5 cricketers who are surprisingly good at Test cricket
Test cricket is often considered the toughest format in the sport by purists. It tests the ability of a player to perform across a time period of five days in various conditions.
Being technically good is not enough in Test cricket, more often than not. Players are required to maintain the highest levels of concentration for hours at a stretch to perform well in Test cricket. Curbing the natural instinct to attack at all points is also considered important by some experts in the game.
Hence, quite a few good players are often either viewed as one format specialist. However, some players have managed to find their own way of dominating Test cricket without changing much about their game.
We take a look at five players who were touted as limited-overs specialists when they first burst onto the scene but have gone on to dominate red-ball cricket as well.
#1 Virender Sehwag
Former Indian opener Virender Sehwag is arguably one of the greatest batsmen in the history of Indian cricket. He made his ODI debut in 1999 as a lower-middle order batsman.
Two years later, he made his Test debut against South Africa in Bloemfontein, again as a middle-order batsman. He went on to score a hundred against a quality South African pace attack.
Former Indian captain Sourav Ganguly, seeing the caliber in Sehwag, promoted him as an opening batsman on the England tour. The rest, as we know, is history.
He was not the most technically sound opener to have graced the game. But his excellent hand-eye coordination and timing meant that he scored faster (82.23 strike rate) than anyone else in the history of Test cricket.
Sehwag's counter-attacking cricket gave Indian batters more liberty to take their time on the pitch. His blitzkrieg batting style battered the opposition bowlers into losing their line and rhythm.
It was an unorthodox approach to Test cricket batting back in the early 2000s, but Sehwag made it work, as was reflected in the thousands of runs he scored against mighty opponents across the globe.
#2 David Warner
David Warner’s last five Test innings at home 🤯
103, 86, 56, 154, 335* https://t.co/dU4cAxrEDS
David Warner is one of the few all-format superstars in world cricket. However, that was not always the case. He was considered a T20 specialist at the start of his cricketing career.
He made his Test debut against New Zealand in 2011. He managed to achieve a rare feat of carrying his bat throughout the innings in his second Test match, something which even his predecessors Hayden and Langer failed to do.
Warner is certainly one of the best Test openers in the modern era of cricket. He has scored 7817 runs in 96 Tests at an average of 47 and a strike rate of 71. He has an outstanding record at home and in South Africa, averaging over 60 in both the countries.
#3 Ravichandran Ashwin
Before making his Test debut in November 2011, Ravi Ashwin had already won three major white-ball trophies with important contributions in all of those - ODI World Cup 2011, IPL 2011 and CLT20 2010. Not many would have thought that he will go on to overtake Kapil Dev's wicket tally in Test cricket.
Ashwin has picked up 442 wickets in 86 Tests at an average of 24 and a strike rate of 52. He is almost unplayable in Asian conditions. Along with Jadeja, Ashwin has wreaked havoc with the ball on Indian pitches. They have played a big part in helping India build a near-invincible record in home Tests over the past 10 years.
Ashwin is also more than a handy lower-order batter. He has scored five Test hundreds and has scored nearly 3000 Test runs at an average of 27.
#4 Jasprit Bumrah
Jasprit Bumrah first gained the attention of fans when he dismissed Virat Kohli on his IPL debut in 2013. Back then, few would have imagined that one day he would be the best pacer under Kohli's captaincy in Test cricket.
Bumrah has picked up 128 wickets in 30 Tests at an average of 21.99 and a strike rate of 48.97. He has been pivotal in India's Test cricket success overseas, playing a crucial role in both the Border-Gavaskar Trophy wins in Australia.
The most amazing thing about him is that he does it across all formats and conditions. He is easily the best bowler in the world across formats and right up there among the best in Test cricket.
The Mumbai Indians pacer has a huge variety of balls in his kitty. He repeatedly adjusts his line and length along with his approach based on formats and pitches, which is quite difficult to do in modern day cricket given the packed schedules throughout the year.
#5 Rishabh Pant
Good Feeling 😇 https://t.co/fhrAEYsV6H
When Rishabh Pant made his IPL debut in 2016, he was seen as a potential white-ball superstar - someone who could take over the reigns from MS Dhoni in the future.
Four years after his debut, Pant is currently one of the best Test cricketers in the world and writing his own legacy in Indian cricket. He has scored 2123 runs in 31 Tests at an average of 43 and a strike rate of 73. These are impressive numbers for a youngster who is only a few years old in the international game.
He has Test hundreds in England (2), Australia and South Africa in his short career, a feat achieved by no other Indian wicket-keeper batsman in the history of Test cricket.