3 sides most capable of winning the inaugural Test Championship

Next year begins the final stand in the battle to save Test Cricket. The inaugural Test Championship will see Test playing nations play three home and three away series over a period of 2 years.

The 2 teams with the best record then go on to play in the final, the winner being declared Test Champions. Big cash incentives and less irregular playing schedules are being touted as the catalysts in what will hopefully revive Test Cricket in some countries where the purest form of the game is almost dead.

In this article, I will analyze the 3 teams who are in best position to win the inaugural Test Championship.

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3- South Africa

Toughest upcoming series: Away to India, Home to Australia, Away to Pakistan.

Easiest upcoming series: Home to Sri Lanka, Away to West Indies, Home to England.

3 key players vital to South Africas Success:

Dean Elgar

Dean Elgar had a tough start to his Test Match career. Playing against Australia he scored a pair on debut on a bouncy WACA surface. Things have got better for Elgar since then. He now averages 42.59 in Test Cricket with 11 hundreds and 12 fifties.

What makes Elgar so important to the South African Test team has been his performance over the last 12 months. He scored over 1000 Test runs in the last calendar year. During this time, he scored 5 hundreds and 4 fifties and averaged 53.71.

Elgar scoring runs at the top of the order is crucial for South Africa. With the retirements of Ab De Villiers and Jacques Kallis over the last few years, South Africa will rely heavily on Elgar to be a leader with the bat if they want to win the Test Championship.

Kagiso Rabada

Pace, Swing, and attitude. All these qualities are needed to become a good fast bowler. Rabada possesses all of them, in huge amounts. Rabada burst onto the Test Match scene against India in 2015 and has provided wickets in every Test Match he has played since.

Rabada has taken 143 wickets from 30 Tests at an average of 21.43 runs per wicket. The recent retirement of Morne Morkel along with the unclear future of Dale Steyn in Test Cricket means there is a lot of responsibility on the shoulders of Rabada.

If South Africa is to take 20 wickets in a match, many them will need to come from the 23-year-old Johannesburg product.

Hashim Amla

A stalwart of South African cricket, Hashim Amla is as important as he has ever been to South Africa’s cause. The 117-test veteran has scored 8982 runs at an average of 48.03 in Test Cricket. These numbers include 28 hundreds and 39 fifties in the games longest format.

Despite an unorthodox technique, Amla has become one of the greats of modern era Test Cricket. Amla is capable of scoring runs in all types of conditions. This skill will be especially important on South Africa’s tour of India.

Like Elgar, a lot of responsibility rests on Amla’s shoulders since the retirement of Kallis and de Villiers. If Amla can continue to produce scores for South Africa they are more than capable of winning the test championship.

2- Australia

Toughest upcoming series: Away to Bangladesh, Away to England, Away to South Africa.

Easiest upcoming series: Home to India, Home to Pakistan, Home to New Zealand.

3 key players vital to Australia’s success:

Steven Smith

Despite all the controversy surrounding Smith and the ball tampering scandal one thing is clear. If Australia wants to win the first Test Championship they will need plenty of runs from their banned skipper.

Since reinventing himself as a batsman, Smith has been the best Test batsman in World Cricket. Smith has scored 6199 runs at a remarkable average of 61.37 runs per innings. He has scored 23 hundreds and 24 fifties in his Test career.

Smith is so valuable to Australia because of his ability to play spin bowling well. This is a skill Australian batsman often lack. For example, in India Smith averages 60.00 with the bat. He has scored 660 runs from 6 Tests in a country where Australian batsman often struggle to score runs.

If Australia is to win matches away from home Smiths input with the bat is going to be crucial.

Josh Hazlewood

As the leader of the often-feared Australian pace attack, a lot of responsibility rests on Josh Hazlewood’s shoulders. He may not have the pace of Starc or Cummins but Hazlewood has compiled a record in Test Cricket that is as good as many greats of the game.

In 40 Test Matches, Hazlewood has taken 151 wickets. These have come at an impressive average of 26.84 runs per wicket, and strike rate of 57.3 balls per wicket. What makes Hazlewood so valuable to Australia is his consistency.

He bowls with a similar plan to Glen McGrath. His ability to stay injury free is also impressive and means Australia can plan team selection around him being fit to play.

His ability to tie up one end and lead the attack is why Australia will need him to be at his best if they are to win the Test Championship.

Nathan Lyon

Nathan Lyon is a cult figure in Australian cricket. Despite being known for many things other than his bowling his record is quite special. He has taken more wickets than any Australian off-spinner in history and has many more years left in him yet.

In his career to date, he has taken 306 wickets from his 78 Test Matches at a very respectable average of 32.21 runs per wicket. Lyon is repeatedly forgotten about in this Australian team.

What makes him so impressive has been his ability to be effective in all conditions, even when there is no turn or bounce for him. If Lyon can continue his good form not only will he go close to 400 wickets over the next 2 years, but Australia will also go close to winning the Test Championship.

1- India

Toughest upcoming series: Away to Australia, Away to New Zealand, Home to England.

Easiest upcoming series: Home to Bangladesh, Away to the West Indies, Home to South Africa.

3 Key players vital to India's success:

Virat Kohli

Arguably India's greatest batsman in history after Sachin Tendulkar. Virat Kohli has been instrumental to India's success in the last 5 years. Despite being more dominant in limited overs cricket Kohli has forged an impressive Test match record.

He has scored 5554 runs from 66 Tests at an impressive average of 53.40 runs per innings. What makes Kohli so important to India is his ability to perform outside the sub-continent. Kohli averages 62.00 in Australia, 55.80 in South Africa, and 71.33 in New Zealand.

These are countries where Indian batsman normally struggle to score. India plays more Tests away from home than usual over the next 2 years. This makes Kohli's ability to score all around the world crucial to India's hopes of winning the Test Championship.

Mohammed Shami

Despite having only played 30 tests for India, Mohammed Shami is extremely important to India's success. Shami is more known for his limited overs bowling but in his short career, he has developed a more than handy Test record.

From 30 Tests he has taken 110 wickets at a tidy average of 28.90 runs per wicket. Given over half his matches have been played in spin-friendly conditions this record is great. An example of his quality comes from his statistics in South Africa and Sri Lanka.

Shami averages 24.00 runs per wicket in South Africa and just 19.00 runs per wicket in Sri Lanka. India need to win away from home, and to achieve this they need Shami to be bowling at his best.

Ravichandran Ashwin

Ashwin has been India's best bowler in home conditions for a significant period, especially in Test Matches. In India alone, he has taken 225 wickets at an average of 22.79 runs per wicket. India will need Ashwin to continue this form at home but also produce more results away from the sub-continent.

For example, in Australia Ashwin averages 54.71 runs per wicket. In South Africa, he averages 46.14 runs per wicket. These numbers do not reflect the quality of bowler that Ashwin is. To win Tests away from home, India will need better performances from their number 1 spin bowler. Ashwin’s batting is also important for India.

He averages 30.46 runs per innings and has been ranked in the top 10 all-rounders in Test Cricket. Contributions from Ashwin down the order will also be vital for India if they are to challenge for the Test Championship.