series was in Australia, where he took 12 wickets in three Tests. At the MCG, India were down 0-1 and bowling first, they dismissed Matthew Wade, Smith and Tim Paine as Australia were bowled out for 195. At home, he set the tone for India's 3-0 sweep of South Africa in 2019. Seven wickets in the second innings at Visakhapatnam and then repeatedly ran through England with Axar Patel in the 2021 series. He also regained some batting form, hitting an unbeaten 39 to save a century in the Sydney Test and against England in Chennai.
Tests: 7, Wickets: 43, Bowl Avenue: 12.53
Best performance: 31 vs 5 for India, Southampton 2021
Jamieson took the wickets of Cheteshwar Pujara and Virat Kohli in his first spell in Test cricket in the home series against India in 2020. He took his first five-wicket haul in his second Test against India in Christchurch, and his first ten-wicket haul against Pakistan at the same venue earlier this year. For making an incredible debut in Test cricket, he was adjudged the Player of the Match in the WTC final for his seven wickets.
Tests: 14, Wickets: 70, Average: 21.02
Best performance: 55 vs 4 for India, Brisbane 2021 Already on the shortlist of the world's best Test bowlers at the start of the cycle, Cummins confirmed his position as No. 1 by the end of it. He was the top wicket-taker in the 2019 Ashes with 29 strikes in five Tests. At home, he was unstoppable, keeping wickets in just two innings out of 18 and continued to put in maximum effort even when his fellow bowlers looked tired. He took four wickets in the second innings at Adelaide when India were bundled out for 36. Even as India secured a historic series win at the Gabba on that tour in 2020-21, he remained Australia's best threat, taking four for seven. Never fall and give up on speed or accuracy.
Tests: 11, Wickets: 56, Average: 20.82
Best performance: 69 vs Australia 5 for Perth 2019 He was the lone bright spot among New Zealand bowlers in Australia in 2019-20 as well, taking 5 for 69 off the pink ball in Perth. He continued to perform consistently as New Zealand won all six Tests at home from 2020, crossing 300 Test wickets along the way. In the final, he turned the ball big against India and took four wickets in the second innings to register a dramatic final day win.