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The 2010s are about to end, so it's a good time to look back at what was a revolutionary decade in Test cricket.
Among other changes, the most talked about one was the change in the colour of the ball; from the traditional red ball, Test cricket made a transition to the pink ball, i.e. introduced day-night games. Tests under floodlights also revived the interest in the longest format, with fans able to watch the game after their work hours.
The decade also saw some very intense games of Test cricket, while introducing us to new cricketers and bidding farewell to those from the previous decade. Here, we take a look at the Best XI of the decade.
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1. Hashim Amla
Not just in South Africa, but Hashim Amla was one of the best Test openers in the world. Across a prolific 15-year-career, the now 36-year-old established himself as a stalwart of Test cricket.
The Proteas were a dominant force in Test cricket from 2006- 2015, a period during which they won 45 out of 92 matches. Amla averaged over 50 in six of those calendar years and was the primary reason behind the team’s dominance.
The second highest run-getter in Test cricket for South Africa, Amla has four double-centuries to his name and is the only cricketer from his country with a Test triple century.
Talking about this decade alone, Amla scored 6695 runs at an average touching almost 50 – which includes 21 centuries and 27 half-centuries. What stood out in particular is the fact that Amla was consistent irrespective of whether he played at home or away.
He retired from all formats of the game in August 2019.
2. Alastair Cook
The highest left-handed run-scorer in Test cricket and the fifth-highest overall, Alastair Cook made a century on debut against India, and signed off with a century against the same team in September 2019.
England's highest run-scorer in Tests, Cook’s form had largely dipped for a year before he called time. But at his peak, the left-hander was one of the best.
The former England captain is second on the list of opening batsmen with the most Test centuries, while two of his centuries came batting at No. 3. In this decade, Cook scored 8818 runs at an average of almost 47.
3. Steve Smith
Thanks to his distinctively high batting average, Steve Smith is often regarded as the best since Don Bradman. Having delivered some of the best performances in Test history at the age of just 30, the Australian is perennially hungry for runs. He loves being out there in the middle and ripping apart the opposition bowlers.
Smith made his debut at the start of this decade in 2010, and averages an astounding 63.75. He became Australia's 45th Test captain in 2014, but the added responsibility did not hinder his personal performances.
The only period in which the runs from his bat dried up was when he served a one-year ban. Before and after that, it has been all about scoring runs for fun.
4. Virat Kohli (c)
The Indian captain made his Test debut against West Indies in June 2011 and in no time, was called the heir to Sachin Tendulkar. Virat Kohli is never satisfied with his spree of centuries, and that’s what makes him so special.
Kohli has an average of 55 in Tests, and he believes that he still has a lot more to achieve. 27 centuries, 22 half-centuries and an impressive record away from home - 3,644 runs at an average in excess of 46 - make Kohli a legendary batsman by any standard.
5. AB de Villiers
In a career that spanned across 14 years, the South African was one of the most loved cricketers in the world. The 35-year-old played in 114 Test matches, 228 one-day internationals and 78 Twenty20 matches for the Proteas.
With 8,765 Test runs, e Villiers boasts of an overall average of over 50. But what is more impressive is that his average away from home – 50.68, was more than his average at home – 46.7
He contributed a staggering 16 centuries to his team’s wins in Tests, seven of which came overseas. He averaged in excess of 40 against all countries except New Zealand and Bangladesh, which further proves that his average wasn't high just because of facing poor bowling attacks.
6. Ben Stokes
“I f^%&ing (don’t care if I get fined) love Test match cricket and I love England cricket,” read the all-rounder’s Tweet after his unbeaten 135 helped England chase down 359 runs on Day 4 of the third Test to make it the team’s highest successful chase in Test history and the second highest in Ashes cricket.
Ben Stokes loves Test cricket, and that is evident from his six-year old career. Since his debut in 2013, the all-rounder has collected 137 wickets and scored 3738 runs down the order at an average of 35.
Stokes’ batting average outside home is better than at home; he has scored 1960 runs overseas at 38.43. He looked at the peak of his powers in 2019 – a year in which he won an Ashes series and a World Cup - but going by his dedication, the best of Stokes is yet to come.
7. Kumar Sangakkara (WK)
Arguably the best Test batsman Sri Lanka has ever produced, the keeper-batsman has several records to his name. The joint-fastest man to 10,000 Test runs alongside Sachin Tendulkar and Brian Lara, Kumar Sangakkara’s batting was full of elegance.
In 2012, he was named the Test Player of the Year and he also found a place in the ICC Test XI. He averaged in excess of 60s away from home and in his entire Test career, his average was 57.4.
But in this decade alone, in which he played for only the first five years and then retired, Sangakkara averaged a staggering 61.40, scoring 4,851 runs in 46 games - including an unbelievable 17 three-digit scores.
8. Ravichandran Ashwin
After Anil Kumble, Ravichandran Ashwin has been hailed as the best Indian spinner of all-time. He does not just pick wickets, but also contributes with the bat whenever asked to.
On spin-friendly Indian tracks, Ashwin’s dominance has been remarkable. He has played 76 Tests for India, from which he has 362 wickets at an average just over 25. To add to that, he also has 2,385 runs which include four centuries.
Ashwin’s performance outside India has also been impressive – he has 108 wickets in 27 Tests.
In his 37th Test match, the Tamil Nadu spinner became the fastest Indian bowler and the second fastest in the world to reach 200 Test wickets - after Australian spinner Clarrie Grimmett, who achieved the feat in 36 matches.
9. Rangana Herath
Despite becoming a regular in Sri Lankan Test team very late in his career, Rangana Herath is one of the top 10 wicket-takers of all time.
Until the time Muttiah Muralitharan was active, there was no permanent place for Herath in the team; he played only 21 Tests from 1999 to 2010. But in the period after Muralitharan’s retirement until his own retirement in November 2018, Herath played 73 Tests.
In this decade, he scalped a whopping 363 wickets at an average of over 26 including 30 five-wicket hauls and nine 10-wicket hauls. Away from his own backyard, he picked up 89 wickets in 28 Tests.
Herath's overall stats - 433 career wickets – make him an undisputed pick in this team.
10. Dale Steyn
Among the greatest bowlers of the 21st century, or perhaps the greatest of them all, South African quick Dale Steyn has a phenomenal record in Test cricket.
Steyn's action is such that it doesn’t require a lot of energy, yet allows him to bowl at extreme pace while also extracting a good amount of lateral moment from the pitch. In-swinger, out-swinger, deadly bouncer, unplayable yorker and a variety of slower balls – the speedster has them all in his kitty.
93 Tests, 439 wickets, average of 22.95, 27 four-wicket hauls, 25 five-wicket hauls, five 10-wicket hauls – no adjective will do justice to the kind of Test career Steyn has had.
11. James Anderson
Last year, 15 years on from his Test debut, James Anderson's five-wicket haul against India at home took him past Glenn McGrath and made him the highest wicket-taker among fast bowlers in the longest format.
Sachin Tendulkar – one of the best batsmen in the history of the game – was dismissed by the English pacer nine out of the 14 times they faced off. However, unlike Steyn who has picked wickets everywhere in the world, Anderson has more wickets at home than away. There is a difference of more than 100 wickets between his home and away tally.
But Anderson's overall stats make him one of the most legendary pacers of all time. The 37-year-old has picked up 575 wickets in 149 Tests, and is seemingly improving with age.
Speaking to BBC Radio, McGrath had expressed his desire to see Anderson pick 600 Test wickets. "If he can raise the bar to 600 wickets, that's an incredible effort.” It looks like the feat isn’t very away.
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