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Amidst the perennial argument over the health of Test cricket, when furrowed eyebrows keep questioning the existence of perhaps the most beautiful format of sport, the year 2017 has reminded everyone around about the mysterious enigma of Tests, all over again.
And this has to do a lot with the players who play the game. These artists have reinstated our faith in Test cricket and in this slider we will take a look at five of these champions who have done wonders in whites.
The International Cricket Council is set to announce the winners of 2017 ICC awards soon and winning the Test cricketer of the year is perhaps the most coveted award.
The period of consideration for the prestigious award is from September 2016 to December 2017.
#5 Dean Elgar
The 30-year old South African opener has enjoyed a stellar run in 2017 and has been one of the lynchpins of the Protea batting line-up.
He might not have the most aesthetic batting technique, he might not possess a wide array of strokes, but he does have a bullish attitude. He is a street fighter and this virtue needs to be conjured up in Test cricket.
In the 20 innings, he has played in 11 matches this year, the left-hander has scored 1,097 runs at an average of 54.85.
His highest score of 199 came against a hapless Bangladesh bowling attack in Potchefstroom, but in many ways, this innings was a reward for his fighting instincts in England just before this series, where he scored 291 runs in four matches, which included a century and a couple of half-centuries.
#4 Cheteshwar Pujara
The most consistent batsman for India in Tests over the past 15 months, Pujara has been a run-machine for India in subcontinent conditions.
He walks in at number three, digs out his mark and then rubs the opposition onto the ground with his insatiable thirst for Test runs.
True, his biggest tests will lie when the Indian team travels overseas, but in familiar conditions, Pujara has owned batting and he has owned bowling attacks.
In the 18 innings, he has played in 11 matches, the Saurashtra-man has plundered 1,140 runs at an average of 67.05.
His appetite for run-scoring can be gauged from the fact that he has scored five fifties and four hundreds and with the highest score of 202, Pujara has driven home his importance in Tests for India.
#3 Nathan Lyon
Perhaps for the first time after a certain Shane Warne, has a spinner captured the imagination of an entire nation. Nathan Lyon is the proverbial underdog who, by the virtue of his grit and amazing abilities, has managed to march into cricketing folklore.
He is the leading wicket-taker in Tests this year and such has been his influence over Australian cricket over the past one year that he has almost become synonymous with off-spin bowling.
His exploits in the ongoing Ashes is a testament to the fact that when the match-defining times come, he steps up and delivers the knockout punch.
Before the Boxing day Test match at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, Lyon has played 10 matches and has bowled in 19 innings and has scalped 60 wickets at an average of 22.91 and with a strike rate of 50.6
His best bowling performance came when he picked up eight wickets for 50 runs.
#2 Virat Kohli
India captain Virat Kohli has accumulated runs for fun this year, Test runs were meant to be hard earned, but Kohli clearly did not get this lesson.
India's dominance over the past one year has a lot to do with the run-scoring form Virat Kohli has developed. The ease with which he has scored 1,059 runs in the 16 innings he has played in 10 matches has been ridiculous. His average reads an astounding 75.64.
Along the way, he has scored one 50 and five hundreds. Also, he has notched up three double hundreds and as captain, he went past Brian Lara for scoring the most number of double-tons as a skipper.
Lara had five, Kohli already has six!
#1 Steven Smith
Probably, the best player to don the whites currently, Australia captain Steven Smith has taken Test batting to astronomical heights this year.
Such has been his dominance over different conditions that oppositions are still grappling to find a way to stop him from scoring runs, leave alone getting him out.
With an unorthodox batting stance, Smith has thrown the batting manual out of the window and is busy authoring his own set of guidelines.
His batting has been the reason why Australia has managed to clinch the Ashes in three games and hence by the time the Boxing day Test match gets over, he is sure to surpass Pujara's tally of 1,140 runs.
In the 18 innings, he has played in 10 matches, Smith has scored 1,127 runs at an average of 70.43. His conversion rate has been sensational as he has managed two fifties and five hundreds over these 12 months.
Fittingly, his best score of 239 runs came against England in the Ashes-winning performance in Perth.
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