No place for Virat Kohli as Hashim Amla picks all-time Test XI amid IND vs WI 2025 series

Former South African batter Hashim Amla found no place for Indian legend Virat Kohli in his all-time Test XI. Amla picked his former Proteas teammate Graeme Smith as one of the openers, along with Aussie great Matthew Hayden.

Smith finished his Test career with 9,265 runs, while Hayden scored 8,625 runs in his 103-match Test career.

Former Indian captain Rahul Dravid followed the two left-handed openers at No.3, followed by Australian legend Ricky Ponting at No. 4. Dravid is fifth all-time in Test runs with 13,288, while Ponting is third with 13,378.

Amla went for another former South African teammate, Jacques Kallis, at No.5, having shared several memorable partnerships during the side's dominant run in the late 2000s and early 2010s. Kallis is fourth all-time in Test runs with 13,289, while also boasting 292 wickets with the ball.

Test cricket's all-time leading run-scorer with 15,921 runs, Sachin Tendulkar, came in next, followed by another South African great, AB de Villiers, at No.7, and as the wicketkeeper. Kohli aside, Amla surprisingly excluded each of the other Fab Four members, Kane Williamson, Joe Root, and Steve Smith, in his all-time Test side.

Hashim Amla's specialist bowlers split between pace and spin

Hashim Amla went with two pacers and as many spinners for the bowling attack of his all-time Test XI. The former South African picked Test cricket's all-time leading wicket-taker, Muttiah Muralitharan, as one of his spinners.

While Muralitharan finished with an incredible 800 Test wickets, Warne finished with 708.

Amla also picked the second-highest Test wicket-taker, Shane Warne, as the other spinner in his lineup. His two specialist pacers were Australia's Glenn McGrath and South Africa's Dale Steyn.

McGrath is sixth all-time in Test wickets with 563, while Steyn finished with 439 wickets at a remarkable strike-rate of 42.38.

Hashim Amla's all-time Test XI (Via Beard Before Wicket podcast)

Graeme Smith, Matthew Hayden, Rahul Dravid, Ricky Ponting, Jacques Kallis, Sachin Tendulkar, AB de Villiers (wk), Shane Warne, Dale Steyn, Muttiah Muralitharan, Glenn McGrath

About the author

Venkatesh has been writing cricket news, listicle and feature articles for Sportskeeda for over a year. He loves cricket because of the diversity of the playing fields and its unparalleled nuances, which no other sport presents. He also enjoys the analytical and quantitative side of the sport, which originates from his MBA degree and 10 years of experience in the IT industry in companies like Infosys, Atos and TCS.

Venkatesh ensures proper research from reliable sources and social media trends to gather information, and adds his own dash of creativity to create insightful content.

He started watching cricket in the late 1990s, having been impressed with South Africa and New Zealand’s gentleman-like attitude. Domestically, he supports the Chennai Super Kings for their ability to bring the best out of their players owing to a friendly and conducive team environment.

He admires three cricketers the most – Brian Lara for his batting style, AB de Villiers for changing the paradigm of batting and MS Dhoni for his unique cerebral approach to field placings and batting. Along with cricket, Venkatesh also enjoys watching and playing tennis and basketball. In his free time, he finds pleasure in singing and watching movies and web series.

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Edited by Venkatesh Ravichandran