Former South Africa batter Hashim Amla has picked his all-time Test XI, naming former India head coach Rahul Dravid and batting legend Sachin Tendulkar as the two Indians, with ace India batter Virat Kohli not finding a spot in the list. He chose his former Proteas teammate Graeme Smith and Aussie legend Matthew Hayden as openers.
Smith finished his Test career with 9265 runs, while Hayden scored 8265 runs in his 103-match Test career. 9030 runs of Smith’s career came while opening.
Dravid followed the two southpaws at No. 3, followed by Aussie legend Ricky Ponting at No. 4. The former is fifth all-time in Test runs with 13288, while Ponting is third with 13378. Dravid scored 10524 runs in 134 matches while batting at No. 3, at a stunning average
of 52.88.
Amla went for another former Protea teammate, Jacques Kallis, at No. 5, having shared multiple memorable stands during South Africa’s dominant run in the late 2000s and early 2010s. Although Amla chose Kallis for No. 5, the latter has scored more runs as a No. 4 batter.
Test cricket’s all-time leading run-scorer, Tendulkar, leads Amla’s XI with 15,921 runs, followed by Proteas great AB de Villiers at No. 7, who dons the wicketkeeping gloves as well. Notably, Tendulkar has also scored the most runs at No. 4, rather than Amla’s assigned No. 6.
Aside from Kohli, Amla’s side excludes the other members of the Fab 4, Kane Williamson, Joe Root and Steve Smith.
For the bowling lineup of his all-time Test XI, Amla opted for two pacers and two spinners, including Tests’ leading wicket-taker, Muttiah Muralitharan, as one of the spinners. While the latter finished with an incredible 800 Test wickets, Warne finished with 708.
Amla completed his bowling lineup with the second-highest Test wicket-taker, Warne, as the other spinner, while his two specialist pacers were Australia’s Glenn McGrath and compatriot Dale Steyn.
Hashim Amla’s All-Time Test XI
Graeme Smith, Matthew Hayden, Rahul Dravid, Ricky Ponting, Jacques Kallis, Sachin Tendulkar, AB de Villiers (wk), Shane Warne, Dale Steyn, Muttiah Muralitharan, Glenn McGrath
