A 28-strong panel picked Wisden Cricket Monthly’s Test team of the year for 2021, making their choices based on a 13-month period.
The period of consideration runs from December 1, 2020, to December 31, 2021. Only one member of the XI that was eventually chosen earned the unanimous approval of the selection panel, with the highest percentage of votes – 31 per cent – going to India players.
After adding the cumulative scores of each player (a total of 29 players were considered), the following XI was picked:
Rohit Sharma, Dimuth Karunaratne, Kane Williamson (c), Joe Root, Marnus Labuschagne, Fawad Alam, Rishabh Pant, Ravichandran Ashwin, Kyle Jamieson, Pat Cummins, Shaheen Afridi.
Here’s the individual XI of each of WCM’s panellists:
Jo Harman
Dimuth Karunaratne, Rohit Sharma, Kane Williamson, Joe Root, Marnus Labuschagne, Fawad Alam, Rishabh Pant, Ravichandran Ashwin, Kyle Jamieson, Tim Southee, Shaheen Afridi
Phil Walker
Dimuth Karunaratne, Rohit Sharma, Kane Williamson, Marnus Labuschagne, Joe Root, Fawad Alam, Rishabh Pant, Ravichandran Ashwin, Kyle Jamieson, Tim Southee, Shaheen Afridi
James Wallace
Dimuth Karunaratne, Rohit Sharma, Kane Williamson, Joe Root, Babar Azam, Rishabh Pant, Jason Holder, Ravichandran Ashwin, Pat Cummins, Jasprit Bumrah, Shaheen Afridi
Ben Gardner
KL Rahul, Rohit Sharma, Kane Williamson, Joe Root, Marnus Labuschagne, Fawad Alam, Rishabh Pant, Ravichandran Ashwin, Axar Patel, Kyle Jamieson, James Anderson
Yas Rana
Devon Conway, Rohit Sharma, Marnus Labuschagne, Kane Williamson, Joe Root, Fawad Alam, Rishabh Pant, Ravichandran Ashwin, Kyle Jamieson, Tim Southee, Pat Cummins
Taha Hashim
Dimuth Karunaratne, Rohit Sharma, Kane Williamson, Marnus Labuschagne, Joe Root, Fawad Alam, Rishabh Pant, Ravichandran Ashwin, Kyle Jamieson, Tim Southee, Hassan Ali
Aadya Sharma
Dimuth Karunaratne, Rohit Sharma, Kane Williamson, Joe Root, Marnus Labuschagne, Rishabh Pant, Jason Holder, Ravichandran Ashwin, Kyle Jamieson, Mohammed Siraj, Shaheen Afridi
John Stern
Dimuth Karunaratne, Rohit Sharma, Kane Williamson, Joe Root, Marnus Labuschagne, Fawad Alam, Mohammad Rizwan, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ollie Robinson, Kyle Jamieson, Shaheen Afridi
Andrew Miller
Dimuth Karunaratne, Rohit Sharma, Kane Williamson, Joe Root, Marnus Labuschagne, Devon Conway, Rishabh Pant, Ravichandran Ashwin, Kyle Jamieson, Pat Cummins, Jasprit Bumrah
Lawrence Booth
Dimuth Karunaratne, Rohit Sharma, Kane Williamson, Joe Root, Marnus Labuschagne, Fawad Alam, Rishabh Pant, Ravichandran Ashwin, Kyle Jamieson, Hassan Ali, Shaheen Afridi
Jon Hotten
Dimuth Karunaratne, Rohit Sharma, Marnus Labuschagne, Kane Williamson, Babar Azam, Rishabh Pant, Jason Holder, Ravichandran Ashwin, Pat Cummins, Jasprit Bumrah, Shaheen Afridi
Scott Oliver
Dimuth Karunaratne, Rohit Sharma, Kane Williamson, Joe Root, Fawad Alam, Mohammad Rizwan, Ravichandran Ashwin, Kyle Jamieson, Mohammed Siraj, Jasprit Bumrah, Shaheen Afridi
