Watch: Aakash Chopra Picks His Top Five Batters, Top Five Bowlers Of 2021 In Test Cricket
Taking to Koo, former India batter Aakash Chopra named his top five batters and bowlers in Test cricket for the year 2021.
- NDTV Sports Desk
- Updated: December 17, 2021 01:27 PM IST
Highlights
- Aakash Chopra has named his top five batters, bowlers in Test cricket
- England skipper Joe Root topped his list of batters in 2021
- Pakistan pacer Shaheen Afridi led the list of the best bowlers in 2021
The year 2021 has seen some outstanding quality and gripping encounters as far as Test cricket is concerned. Highlighting the same, former India batter Aakash Chopra on Friday named his top five batters and bowlers in Test cricket for the year 2021. Taking to Koo, Chopra shared a video, where he can be seen naming his top five picks of batters and bowlers, who enjoyed a brilliant year of Test cricket. His list of batters includes two Indian players and a player each from Pakistan, Sri Lanka and England.
His fifth pick was Pakistan batter Fawad Alam, who aggregated 571 runs at 57.10, including three centuries from nine Tests.
Sri Lanka's Lahiru Thirimanne, who scored 659 runs at an average of 50.09, was next on the list.
India wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant, who starred in India's second successive Test series win on Australian soil earlier this year, was third on Chopra's list.
Rohit Sharma, who was recently appointed as vice-captain of India's Test team, was the second-best batter on his list. He enjoyed a breakthrough season as a Test opener, scoring 906 runs at an average of 47.6 in 11 Tests.
And last but not the least, England skipper Joe Root topped Chopra's list of the best batters in 2021. Root, who slammed a double-century against India in Chennai Test, amassed more than 1400 runs in Test cricket this year.
Aakash Chopra's top-five Test batters of 2021:
Joe Root, Rohit Sharma, Rishabh Pant, Lahiru Thirimanne, and Fawad Alam.
Here is the video:
In the bowlers' list, the cricketer-turned-commentator picked two Indian bowlers, two England bowlers and one player from Pakistan.
Ravichandran Ashwin was the fifth name on the list, having taken 38 wickets in 6 matches, so far.
James Anderson, who is the all-time leading wicket-taker in Tests among pacers, was the next in the list with 32 scalps to his name so far.
England's Ollie Robinson, who made his Test debut earlier this year, was the third bowler on Chopra list, having scalped 28 wickets in 5 outings, so far.
The top two bowlers on his list were India's Mohammed Siraj and Pakistan's Shaheen Shah Afridi. Chopra labelled Afridi as the best Test bowler on 2021, having taken wickets all around the globe.
Aakash Chopra's top-five Test bowlers of 2021:
Shaheen Afridi, Mohammed Siraj, Ollie Robinson, James Anderson and Ravichandran Ashwin.