Cricket shocker: No Indian in Test Team of the Year

From L to R: Zimbabwe captain Brendan Taylor, South African captain AB de Villiers, Pakistan captain Mohammad Hafeez, India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Australia captain George Bailey, England captain Stuart Broad, Sri Lankan captain Mahela Jayawardene, West Indies captain Darren Sammy, Ireland captain William Porterfield, Bangladesh captain Mushfiqur Rahim, New Zealand captain Ross Taylor, and Afghanistan captain Nawroz Mangal, pose for an official team captains photograph with the ICC World Twenty20 trophy in Colombo on September 15, 2012. The two-yearly tournament in cricket's shortest format will be played from September 18 to October 7, with Hambantota holding three matches, Pallekele nine and capital Colombo fifteen. (AFP)

Published Sunday, September 16, 2012

By Staff

In many ways, the retirement of the likes of VVS Laxman and Rahul Dravid has signaled a crossroads for Indian cricket.

However, should the BCCI and selectors need any more of a wake-up call, it comes in the form of the just-announced ICC Test Team of the Year.

This is as follows (in batting order):

Alastair Cook (Eng)

Hashim Amla (SA)

Kumar Sangakkara (SL)

Jacques Kallis (SA)

Michael Clarke (Aus – Captain)

Shivnarine Chanderpaul (WI)

Matt Prior (Eng – Wicketkeeper)

Stuart Broad (Eng)

Saeed Ajmal (Pak)

Vernon Philander (SA)

Dale Steyn (SA)

12th Man – AB de Villiers (SA)

That Sachin Tendulkar does not make the team is one talking point. Not least because India is trying to decide whether they want to see him continue playing or not.

That Mahendra Singh Dhoni does not make the team adds credence to what several experts have claimed for sometime now – MSD is a great cricket captain, but a poor Test cricketer.

This is the first time since the ICC awards and teams of the year began in 2004, that not a single Indian cricketer has made the cut.

The true crossroads that Indian cricket is at is represented by the fact that India dominate the ICC ODI Team of the Year.

Dhoni is the first player to make the cut five years in a row.

Gautam Gambhir and Virat Kohli also make the team.

Kohli in fact is also ICC ODI Cricketer of the Year.

Amidst the continuous evolution of the Indian Premier League, questions need to be asked if India’s emerging crop of players are Test-worthy in the true sense of the word.

The upcoming T20 World Cup, where India are favourites, might out the issue on the backburner; especially if India win. Or even make the finals.

As the likes of VVS Laxman, Rahul Dravid and Anil Kumble melt into the history of the game, perhaps India has seen the last of its Test-winning cricketers.

All eyes on Tendulkar now.

The LG ICC Awards recognise the best international players and officials of the past 12 months.

ICC Test Rankings, country-wise, as of September:

South Africa

England

Australia

Pakistan

India

Sri Lanka

West Indies

New Zealand

Bangladesh