Andrew Alderson
Dimuth Karunaratne, Devon Conway, Kane Williamson, Joe Root, Fawad Alam, Rishabh Pant, Ravichandran Ashwin, Kyle Jamieson, Axar Patel, Pat Cummins, Shaheen Afridi
Adam Collins
Dimuth Karunaratne, Rohit Sharma, Marnus Labuchagne, Joe Root, Fawad Alam, Dhananjaya de Silva, Rishabh Pant, Ravichandran Ashwin, Kyle Jamieson, Pat Cummins, Shaheen Afridi
Mohammad Isam
Dimuth Karunaratne, Rohit Sharma, Joe Root, Kane Williamson, Fawad Alam, Rishabh Pant, Ravichandran Ashwin, Kyle Jamieson, Jasprit Bumrah, Ajaz Patel, Shaheen Afridi
Patrick Noone
Dimuth Karunaratne, Rohit Sharma, Kane Williamson, Joe Root, Fawad Alam, Rishabh Pant, Quinton de Kock, Ravichandran Ashwin, Kyle Jamieson, Jayden Seales, Shaheen Afridi
Jonathan Liew
Dimuth Karunaratne, Rohit Sharma, Marnus Labuschagne, Joe Root, Kane Williamson, Rishabh Pant, Mohammad Rizwan, Ravichandran Ashwin, Tim Southee, Ollie Robinson, Jasprit Bumrah
David Lloyd
Dimuth Karunaratne, Rohit Sharma, Marnus Labuschagne, Joe Root, Fawad Alam, Rishabh Pant, Ravichandran Ashwin, Kyle Jamieson, Axar Patel, Hassan Ali, Shaheen Afridi
Will Macpherson
Dimuth Karunaratne, Rohit Sharma, Kane Williamson, Joe Root, Fawad Alam, Rishabh Pant, Ravichandran Ashwin, Axar Patel, Pat Cummins, Kyle Jamieson, Shaheen Afridi
Neil Manthorp
Dimuth Karunaratne, Rohit Sharma, Kane Williamson, Joe Root, Marnus Labuschagne, Rishabh Pant, Ravichandran Ashwin, Kyle Jamieson, Pat Cummins, Hassan Ali, Shaheen Afridi
Mel Farrell
Dimuth Karunaratne, Rohit Sharma, Kane Williamson, Joe Root, Fawad Alam, Rishabh Pant, Ravichandran Ashwin, Kyle Jamieson, Pat Cummins, Hassan Ali, Shaheen Afridi
Dan Norcross
Dimuth Karunaratne, Rohit Sharma, Marnus Labuschagne, Joe Root, Kane Williamson, Liton Das, Ravichandran Ashwin, Kyle Jamieson, Pat Cummins, Ollie Robinson, Shaheen Afridi
Dan Gallan
Dimuth Karunaratne, Rohit Sharma, Marnus Labuschagne, Joe Root, Fawad Alam, Rishabh Pant, Kyle Jamieson, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ollie Robinson, Anrich Nortje, Shaheen Afridi
Michael St Patrick Hewitt
Dimuth Karunaratne, Rohit Sharma, Marnus Labuschagne, Joe Root, Kane Williamson, Fawad Alam, Rishabh Pant, Ravichandran Ashwin, Kyle Jamieson, Tim Southee, Shaheen Afridi
Rob Smyth
Devon Conway, Rohit Sharma, Kane Williamson, Joe Root, Fawad Alam, Rishabh Pant, Ravichandran Ashwin, Kyle Jamieson, Pat Cummins, Jasprit Bumrah, Shaheen Afridi
Isabelle Westbury
Devon Conway, Rohit Sharma, Marnus Labuschagne, Joe Root, Kane Williamson, Rishabh Pant, Ravichandran Ashwin, Kyle Jamieson, Pat Cummins, Ollie Robinson, Shaheen Afridi
Saj Sadiq
Dimuth Karunaratne, Rohit Sharma, Kane Williamson, Joe Root, Fawad Alam, Mohammad Rizwan, Ravichandran Ashwin, Hassan Ali, Kyle Jamieson, Axar Patel, Shaheen Afridi
Suresh Menon
Dimuth Karunaratne, Rohit Sharma, Joe Root, Kane Williamson, Marnus Labuschagne, Rishabh Pant, Ravichandran Ashwin, Hassan Ali, Ajaz Patel, Pat Cummins, Shaheen Afridi
