Can ICC’s Test team of the Year beat India in India?

Can ICC’s Test team of the Year beat India in India?

The ICC Test team of the Year has been announced and not surprisingly, it doesn’t contain a single Indian cricketer. Not surprisingly because after the 4-0 routs in England and Australia, India must have been pretty low on the radar of the jury.

But put the same team back in home conditions – and suddenly, it’s a team of world beaters again. So as a purely hypothetical exercise, imagine if the ICC Test team of the year was to tour India – who would come out on top? It’s almost like a Rest of the World team against India.

Can the ICC test team take on India in home conditions? AFP

Here’s a look at how the ICC team have performed in India:

The openers for the ICC team are Alastair Cook (Eng) and Hashim Amla (SA). Amla is untouchable – in 6 matches, he has scored 823 runs at an average of 102.87. Cook is a more modest 304 runs in 4 matches at 43.42. But overall, it is a solid opening partnership.

In number three is Kumar Sangakkara (SL). Even though the Sri Lankan conditions are pretty similar to India, the left-hander has 365 runs at 36.50 in six matches.

At number four, the reliable Jacques Kallis (SA) steps in – 760 runs in 9 matches at 58.46 show that he is pretty comfortable on slow turners as well. His economical bowling would help the other bowlers get a break as well.

Michael Clarke (Aus, captain) had a good start to his India story but has struggled in recent time. On the last tour, he made just 35 runs at an average of 8.75.

Shivnarine Chanderpaul (WI) is the next man in and he has always been a hard man to dislodge. In six matches, he has made 491 runs at 54.55 but more importantly he knows how to bat with the tail and frustrate India’s spinners.

Matt Prior (Eng – wicketkeeper) hasn’t played a lot in India – just two Tests. But count on him to be aggressive and score some quick runs down the order. Stuart Broad (Eng) is the second all-rounder in the team after Kallis and adds to the balance.

Saeed Ajmal has never played a Test match in India. The Indians struggled against him in the ODIs, but Test matches are a different ball game.

Vernon Philander (SA) is primarily a swing bowler and is very accurate, but will he really be able to trouble the Indian batsmen? Dale Steyn (SA) – who will share the new ball – is a different problem altogether. The speedster has 26 wickets in 5 matches at an average of 20.23.

AB de Villiers (SA), who is the 12th man, is a great batsman and a decent wicket-keeper.

Now, against this team we have an India team that knows the conditions and how to utilise them. Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir have scored 2584 runs in 43 Tests at an average of 61.52 and they will be tough to dismiss.

But with Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman retired – there is a vaccum in the middle order. However, while playing in India – both Cheteshwar Pujara and Virat Kohli shouldn’t have any problem. In fact, the both of them would have probably played more in India than all the players in the ICC team.

Then you have a Sachin Tendulkar in the middle order and one doesn’t really have to say much about him. He has an average of 56.06 in India – just 6784 runs in 83 Tests.

The third newcomer in the middle-order could be S Badrinath, S Raina or Ajinkya Rahane. All three of them have a lot of experience in home conditions but are likely to be weak links.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni will add some sting to the tail down the order. These are perfect batting conditions for him and you can expect him to score big runs. R Ashwin, who already has an average of 35 in Tests, has found his groove as a bowler in home conditions – 34 wickets in 4 Tests at home is amazing.

Pragyan Ojha can bowl very economically and he has taken 56 wickets in 11 Tests at home. Zaheer Khan remains a wily bowler and is deadly with the old ball. Umesh Yadav adds some much-needed pace to the mix.

Rather than have India whipping a weak New Zealand at home, we sure would prefer to see this match.