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No Rohit, Ashwin, Kohli in Harbhajan's current top 5 Test cricketers, 2 Indians are…
At a time when Test cricket appears to be the flavour of cricket, Harbhajan Singh shared who he thinks are the current five best Test players in the world.
The third edition of the World Test Championship has gotten off to a rollicking start with a heated Ashes series between hosts England and Australia. There have been some stellar individual performances from the likes of Usman Khawaja, Steve Smith and Ben Stokes. With three Tests still to go, the quality of cricket is only expected to rise. There will be no shortage of red-ball cricket as last edition's runner-up, India, will start WTC 3 with a two-match Test series against the West Indies on July 12. At a time when Test cricket appears to be the flavour of cricket, Harbhajan Singh took to Twitter to share who he thinks are the current five best Test players in the world.
Harbhajan, who last played for India in 2016, named two Australians, two Indians, and one Englishman. He picked Rishabh Pant and Ravindra Jadeja, two aggressive left-handed middle-order batters who are capable of changing the game.
Jadeja has developed into one of India's most reliable batters, which means he often makes the team ahead of R Ashwin despite the latter's better bowling numbers. Pant, meanwhile, has spent much of the year injured, but has been India's x-factor and has singlehandedly kept them competitive in matches in tricky conditions in England, South Africa, and Australia. Both have consistently been the finest all-rounder and wicketkeeper-bats in Test cricket over the last 4-5 years.
Harbhajan also named Steve Smith and Nathan Lyon. Smith is undoubtedly the best Test batter over the stretch of his career, with his numbers speaking for themselves. Averaging over 60 in the red-ball format, Smith contributed another match-defining century in the Lord’s Test last week.
Lyon had played 100 consecutive Tests as Australia's lead spinner and will be sorely missed through the rest of the Ashes following an injury to his calf. Lyon has been a regular fixture of the Australian side, providing a dangerous pace attack with control and spin. However, fans were surprised to see Lyon chosen over his captain Pat Cummins, probably the main strike weapon of the Aussie attack, or even Ashwin, the premium finger-spinner in Test cricket.
The fifth player Harbhajan chose is Ben Stokes, who came very close to repeating his Headingley heroics of 2019 in the fourth innings of the Lord’s Test. While Stokes has limited his bowling over the years, he still has a golden arm capable of sparking wickets out of nowhere, while his batting ability under ‘Bazball’ has flourished. Perhaps the best value he provides England now, however, is with his captaincy, which he goes about with creativity and proactiveness, and has been an important factor in England’s recent success.
