The best left-handed Test XI in the modern era

There is always a fondness towards left-handers. After all, they are a rare breed in international cricket as the game predominantly has produced more right-handed batsmen and bowlers. Based on a statistic in 2016, 3923 players till date have batted in Test cricket, out of which 3172 were right-handers, 745 were left-handers and 6 of them were unknown. This helps us to deduce that there have been only 19% of international cricketers who batted left-handed. We also have to consider that, some of them are ambidextrous who bat both left-handed and bowl right-handed.

Similarly, when it comes to bowling, out of the 3923 cricketers, 2735 were right arm bowlers and 568 were left armers. However, 620 of them never bowled in test cricket. This means 17.20% were left-arm bowlers.

Lets look to best left-handed Test XI in the modern era.

Openers - Alastair Cook and Matthew Hayden

**Alastair Cook and Matthew Hayden will be a perfect opening combination in all conditions**

Alastair Cook was an opener in the classical mould. Cook had dogged defence and a strong temperament. His batting was not a piece of art, but at the end of the day he would score a truckload of runs. England was at it's strongest, when Cook was at his best.

Cook was adept against pace and spin and preferred to grind down oppositions by batting time. By the time he retired, Cook was the fifth highest run-getter and scored the highest number of runs as an opener in Test matches. He had a calm demeanor and was well admired.

Matthew Hayden was a dominant force who would stand a meter outside his crease and bully the fast bowlers with his powerful down-the-ground shots. Hayden would play powerful slog sweeps and through the spinners off their lengths. Hayden would score runs at a rampant pace and make the opposition captain clueless with his methods.

With Hayden at the top, Australia enjoyed a successful period of domination in all the countries. He was a good slip-catcher as well and took some fine catches with his bucket hands.

Middle Order Batsmen - Kumar Sangakkara, Brian Lara, and Sourav Ganguly

Two of the finest to have played the game

If left-handed batsmen are called elegant, it is because of batsmen like Kumar Sangakkara, Brian Lara, and Sourav Ganguly. They were of the highest quality and scored a combined of 88 international Test centuries between them in all conditions.

Kumar Sangakkara was a perfect number 3, who had an organized technique and once he got a start he would make it count by scoring big daddy hundreds. Sanga more often than not would arrive at the crease, when the ball was moving around. He would negotiate the tough period by playing the waiting game and once he got set, he would open up his repertoire and make the opposition pay with his gracious strokes. He would also don the wicket-keeping gloves, if required but stayed away from it after 2006.

If Sanga had the grace, Lara had the flair. Lara should definitely be the most popular left-handed batsmen in the history of cricket. Lara's appetite for runs was something else, he is the only batsman to score a 100, 200, 300, 400 in International cricket and a 500 in FC cricket. Lara was the lone warrior in a weak West Indies team and would pretty much carry the team on his shoulders all the time. If you ever sledged him, he would make you pay by showing his full range of strokes that included his customary flowing drives, the stylish cuts, and the famous one-legged pull shots.

Ganguly is one of the best the world has seen and he was a mentally tough nut, who relished playing those elegant drives on the off-side. Ganguly burst into the scene with twin hundreds in his debut series against a quality English attack. He somehow loved left-arm spinners and more-often-than-not he would hoist them over long-on and deep mid-wicket. He was a handy bowler who could bowl some tight overs as well.

These guys were adept against pace and spin and Lara was undoubtedly the most dangerous batsman if he was in the mood.

Cricket fans around the world have been entertained by these gentlemen and they would easily go on as some of the best left-handed batsmen the world has seen.

All-Rounders - Ben Stokes and Wasim Akram (Captain)

Wicket-keeper - Adam Gilchrist

**When it comes to all-rounders, it would be hard to think beyond Stokes and Gilchrist**

When it comes to choosing the best left-handed all-rounder, it would be hard to think beyond the ambidextrous Ben Stokes in the modern era. He is a genuine batsman who bats at number 6 and a potent right arm bowler who can come in as the first change and bowl nagging lines to unsettle batsmen.

If the ball is old, Stokes is one of the best proponents of reverse-swing and skillful in bowling the incoming deliveries. He is a complete package, who can counter-attack, play the waiting game, break crucial partnerships and take some acrobatic catches with his brilliant fielding.

Well, does Adam Gilchrist even need an introduction? he is by far the most complete wicket-keeper batsman the game has ever seen. Gilly, held the world record for his 905 dismissals in international cricket before Mark Boucher broke it. Gilly was also a very good batsman, who would take the attack to the opposition. He would nonchalantly hit sixes and held the record for the highest number of sixes (100) in Test cricket before it was broken by Brendon McCullum. He was a gentleman who was widely admired for his sportsman spirit.

Wasim Akram is arguably the best left-handed fast bowler the game has ever seen. He would consistently bowl over 90 mph at his peak and would make the ball talk. Wasim had a special ability, as he could swing old ball and the new ball swing both ways. He could create some awkward angles and bowled some absolute jaffas to batsmen. Wasim would clean up the tail in no-time with his toe-crushing yorkers. He was a handy lower order batsman, who could hang in and made some crucial runs batting at number 8.

Fast Bowlers - Mitchell Johnson and Trent Boult

Spinner - Rangana Herath

Image result for mitchell johnson and trent boult

Mitchell Johnson on his day would be the most threatening bowler to face. He had the pace and his primary skill was to bowl short-pitched stuff to terrorize the batsman. After denting the batsman's psyche and pushing him on the backfoot, Johnson would pitch it up and produce the nick. The way he terrorized the Englishmen in 2013 Ashes was unbelievable to watch. He loved a fight on the field and would usually go and rile up oppositions best batsman, and trouble him with short-pitched stuff.

Trent Boult is one of the finest left-arm swing bowlers in the modern era. He has an easy action and bowls consistently at 140 kph. If the pitch is green, Boult would be a dangerous proponent considering his skill of swinging it both ways with the new ball. Boult like Akram has a good yorker and bowls it accurately targeting the base of off stump. Boult has been one of the leading wicket-takers for New Zealand and he will shatter a few more records in the years to come.

Rangana Herath, the wily old islander spent most of his career in the shadow of the great Muralitharan. He became Sri Lanka's most potent weapon after Murali's retirement. Herath was very accurate with his length and use his variations subtly. He had an arm-ball, a slider, and his stock delivery was the one which would spin away from the right-handers. Herath bowled some memorable spells and troubled all visiting batsman. Herath became the only left-arm spinner to pick up 400 Test wickets. Truly a gentleman of the sport!

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Edited by Srihari