Cricket Australia unveils best XI from the 2021-23 WTC cycle

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Cricket Australia’s best XI from the 2021-23 WTC cycle

Cricket Australia (CA) on Wednesday unveiled the best XI from the two-year cycle of the ICC World Test Championship (WTC). The best XI comprises of three fast bowlers and two spinners, one wicketkeeper-batter in form of Rishabh Pant and with five batters who played a pivotal role in the latter half of the championship.

During the 2021-23 WTC cycle, Pant was the most impressive wicketkeeper-batsman, with only Tom Blundell of New Zealand coming close to matching his run total. Pant hit 22 sixes, second only to Ben Stokes’ 28, and his strike rate of over 80 demonstrated his eagerness to challenge the bowlers.

Remarkably, both of Pant’s centuries were scored in crucial matches – a resilient unbeaten 100 against South Africa in Cape Town and a blazing 146 off just 111 balls against England in Birmingham.

Regrettably, a severe car accident sidelined him during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in February and March, and he is unlikely to be fit for the WTC final in England in June.

Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin are the two other Indian players in CA’s WTC Team of the Tournament. Throughout the ongoing WTC cycle, Jadeja managed to capture 43 wickets across 12 games, featuring three instances of taking five wickets in an innings. Additionally, he contributed 673 runs with the bat, comprising of two centuries and three half-centuries. On the other hand, Ashwin participated in 13 matches and secured 61 wickets, with two instances of claiming five wickets in an innings.

Cricket Australia’s best XI from the 2021-23 WTC cycle:

Usman Khawaja (Australia)

Matches: 16 | Runs: 1,608 | Bat Avg: 69.91 | Strike rate: 50.40 | 100s: 6 | 50s: 7 | Highest score: 195 no

Dimuth Karunaratne (Sri Lanka)

Matches: 12 | Runs: 1,054 | Bat Avg: 47.90 | SR: 51.92 | 100s: 2 | 50s: 8 | HS: 147

Babar Azam (Pakistan)

Matches: 14 | Runs: 1,527 | Bat Avg: 61.08 | SR: 53.15 | 100s: 4 | 50s: 10 | HS: 196

Joe Root (England)

Matches: 22 | Runs: 1,915 | Bat Avg: 53.19 | SR: 60.81 | 100s: 8 | 50s: 6 | HS: 180 no

Travis Head (Australia)

Matches: 17 | Runs: 1,208 | Bat Avg: 52.52 | SR: 80.69 | 100s: 3 | 50s: 6 | HS: 175 no

Ravindra Jadeja (India)

Matches: 12 | Runs: 673 | Bat Avg: 37.38 | SR: 48.10 | 100s: 2 | 50s: 3 | HS: 175 no |
Wickets: 43 | Bowl avg: 23.23 | Econ: 2.40 | SR: 57.8 | 10WM: 1 | 5WI: 3 | Best bowling: 7-42

Rishabh Pant (India) (wicketkeeper)