With 2024 coming to an end, Cricket Australia, in their usual annual practice, picked the best players from the Test format in the calendar year to form a team of the year. The team comprised three players from England, two each from India, New Zealand, and Australia, and one piece from Sri Lanka and South Africa.
Cricket Australia ignored their very own Pat Cummins, and India’s Rohit Sharma as they picked a two-timer as the team’s captain. Jasprit Bumrah, who led India to a win in the Perth Test last month against Australia and won the Player of the Match award for his five-wicket haul, was named the leader. The fast bowler only led India twice in his career, the previous being in the rescheduled fifth Test against England in 2022.
The only other Indian on the list was Yashasvi Jaiswal, who amassed 1478 runs in the format in 15 matches in 2024, scoring three centuries. That run tally is the most by an Indian opener in a calendar year and his 36 sixes is a new overall benchmark for a calendar year. In February, he had scored back-to-back double hundreds in the home series against England. Like Bumrah, he too played an influential role in India’s emphatic win in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series opener, with a knock of 161 in the second innings.
Who else made Cricket Australia’s Test team of 2024?
Cricket Australia picked England’s Ben Duckett as Jaiswal’s opening partner, followed by Joe Root at No. 3. The former England captain has been the highest run-getter in the format in 2024, as his tally of 1556 runs in 17 appearances with six tons saw him edge close to Sachin Tendulkar’s all-time record.
Harry Brook, the newly-crowned ICC world world no. Test batter, is the other England player on the squad, as he has been slotted at No. 5, with New Zealand’s Rachin Ravindra at No. 4. The latter narrowly edged out teammate Kane Williamson for the spot after his heroics in New Zealand’s historic series win in India on October.
The batting order was completed with Sri Lanka’s run machine, Kamindu Mendis, at No. 6, followed by wicketkeeper Alex Carey. The bowling line-up comprised Bumrah, Matt Henry of New Zealand and Josh Hazlewood as pacers and South Africa’s Keshav Maharaj as the lone spinner.
