Only two Indians in Harsha Bhogle’s 2023 Test team, no Virat Kohli or Rohit Sharma finds place

By DAYANAND MOHITE | published: December 30, 2023 06:49 PM 2019-02-12T14:15:30+5:30

city : national

Bhogle didn't find Australia skipper Pat Cummins to be suitable for his Test team of 2023. Other star Test players like Nathan Lyon, Steve Smith and even Dean Elgar couldn't make it to the eleven.

Team India had mixed of outings in Test cricket in 2023 as the Rohit Sharma-led side played the final Test match of the year against South Africa, who handed a loss by an innings and 32 runs to leave their hopes of a series win in the Rainbow Nation shattered. India claimed the home Test series against Australia and defeated West Indies in their home to clinch another long format series.

The heartbreaking loss of 2023 in the format came against Australia in the World Test Championship (WTC) final as skipper Pat Cummins led his side to glory for the first time under his leadership. Not to forget the World Cup 2023 achievement which came against India as well in the final.

In Tests for India, Virat Kohli was the top-scorer with 671 runs in 12 innings at an average of 55.91. His 76-run knock in the second innings of the first Test against South Africa led him to end the year with two centuries and as many half-centuries to his name. Talking about the bowling department, Ravichandran Ashwin bagged 41 wickets, while Ravindra Jadeja picked 33 scalps.

Harsha Bhogle’s Test XI 2023

The Test cricket came to a close in 2023 after the conclusion of the Australia vs Pakistan Boxing Day Test in Melbourne and cricket analyst and veteran commentator Harsha Bhogle picked up players to build up his Test team of the year 2023. Bhogle formed his Test side in a video uploaded by Cricbuzz. Bhogle decided to go with Australia’s Usman Khawaja and England’s Zak Crawley as the openers because Khawaja scored 1210 runs in 12 matches comprising of three hundred and six fifties and Crawley hit more than 600 runs in eight matches, smashing a century and three fifties.

For the middle order, Bhogle added New Zealand’s Kane Williamson and the English duo of Joe Root and Harry Brook. Williamson scored 695 runs in seven matches and Root and Brook smashed more than 700 runs in the eight matches played each. Bhogle then went for New Zealand’s Tom Blundell for the wicketkeeping job. He then picked India’s Ashwin and Jadeja for the allrounder’s job.

The bowling department saw the inclusions of Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood accompanied by England’s Stuart Broad. It is noteworthy that Mohammad Shami was absent from his Test team just like Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli – the other notable absentees.

Harsha Bhogle’s 2023 test team: Usman Khawaja, Zak Crawley, Kane Williamson, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ravindra Jadeja, Tom Blundell, R Ashwin, Stuart Broad, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood.

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