All-time debutants XI in Test cricket 

Prithvi Shaw made a century on his Test debut
Prithvi Shaw made a century on his Test debut

Prithvi Shaw has been in news throughout the first week of October as he made his Test debut for India and became the first teenager from his country to score a century on debut in the 1st Test of the home series against the Windies.

Shaw became the 15th Indian and the 106th batsmen in the world to score a century on debut. He had a brilliant match and was adjudged as the Man of the Match for the 1st Test match.

Shaw has some phenomenal players for company as a number of cricketing greats have performed splendidly on their debut. Some of these players have gone on to do things which are legendary in nature.

This article tries to compile the list of the best XI of players who began their career in a splendid fashion and had a cricketing career which any budding player would aspire for.


Openers: Alastair Cook and Gordon Greenidge

Image Source: ESPN Cricinfo

Cook is arguably the greatest opener that the game has ever seen as he has 12472 Test runs to his name at a brilliant average of 46. He finished his career as the fifth highest run scorer in Test cricket history.

Cook scored a total of 164 runs across both the innings in his debut Test match.

Gordon Greenidge played cricket for his country when West Indies Cricket was at its peak and he was one of the reasons that West Indies were almost invincible in the 1970s and 1980s.

Greenidge too had a start which was pretty similar to Cook as he too began his career with a century against India in India. He scored a total of 200 runs across both the innings in his debut Test match.

Greenidge scored 7558 runs in 108 Tests at an average of 45 and has 19 centuries to his name.

Middle Order: Younis Khan, Javed Miandad and Greg Chappell

Image Source: ESPN Cricinfo

Younis Khan is probably the greatest Test batsman to have represented Pakistan as he has outscored legends of cricket like Inzamam Ul Haq, Mohammed Yousuf and Javed Miandad and is the only cricketer from his country to score 10000 runs in Test cricket. He played an innings of 107 runs in his debut match.

Javed Miandad is the second Pakistani batsman in the XI and is one of the most under recognised Test batsmen of his generation. He has a brilliant record in Tests scoring 8832 runs in 124 Tests at a phenomenal average of 53. He played a knock of 163 runs in his debut innings in Test cricket.

Greg Chappell is another high profile batsman who started his cricket career with a century against England in Perth, Australia. He scored 108 runs on his debut and was a brilliant player for the Aussies throughout his career.

All-Rounder and Wicketkeeper: Sir Ian Botham and Matt Prior

Image Source: foxsports.com.au

If a list of top all-rounders in the history of cricket is compiled, Sir Ian Botham will definitely find his name on that list as his impact on England's cricket in particular and the cricketing world, in general, has been phenomenal.

Botham transformed the England team with his all-round abilities in the 1980s to a world-class side in both Tests and in ODIs. The fact that England were extremely close to winning the 1987 World Cup is a case in this point.

Botham returned with figures of 5-74 in his debut Test innings.

Matt Prior is probably the only player in the list who doesn't boast of a phenomenal record in Test cricket but he is worthy of being included in the squad just for the impact that he had on the England team in the 2000s.

Prior is famous for some of the best rebuilding innings that English cricket has seen. He was involved in a number of important lower order partnerships with the bowlers to take his team to a respectable total and this was often the difference between the England team of the 1990s which didn't have a great win percentage to that of 2000s.

Prior stroked an attacking 126 runs in his debut Test innings. His exploits played a great role in England's domination in Tests in the period 2008-2013.

Lower Order: Ravichandran Ashwin and Brett Lee

Image Source: ESPN Cricinfo

Ravichandran Ashwin is the only active cricketer in the XI apart from James Anderson who is in the twilight of his international career. Ashwin is presently the best spinner in the world in Test format.

Ashwin has played in just 63 Tests and already has 333 wickets to his name. He has 27 five wicket hauls and 7 ten wicket hauls to his name which is a phenomenal stat for any bowler to have after just 63 Tests. He is definitely worthy of a place in this XI though he is just half-way into his career.

Ashwin bagged 9 wickets in his debut Test match.

Brett Lee began his career against India in Australia with a brilliant five-wicket haul in his very 1st Test innings with the ball. He backed it up with two wickets in the 2nd innings and then went on to become one of the best pacers Australia had in the last three decades.

Pacers: Dennis Lillee and James Anderson

Image Source: Sportskeeda

Dennis Lillee is often considered as the man who has defined fast bowling. He was a phenomenal bowler who had the ability to disturb the opposition batsmen just by his mere presence on the field.

Dennis Lillee had a career in which he was successful both as a tearaway fast bowler as well as a disciplined bowler who would bowl day in and day out. He was forced into becoming the disciplined bowler after few career-threatening injuries but the way he adapted to that made sure that he finds his name on any All time XI in Tests.

Lillee scalped 5 wickets for 84 runs in his debut Test innings.

James Anderson is by far the best fast bowler England had ever produced and he is also the highest wicket-taker in the history of Test cricket among the pacers. Anderson's swing is his biggest weapon and he has foxed a number of batsmen with his accurate swing bowling.

Anderson returned with figures of 5-73 in his debut Test innings.

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Edited by Kumud Ranjan