The World Test XI of 2019

Middle-order

Marnus Labuschagne (Matches - 11, Runs - 1104, Average - 64.94, Centuries - 3)

Marnus Labuschagne drives the ball

Australian Marnus Labuschagne showed incredible form in the second half of 2019 to surpass his batting peers and end the year as the top run-scorer (with 1104 runs).

Remarkably, Labuschagne was an uncertain starter for Australia in the first half of 2019. But he got the perfect chance to prove his worth when he came on as cricket’s first concussion sub in the second match of The Ashes (for Steve Smith). He scored 59 runs in the second innings and never looked back.

Overall, Labuschagne scored 353 runs at an average of 50 in the Ashes series.

Labuschagne then went from making valuable contributions to dominating bowling attacks. The star batsman smashed three consecutive Test centuries in November (against Pakistan and New Zealand).

Steve Smith (Matches - 8, Runs - 965, Average - 74.23, Centuries - 3)

Steve Smith

When Steve Smith returned to Test cricket in August 2019, there were fans who doubted that he could become a world-class batsman once more (he was consistently ranked no.1 in the world in 2016 and 2017). Smith amongst other things, had to overcome the added media attention and booing from the members of the crowd who thought that he should have earned a life ban (for his part in the ball-tampering scandal).

But the Australian showed his strong resolve when he hit 774 runs in the Ashes.

He was on song from the start of the series. Smith racked up 144 at Birmingham in an innings that featured 16 fours and two sixes. Although he missed the third Test due to concussion, it did not stop him from carrying on from where he left off at Birmingham.

Smith ended 2019 on a good note when he accumulated 85 against New Zealand. It goes without saying that the batsman restored his reputation this year.

Ajinkya Rahane (Matches - 8, Runs - 642, Average – 71.33, Centuries – 2)

Ajinkya Rahane

Ajinkya Rahane was the most consistent batsman at No. 5 in 2019. Rahane, an elegant player through the leg-side and straight down the ground, enjoyed the highest percentage of 50-plus scores among the players competing for his position (63 percent as opposed to Ross Taylor’s 41 and Travis Head’s 35).

After a poor 2018 in Test cricket, Rahane was under pressure to perform. Despite the added attention, he emerged from the test with flying colours.

Rahane scored two centuries in 2019. The first was a well-crafted 102 against West Indies in August and the second score was 115 against South Africa in October. Apart from that, the middle-order batsman also scored a number of valuable half-centuries in 2019 that propelled India to imposing totals.