The current men’s Test World XI is made up of players who occupy the top spots in the ICC Test rankings.

The selection criteria for this team is laid out as follows: we pick out the top five batters in the rankings, the wicketkeeper with the best batting rank, the top-ranked all-rounder, and the four bowlers with the highest rating.

The selection of bowlers comes with a caveat. In order to maintain some form of balance, they will be selected keeping in mind a minimum of three seamers and one spinner.

Similarly, the ICC batting list can sometimes be heavy with batters in one type of role, which could lead to a few players batting out of position in this XI. However, for this reason, batting selections will also take into account the player’s position.

For example, four of the current top five batters are all middle-order batters. The fifth, Australia’s Steve Smith, has recently started opening in Test cricket and therefore can be considered to open the innings. But in order to fit in another opener, India’s Rohit Sharma (No.6) has to be selected, meaning Harry Brook, the new fourth-best Test batter, misses out. 

The current men’s Test XI is based on the ICC rankings as on September 4, 2024.

Test World XI, based on ICC men’s player rankings

Listed as Name (Country, rating)

Rohit Sharma (IND, 751): No.6 batter

Steven Smith (AUS, 757): No.4 batter

Kane Williamson (NZ, 859): No.2 batter

Joe Root (ENG, 922): No.1 batter

Daryl Mitchell (NZ, 768): No.3 batter

Mohammad Rizwan (WK) (PAK, 720): =No.10 batter

Ravindra Jadeja (IND, 444): No.1 all-rounder

R Ashwin (IND, 870): No.1 bowler

Pat Cummins (AUS, 820): =No.4 bowler*

Jasprit Bumrah (IND, 847): =No.2 bowler

Josh Hazlewood (AUS, 847): =No.2 bowler

*Pat Cummins is joint-fourth ranked among bowlers with South Africa’s Kagiso Rabada. The tiebreaker used to choose here is the ICC Test all-rounder rankings, as a proxy for which of the two is the better batter. Cummins wins out in this respect, with a rank of 9 to Rabada’s 19.

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