2018 started with India taking on South Africa in the three match test series which turned out to be a pretty tough contest with the Proteas thumping India 2-1 to kick off the year with a win. Virat Kohli’s team went onto compete with England at their own backyard and played some good cricket but somehow the results didn’t turn in their favour and the visitors lost the series 4-1.
New Zealand made a thunderous comeback to win an away test against Pakistan after 49 years.
The year has been full of red ball cricket and some impressive performers have managed to draw the attention of cricket enthusiasts. Meanwhile, the voice of cricket termed Harsha Bhogle has named his Test XI of 2018 while speaking to Cricbuzz.
Bhogle mentioned that the year was worst when it comes to the performance by openers. He went onto pick New Zealand’s Tom Latham and Sri Lanka’s Dimuth Karunaratne to open the batting. Latham has scored 658 runs in seven Test matches while Karunaratne has scored 743 runs in nine matches.
New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson take the all important number three slot with 651 runs in seven matches played in the year. Virat Kohli who happens to be the number one test batsman take the number four slot with 1,322 runs which makes him the highest run getter in the calendar year.
Retired cricketer AB de Villiers take the number five slot in Bhogla’s team followed by England’s wicket-keeper batsman Jos Buttler at number six. The Englishman scored 760 runs in 10 matches this year.
West Indies test skipper Jason Holder is the lone all-rounder in the team. Australian’s Nathan Lyon will be the lone spinner in the team.
Australia’s Pat Cummins, India’ Jasprit Bumrah and Pakistan’s Mohammed Abbas complete the fast bowling department.
Harsha Bhogle’s test XI of 2018
Tom Latham(New Zealand), Dimuth Karunaratne(Sri Lanka), Kane Williamson(New Zealand), Virat Kohli(India), AB de Villiers(South Africa), Jos Buttler(England), Jason Holder(West Indies), Pat Cummins(Australia), Nathan Lyon(Australia), Jasprit Bumrah(India), Mohammed Abbas(Pakistan).
