Test cricket was played less in the year 2023. Barring some big series like Border Gavaskar Trophy and Ashes, there were not many series where a lot of matches were played. It ensured that the Test format suffered a lot. But that’s how the things are. In other series, there were not more than 2 matches in a series, which was not good to see. Even in series involving top teams like India and SA, only 2 Tests were played.

There was no shortage of good cricket though. There were many players who gave their best performances in the year. Unlike ODIs, Tests had performers from different teams. Hence, more players can be seen in the side apart from just a single side, which was the case in ODIs. Two cycles have taken place in the WTC in the year 2023. The WTC 2023 final acted as a perfect Seperator between the two.

As the calendar year has almost come to an end, here is the Test team of the year 2023.

Top Order

At the top of the order, the team will feature Usman Khawaja of Australia. The Southpaw was the best batter of the year by some margin who scored runs in India and England in the big series. To partner him as an opener would be Zack Crawley of England, who had an equally impressive year as a batter. At the top of the order, Crawley can provide aggressive starts which can complement well with Khawaja.

There were many players in contention for the other opener like Ben Duckett, Rohit Sharma, and Dimuth Karunaratne. But Crawley was too good. At number 3, the team will have Kane Williamson, who was pretty obvious in the XI. The Kiwi batter won many matches for New Zealand with the bat despite not playing as many games as one would have liked. Kane was very good even as a captain.

Middle Order

At number 4, the side will have the class of Joe Root. The English batter has elevated his level as a batter with aggression. Since the arrival of Bazball, the way Root has been playing is incredible to watch. To follow him would be a fellow teammate, Harry Brook, who was a bit more impressive as a batter. Brook played terrific knocks against New Zealand and Australia. The youngster was the emerging player of the year.

At number 6, the side will have Tom Blundell as the WK batter. There were not many options for the spot, as not many keepers did as well as batters and vice versa. Blundell was good in both roles. At number 7, Ravindra Jadeja will be the All-rounder in the side. The Indian cricketer was great as a bowler, did a good job as a batter and was excellent as a fielder as usual.

Bowlers

Pat Cummins will be the leader of the attack and will operate with the new ball in the team. Cummins would also lead the side and intimidate the opponents with his unique character. To partner him with the new ball would be Stuart Broad who did everything he possibly could as a bowler in the year. Broad capped off his career in the best way possible after bowling so well in the Ashes 2023.

As the first change, the team will have Mark Wood. Just the sheer pace of Wood is enough to intimidate the batters. But he has an outswinger and can bat as well. To partner him in the old ball would be Ravichandran Ashwin, who would be the spinner in the attack. The star spinner bowled well on spin-friendly conditions and also on flat wickets and showed why he is rated highly in the longest format of the game.

Test team of the year 2023: Usman Khawaja, Zack Crawley, Kane Williamson, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Tom Blundell (WK), Ravindra Jadeja, Pat Cummins (C), Ravichandran Ashwin, Mark Wood, Stuart Broad