Five best Test knocks of 2023 ft. KL Rahul

2023 was an eventful year for Test cricket. The second cycle of the WTC concluded in 2023 and Australia emerged victorious after defeating India in the finals at the Oval earlier this year.

A total number of 34 Tests were played in 2023, out of which only six ended in draws. 28 Tests out of the said 34 yielded results, which is indeed a good advertisement for Test cricket.

2023 witnessed 62 Test centuries with Kane Williamson scoring the most Test centuries in 2023 (4).

Here is a look at five Test knocks of 2023 considering the impact of the innings, the quality of the opposition the circumstances, and the match situation during which the said innings was played.

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#1 Ben Stokes (155 against Australia at Lord's)

The English Test captain undoubtedly played the best Test innings of 2023. Chasing 371 for a win in the second Ashes Test, England were down and out having lost four wickets and 45 runs being scored. Stokes joined Ben Duckett and the duo added 123 runs before the latter perished. Jonny Bairstow was soon dismissed thereafter.

Stokes then took charge of the innings and what followed was absolute carnage. He added 108 runs with Stuart Broad. Stokes backed his aggressive instincts and scored 155 from 214 balls including nine boundaries and nine maximums.

An experienced Australian bowling line-up comprising Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins, Josh Hazelwood, and Cameron Green was taken to the cleaners. Stokes was subsequently dismissed with England needing 70 more runs to win the Test. However, the hosts fell short of the target by 43 runs.

Though his innings was not a match-winning one, Stokes's knock was instrumental in getting England close to the target and giving his team a chance of victory from a hopeless situation.

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#2 Travis Head (163 against India at the Oval)

Head has been the nemesis for team India in the ICC tournament finals in 2023. Before scoring a match-winning century in Ahmedabad against India in the finals of the 2023 World Cup, Head scored a century (163) against a hapless Indian bowling attack during the finals of the ICC World Test Championship.

Head added 285 runs with Steven Smith for the fourth wicket. An experienced Indian bowling lineup comprising Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Umesh Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, and Shardul Thakur had no answer to Head's onslaught and he scored at a strike rate of 93.67 during the said innings.

His innings of 163 from just 174 balls included 25 boundaries and one maximum and guided Australia to a match-winning total of 469 in the first innings. India never really recovered from the onslaught by Head and subsequently lost the Test by 209 runs.

Head was named Player of the Match for his blistering knock.

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#3 Dean Elgar (185 against India at the SuperSport Park, Centurion)

Dean Elgar is playing his last two Tests, having announced his retirement from international cricket after the series against India. Elgar is certainly writing his own script and was named the Player of the Match in the recently concluded Boxing Day Test against India.

The opener, in testing batting conditions, was the lone player to score a century and it was a big one. Elgar's controlled aggression and determination to occupy the crease for a long period were the highlights of his epic knock.

He scored 185 from 287 balls that included 28 boundaries. He was unperturbed by the tough batting conditions and the threat the Indian bowlers posed to him.

Elgar's knock evidenced that he still has a lot of cricket left in him but having announced his retirement, Elgar will look for a fitting farewell in Cape Town in his last-ever Test match in which incidentally, he will be leading his side following the injury to regular skipper Temba Bavuma.

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#4 KL Rahul (101 against South Africa at SuperSport Park in Centurion)

The Indian keeper-batman played a mature and composed innings against South Africa at the SuperSport Park in Centurion during the recent Boxing Day Test.

Rahul came into bat in testing batting conditions with team India losing four wickets for 92 runs. India were thereafter reduced to 121 for the loss of six wickets and Rahul had the responsibility of batting with the Indian lower-order and the tail-enders.

Rahul added 43 runs with Shardul Thakur, 27 runs with Jasprit Bumrah, 47 runs with Mohammed Siraj, and 7 with Prasidh Krishna and guided India to a respectable total of 245. Rahul scored his eighth Test hundred during the said knock including 14 boundaries and four maximums.

While the rest of the Indian team struggled to cope with conditions conducive to pace bowlers, Rahul displayed a cool head over his shoulder and played a magnificent knock. Though the innings came in a losing cause, it will be everlasting in the minds of Indian fans around the globe.

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#5 Kane Williamson (121* against Sri Lanka in Christchurch)

Sri Lanka were still in the hunt to make it to the finals of the ICC World Test Championship 2023. However, Kane Williamson shattered the dreams of the Island Nation by playing a match-winning unbeaten innings of 121 in the fourth innings of a Test match played at Christchurch.

New Zealand were chasing a target of 285 and needed seven runs from the final over of the Test to secure a win. Williamson scored a boundary of the fourth ball of the last over. The fifth ball of the over was a dot ball and the Kiwis needed a run from the last ball to win the Test. Williamson missed scoring on a bouncer bowled by Asita Fernando and thereafter ran to the bowler's end to score a bye and the Kiwis emerged victorious in a dramatic manner.

Williamson held one end up and scored 121 runs that included 11 boulders and one maximum Williamson had a cool head over his shoulder and the difference between the two teams.