Ashwin, Rohit Sharma, Rishabh Pant, Axar Patel in Australia's Test XI of 2021

Cricket.com.au
selected
Rohit
as
the
opening
batter.
Having
dominated
white-ball
cricket
and
his
home
conditions
for
years,
Rohit
Sharma
conquered
his
final
frontier
this
year
by
showing
he
can
score
big
Test
runs
outside
of
Asia.

And
a
strong
2021
that
saw
him
finish
behind
only
Joe
Root
for
most
runs
could
have
been
even
better
if
the
classy
right-hander
had
translated
multiple
strong
starts
into
big
hundreds.

Rishabh
Pant
was
named
as
the
wicketkeeper.
His
numbers
would
look
considerably
better
if
he’d
been
able
to
turn
scores
of
97
(in
Sydney),
89
not
out
(in
Brisbane)
and
91
(in
Chennai)
into
hundreds.

The
way
he
dismantled
Australia
and
England
at
the
start
of
the
year
rightfully
earned
him
comparisons
with
the
great
Adam
Gilchrist.

Ashwin
and
Axar
Patel
have
scalped
54
and
36
wickets,
with
an
average
of
16.64
and
11.86,
respectively
this
year.

Australia’s
Marnus
Marnus
Labuschagne
was
the
lone
player
from
the
national
side
who
was
included
in
the
list.

It
was
a
big
reward
for
India’s
consistent
show
in
Test
cricket
in
2021.

The
Indian
team
dominated
the
Centurion
Test
right
from
the
word
go
with
skipper
Virat
Kohli
winning
the
toss
and
electing
to
bat
first
and
India
went
on
to
score
327
runs
in
the
first
innings
which
helped
them
take
130
runs
lead.

Despite
Day
2
being
completely
washed
out
due
to
rain
Virat
Kohli
and
company
managed
to
wrap
up
the
Test
match
with
more
than
one
and
a
half
sessions
to
spare
on
day-5.

“Yes,
we
can
see
this
Indian
team
winning
the
Test
series
3-0
because
South
Africa’s
batting
is
not
looking
that
great.
Only
Dean
Elgar,
Aiden
Markram
and
Quinton
de
Kock
can
chip
in
but
if
all
the
pressure
is
on
these
three
then
the
team
can’t
win
because
Indian
bowling
is
very
strong.

“It
is
due
to
rain
that
the
match
got
over
on
the
fifth
day
otherwise
you
will
see
matches
getting
over
in
3
or
4
days,”
said
former
India
cricketer
and
former
selector
Sarandeep
Singh.

The
Indian
team
went
on
to
win
their
first-ever
Test
at
the
SuperSport
Park
in
Centurion
and
Virat
Kohli
became
the
first
Indian
captain
to
win
two
Test
matches
in
South
Africa.

His
first
win
as
a
captain
came
at
the
Wanderers
in
Johannesburg.
One
of
the
main
architects
of
the
Indian
win
have
been
the
fast
bowlers
with
Mohammed
Shami,
Jasprit
Bumrah
and
Mohammed
Siraj
bowling
out
the
Proteas
for
less
than
200
in
both
innings.

“Yes,
it
is
big
news.
I
think
this
is
the
first
Asian
team
to
win
in
Centurion.
A
big
congratulations
to
Rahul
Dravid
on
his
first
win
as
coach
in
SA.

“It
is
very
difficult
to
beat
SA
in
their
country.
It
is
a
huge
moment
for
the
Indian
cricket
team.
The
way
Virat
Kohli
handled
the
side
and
the
way
our
fast
bowlers
bowled
especially
Mohammed
Shami.

“Jasprit
Bumrah
got
an
ankle
injury
but
he
came
back
and
bowled
well
and
surprise
package
Mohammed
Siraj.
We
all
talk
about
batters
but
look
at
our
fast
bowlers.

“It
was
a
combined
effort
by
the
Indian
team.
SA
bowlers
bowled
well
but
look
at
our
bowlers.
Credit
goes
to
Ravi
Shastri
also
and
now
the
team
is
under
Rahul
Dravid.

“Even
Bharat
Arun
deserves
credit
for
fast
bowlers.
The
way
he
worked
with
them
for
4-5
years,”
Sarandeep
Singh
told
ANI.

Cricket
Australia
Test
XI
of
2021:
Rohit
Sharma,
Dimuth
Karunaratne
(Captain),
Marnus
Labuschagne,
Joe
Root,
Fawad
Alam,
Rishabh
Pant
(wk),
R
Ashwin,
Kyle
Jamieson,
Axar
Patel,
Hasan
Ali,
Shaheen
Shah
Afridi.