Revealed: Wisden's current World Test XI

The selections take into consideration stats from the beginning of the 2023-25 World Test Championship as well as context around performances. Four Indians, three Englishmen, two Australians, one New Zealander, and one South African player make the cut for Wisden's current Test XI.

Also read: Wisden's 2023-25 World Test Championship team of the tournament

Yashasvi Jaiswal

20 mat | 1,903 runs | 52.86 avg | 5 100s | 10 50s

Jaiswal is the highest run-scorer among openers since the start of the 2023-25 WTC, which was also his first World Test Championship cycle. Only Joe Root has scored more runs than him in this period. Having got off to a rapid start to his Test career, Jaiswal is now looking to make a mark on his first tour to England, which he has already started off with a hundred.

Wisden's verdict: "Hundred on debut in West Indies, hundred in his first Test in Australia and England, and made two doubles in his first series in India, so early on, all conditions, he's in." - BG

Ben Duckett

24 mat | 1,821 runs | 42.34 avg | 4 100s | 9 50s

The England opener is marginally behind Jaiswal in terms of runs scored in this period. His strike rate of 85.05 is the best among all batters with more than 250 runs as he has become the flag-bearer of England's Bazball approach at the top of the order. While he faced competition from Aiden Markram for the spot, his match-winning fourth-innings hundred at Headingley turned the tide in his favour.

Wisden's verdict: "We had originally had Markram in the team, and then Duckett then goes and makes one of those match-defining 100s, and that is a knock, I think, that can push someone into an XI like this." - BG

Steve Smith

20 mat | 1,403 runs | 41.26 avg | 5 100s | 5 50s

While Smith's numbers have been far below his lofty standards in the last few years, he has still performed relatively consistently over the last two years, barring the New Zealand series where he experimented with opening. His two hundreds against India in late 2024 signalled that he could be back to his best.

Wisden's verdict: "The eye test for me over the past, let's say six months or so, maybe, going back to some of that India series, he looks as close as he has done since that 2014-19 peak as he has at any point." - BG

Joe Root

24 mat | 2,083 runs | 54.81 avg | 7 100s | 8 50s

Root has by far been the highest run-scorer in Test cricket in the last few years. He has shown remarkable consistency, home and away, averaging at least 35 in every series he has featured in since the start of the 2023-25 WTC. Unsurprisingly, he's ranked No.1 in ICC's Test batting rankings, and unsurprisingly, he takes up the No.4 spot in this XI.

Wisden's verdict: "Root, I don't think any discussion needed there. He is the best player in the world" - BG

Harry Brook

19 mat | 1620 runs | 50.62 avg | 4 100s | 9 50s

Brook is the fourth-highest run-scorer in the period in consideration. Following his hundreds in New Zealand in late 2024, he was briefly ranked No.1 in ICC's rankings. While he is yet to play in India and Australia, and didn't exactly set the 2023 Ashes on fire (averaged 40.33), he has been consistently good enough and has shown enough promise and flair to beat his competitors to this spot.

Wisden's verdict: "He's got the best average of the middle-order lot. So I think that's non-controversial. He's number two in the world, recently number one." - YR

Rishabh Pant

11 mat | 929 runs | 46.45 avg | 3 100s | 4 50s | 33 catches | 1 stumping

Already India's greatest wicketkeeper batter in Tests, Pant has his sights on the all-time great title. While other Test wicketkeepers around the world have had success with the bat in recent years, Pant's game-changing ability has been second to none, as his twin Headingley hundreds proved last month.

Wisden's verdict: "He might well end his career as the best Test keeper batter there has ever been. He is on track to break those Gilchrist records." - BG

Ravindra Jadeja

16 mat | 700 runs | 31.81 avg | 1 100 | 4 50s
56 wickets | 26.08 avg | 3 five-fors | 1 ten-for

No one has scored more runs and taken more wickets than Ravindra Jadeja in Tests since the start of the 2023-25 WTC cycle. He's been a banker with both bat and ball at home, while still providing solid lower middle order resistance with the bat and doing a holding job with the ball on foreign shores. His closest competitor for the all-rounder's slot, Ben Stokes, missed out in part due to his poor batting record in Asia.

Wisden's verdict: "In Asia, Jadeja is close to a cheat code, where he can average loads with the bat and he can average 22 with the ball." - BG

Matt Henry

9 mat | 48 wickets | 18.58 avg | 3 five-fors

The New Zealand seamer has played only nine Tests in the last couple of years, but has done enough to pip Pat Cummins to the No.8 spot. His performances include a 17-wicket series at 15.70 against Australia, a 15-wicket series against England at 23.26, a six-wicket series against South Africa at 20.50, and arguably his most important outing of the lot - a 10-wicket series in India at 15.30.

Wisden's verdict: "Matt Henry has to be in this team. He couldn't have done any more." - BG

Kagiso Rabada

11 mat | 56 wickets | 18.73 avg | 4 five-fors

Among bowlers with more than 50 wickets since the start of the 2023-25 WTC, only Jasprit Bumrah has taken wickets at a better average or strike rate. Leading his side's bowling attack at the 2025 WTC final in Lord's, he ran through Australia on both occasions, ending up with a match-haul of 9-110 in what was the most important game of his career.

Wisden's verdict: "Just looking at that World Championship final, I just came out of it thinking that Rabada was the standout bowler, even though Cummins took six in the game. So that's why we've gone with Rabada." - BG

Jasprit Bumrah

16 mat | 82 wickets | 15.87 avg | 6 five-fors

Between the start of the 2023-25 WTC and the start of the Edgbaston Test between England and India, Bumrah has taken 82 wickets from 30 innings, just one shy of Cummins' 83 wickets from 37. He had one of the all-time great series by a visiting fast bowler in Australia in late 2024, and has simply operated at a plane well above his contemporaries.

Wisden's verdict: "Bumrah, the best in the world. One of the best of all time." - BG

Nathan Lyon

18 mat | 69 wickets | 24.78 avg | 1 five-for | 1 ten-for

Lyon has been consistent whenever he has played in the last couple of years. The only series in this timeframe where he averaged more than 30 with the ball was against India at home, where he did not have a huge role to play. His best performance came in conditions known to be hostile to spin bowling - New Zealand, where he took 13 wickets at 12.53 from two Tests.

Wisden's verdict: "The spinner, we went (with) Nathan Lyon, the obvious pick since Ashwin retired. 71 wickets at 24 in that period, which is amazing and actually slightly better than I would have guessed." - YR

Wisden's current World Test XI

Yashasvi Jaiswal
Ben Duckett
Joe Root
Steve Smith
Harry Brook
Rishabh Pant
Ravindra Jadeja
Matt Henry
Kagiso Rabada
Jasprit Bumrah
Nathan Lyon