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Opinion

A Rest of the World team to tackle Australia

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Roar Guru
10th June, 2020
30

A few weeks ago, Australia was ranked number one in Test cricket.

Remember in October 2005 when a Rest of the World XI took on Australia? Not me, since I was only three years old then.

But what if, hypothetically, that were to happen again? I’ve gone ahead with a Rest of the World (ROW) squad to challenge Australia on their shores.

The squad will consist of 15 players (an extra four players based on conditions/form) for a five-Test series played in Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth, Melbourne and Sydney.

Firstly, here’s my Australian 15-man squad to play in this series: David Warner, Joe Burns, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith, Kurtis Patterson, Travis Head, Tim Paine (captain and wicketkeeper), Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood, James Pattinson, Nic Maddinson, Ashton Agar, Josh Inglis.

Australia celebrate an Ashes win

(AP Photo/Rui Vieira)

And this is my ROW squad to tour Australia: Kraigg Brathwaite, Azhar Ali (vice-captain), Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli (captain), Faf du Plessis, Ajinkya Rahane, BJ Watling (wicketkeeper), Ravindra Jadeja, Kagiso Rabada, Neil Wagner, Jasprit Bumrah, Keshav Maharaj, Jason Holder, Murali Vijay, Wriddhiman Saha.

Kraigg Brathwaite
The West Indies opener played on our shores back in 2015 as Australia outplayed the West Indies in all facets. But Brathwaite was one of the shining lights in that series for the West Indies. In five innings, Brathwaite racked up 229 runs at 45.8 with two half-centuries. A sturdy and robust opener, I’d expect Brathwaite to blunt the new ball and frustrate the Aussie bowlers.

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Azhar Ali
Having watched glimpses of Misbah-ul-Haq and Younis Khan, I’d go ahead with Azhar Ali as my favourite Pakistan Test batsman to watch. Despite not having a great series against Tim Paine’s men last year, he still averages 52 in Australia. His double ton at the 2016 Boxing Day Test is the best innings I’ve seen by an opener in Australia.

Cheteshwar Pujara
His golden 2018 series against Australia says it all. In Australia, Pujara averages 55.54. Grinding out the runs against a quality Aussie attack, he was almost impossible to dismiss that series. It was tough to leave out Kane Williamson, but it’s near unimaginable not to have Pujara tour Australia.

Virat Kohli
Six hundreds in 12 Tests in Australia. Need I say anything more?

Faf du Plessis
Du Plessis’ form has declined over the past few years, but he’s still a quality player. He loves batting in Australia. With two centuries at the Adelaide Oval and an average of 83.17 in Australia, it’s a bit hard to leave out the South African stalwart.

Faf Du Plessis plays a shot against New Zealand

(AP Photo/Mark Baker)

Ajinkya Rahane
This isn’t Indian bias. I’m going off by players who have done well in Australian conditions. A quality hundred in the 2014 Boxing Day Test and four half-centuries in 15 innings, Rahane shows he has the temperament to do well in the middle order. He isn’t the same player he was a few years ago, but Australian conditions bring the best out of the Mumbai batsman.

BJ Watling
In terms of pure glove work, nothing separates Watling and Wriddhiman Saha. They’re the best glovemen in the world. But Watling has a knack of scoring important and crucial runs under pressure, and that’s why he gets the nod over Saha as first-choice keeper.

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Ravindra Jadeja
With the ball, Jadeja averages 19.34 against Australia. In Australian conditions, it goes up to 28, which is still respectable, but his economy is only 2.25. He offers excellent control with his accurate left-arm off spin and has played some tremendous counter-attacking 50s against the Aussies.

Kagiso Rabada
With a bowling average of under 23, Rabada made a name for himself as a Test cricketer after ripping through the Aussies in Perth in 2016. With Dale Steyn injured and South Africa only having three front-line bowlers, he bowled his heart out, taking seven wickets and bowling South Africa to an incredible victory. Averaging 22.4 in Australia with the ball, Rabada would be troubling the Aussie batsmen.

Neil Wagner
Despite New Zealand getting a hammering from their Trans-Tasman brothers a few months ago, Wagner was the shining light for the Black Caps. He bowled his heart out, taking 17 wickets at an average off 22.76 and economy of just 2.46.

Jasprit Bumrah
Taking 68 wickets in 14 Tests is no joke for an Indian fast bowler who’s never bowled on the sub-continent. Bumrah’s slingy action and pace has shaken opposition batsmen. Regarded as a T20 bowler before his Test debut, Bumrah’s T20 bowling skills came into effect in the 2018 Boxing Day Test, as he cunningly used his variations en route to a five-wicket haul.

Jasprit Bumrah

(Photo by Quinn Rooney/Getty Images)

Keshav Maharaj
To bowl the way Maharaj did in his debut series was commendable. Bowling at the WACA and Bellerive Oval, the South African spinner did a great job holding an end up while his seaming counterparts ran riot. He’d never overtake Jadeja, but Maharaj could play as the second spinner at Adelaide and Sydney where spinners are at the forefront in Australia.

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Jason Holder
I’ve gone with the West Indies captain as my back-up seamer. While the rest of his counterparts were spanked in 2015, Holder was the only bowler who showed consistency and accuracy with the ball. A much-improved bowler nowadays with a bowling average of 26.38, Holder can exploit the bounce on offer in Australia. Should there be a pitch where four quicks are required, Rahane would be dropped for Holder while Jadeja would bat at number six (Jadeja averages close to 48 in first-class cricket with the bat, so he’s good enough to bat in the top six).

Murali Vijay
Now, you’re probably thinking, how does a bloke who’s not in the Indian team be in this squad? Well, Vijay does average 44.25 in Australia. A classy opener who actually knows where his off stump is (well, he used to before a terrible 2018), Vijay enjoys the true surfaces that are on offer in Australia. His 144 at the Gabba in 2014 is the second best innings I’ve seen by a foreign batsman in Brisbane after Asad Shafiq’s 137. Although not first choice, Vijay is my back-up opener in the squad.

Wriddhiman Saha
A case for Rishabh Pant can be made considering he’s the only Indian keeper to score a Test ton outside of Asia and the West Indies. Still, I wanted the best glovemen available in this squad, thus Saha being chosen over Pant and Ben Foakes. With BJ Watling’s batting being better than Saha’s, Saha would have to be content to carry the drinks for the ROW squad.

What happened in 2005 was one of the most one-sided Tests. Although the ICC scrapped the Super Series idea after that, I feel the series would work better since Australia aren’t as dominant as they were before. This ROW squad would definitely challenge Australia on their shores and give them a real fight.

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