Shane Warne picks his favourite top 5 Test Cricketers in the World in 2021-22.
Former Australia legendary leg-spinner Shane Warne has picked his top five best Test cricketers at the moment in the World. Warne during his recent conversation in Fox Cricket named his top five Test cricketers in 2021-22.
Shane Warne is one of the greats of Test cricket who has embraced the oldest format of cricket from close. He featured between 1992 and 2007 during which he uprooted a massive 708 test wickets in 145 matches. He still ranks second in the list of players with the most test wickets. Sri Lankan Muttiah Muralitharan is the leader of the chart.
With T20 cricket getting all the charm and limelight, the quality of test cricket has taken a dip in recent times. The cricketers, nowadays, emphasise more on hard-hitting rather than having a sound technique to face the red cherry in distinct conditions.
Warne named his fellow countrymen Steven Smith as the top test batsman at present in his list. Smith has been a phenomenal force in the test format. He has scored 7552 test runs in 78 matches at an impressive average of 61.39. Moreover, he is the fastest batsman to score 7000 test runs.
“I have got Steve Smith (at the top). I think, over all conditions, against all bowlers, he has been brilliant,” Warne said in a video posted by Fox Cricket.
The Aussie leggie further named Joe Root as the second-best player in the test format. Root, in the year 2021, has been nothing short of brilliant. Having slammed as many as six test centuries, Root has dominated the opposition comprehensively when he gets on song.
He scored three hundred during recent India’s visit to England for five test matches. He also hammered double tons against India and Sri Lanka.
Kane Williamson, Virat Kohli at 3 and 4:
Kiwi skipper Kane Williamson ranked third in Warne’s elite list of test players. Williamson is fabulous in the red-ball format. Arguably, Kane is one of the finest test skippers cricket has ever produced.
He recently took his national side to the ICC World Test Championship win against India in England.
“Kane Williamson is always there in the list. Virat Kohli just dropped off a little bit and there is Marnus Labuschagne who rounds up the top five for me,” added Shane Warne.
Indian red-ball skipper Virat Kohli comes fourth in the list. Warne reckons that the recent failure of Virat Kohli to produce big scores in the test format has been a concern for him.
Another Aussie that has featured in the elite list is Marnus Labuschagne. The South African origin Aussie cricketer has been a boon for the Australians. He loves to hang over at the middle for a long time and score big runs. He has scored nearly 2000 test runs in just 19 matches.
