Despite the beginning of the year being dominated by ODIs and T20s, we saw a whole lot of memorable test matches take place towards the second half of the year. We saw the Indian cricket team go undefeated, and we saw South Africa decimate Australia away from home, amongst many other unforgettable moments. Test cricket also saw a major change as three international day-night matches took place this year, which in turn helped in increasing the attendance at those venues.
So, after choosing the best Test bowler of the year, and best Test batsmen of the year, it is time to pick the best Test team of the year. We conducted a poll and counted the number of votes by the fans all over the world and combined it with our expert’s picks to pick out the best bowler in Tests this year.
5 candidates were nominated for the award – Sri Lanka, England, India, Pakistan and South Africa based on their performances in 2016
The results of the poll were as follows:
A huge majority of the fans voted for India as the best Test team of the year, whereas the other teams did not receive many votes. After combining these votes with our expert’s pick, the final results are as follows
#5 England
After starting out on an extremely positive note, it started going downhill for the English cricket team since Pakistan’s visit in the second half of the year. After defeating Sri Lanka and putting on a decent show against South Africa, the Englishmen were troubled by all the other sub-continent sides namely Pakistan, Bangladesh and India.
In 2016, they played 17 Tests, out of which they won six, lost eight, and drew the other three. Joe Root was their highest run scorer with 1477 runs to his name in 32 innings at an average of 49.23. Their highest wicket taker was Stuart Broad who took 48 wickets in 25 innings at an average of 26.
#4 Pakistan
The Pakistan cricket team had a roller-coaster of a year and even achieved the number 1 ranking for a short period of time after their successful outing in England. Although they soon lost out the top position to their arch-rivals India, they would consider this year’s performance much better than last year. Mohammed Amir, who was banned in 2010 for spot-fixing made a successful comeback to the team, and Pakistan will be hoping that he continues to impress for them.
They played 13 Tests this year, out of which they won five, lost six, and drew the other two. They still have one more Test to play against Australia which will begin on Boxing Day in Melbourne. Azhar Ali has been their highest run getter so far with 950 runs in 10 matches at an average of 52.77.
#3 Sri Lanka
Despite starting off their campaign on a poor note against England in the three-match Test series which they lost 2-0, the new look Sri Lankan side impressed everyone with their exceptional performance against Australia at home which they won 3-0. They followed that up with a clinical performance against Zimbabwe away from home.
They played 8 Tests this year, out of which they won five, lost 2, and drew the other match. They have seemed to found a gem in their batting line-up in the form of Kaushal Silva who ended up as the highest run-getter with 550 runs in 5 matches at an average of 61.11. Veteran Rangana Herath was the star with the ball taking 54 wickets in 8 matches at an exceptional average of 17.53
#2 South Africa
Apart from India, South Africa are the only team who have not lost any series in which they played in this year, although the series against England and New Zealand ended up with the two teams sharing the spoils. They ended the year with a bang as they beat Australia 2-1 in the three-match series away from home.
Just like Sri Lanka, they too played 8 Tests this year, and while they won four of them, they lost two and drew two. The ever consistent Hashim Amla ended up as their leading run scorer with 661 runs in 8 matches at an average of 50.84. Youngster Kagiso Rabada was their leading wicket taker with 42 wickets to his name in 8 matches.
#1 India
The Virat Kohli-led Indian side have been phenomenal this year and are more than worthy of being the no. 1 Test side in the world. They are the only team on this list who did not lose a single match throughout the year. They created history in the previous match against England at Chennai by going 18 matches unbeaten, which is the highest streak by an Indian test team.
Out of the 12 matches they played this year, they won nine and drew three, out of which two were against West Indies away from home. Captain Virat Kohli led the way as he was the leading run scorer by a big margin as he ended up with 1215 runs to his name in 18 innings at an average of 75.93. Ravichandran Ashwin was the pick of the bowlers as he picked up 72 wickets in 23 innings at an average of 23.90.
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