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Virat Kohli, Steve Smith 'Ignored' In Test Team Of The Year 2023 By Cricket Australia

image-lqt3fl04No Smith or Kohli in CA's Test XI of 2023 (Twitter)

In a rare occurrence, modern-day legends Virat Kohli and Steve Smith didn't find a spot in Cricket Australia's Test team of the year 2023 after undergoing a low-key past 12 months in the traditional format.

The Indian great struck two centuries while his Aussie friend made three tons but they failed to make the cut in CA's esteemed Test-playing XI of the year.



Unlike Kohli and Smith, however, the other two members of the much-celebrated 'Fab 4' club, Kane Williamson and Joe Root were part of the special XI named by cricket.com.au on New Year's Eve. The former captains of New Zealand and England are placed at the critical No. 3 and No. 4 spots in the batting unit. 

Williamson averaged 57.91 over seven Tests and 13 innings for the Black Caps, with a tally of 695 runs featuring four centuries, while Root smashed 787 runs in eight Tests and 14 innings for the Three Lions, averaging 65.58 with two hundreds.


CA Announces Test XI For Year 2023 

Above the two giants of world cricket are the stoic but elegant opening pair of Australia's veteran left-hander Usman Khawaja and his Sri Lankan counterpart Dimuth Karunaratne. Despite playing the toughest role at the Test level, Khawaja top-scored for the year with his 1,210 runs in 13 Tests, and his Lankan mate struck 608 runs in just six Tests for his country. 

At No. 5, cricket.com.au picked England's rising middle-order batter Harry Brook, who was quite easily the finest young talent to have burst on the Test match scene in 2023 with a whopping 701 runs in eight Tests at an average of 53.92.

On the wicketkeeping front, the CA XI transcended the traditional realms and picked Ireland cricketer Lorcan Tucker for the glover's duties behind the stumps. Tucker, who has played four Tests for Ireland, was picked above some of the prominent wicketkeeping names in world cricket.

Following Tucker in the playing XI are two leading Indian names, Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin, who pipped Ben Stokes and Nathan Lyon in their respective slots after a tremendous year headlined by their performances in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in February-March.

Premier off-spinner Ashwin took his 41 scalps at just 17.02 apiece while bagging four five-wicket hauls in just 13 innings. Jadeja at the other end accounted for 33 wickets, a shade above the average of 19, with two fifers from 14 innings. He is also easily the world's finest Test match allrounder in the game today.



The special XI is rounded off by a great pace attack featuring the big-name trio of Pat Cummins, who is also the skipper, Kagiso Rabada, and Stuart Broad. While the Aussie captain, having led his country to the World Test Championship (WTC) title, finished 2023 with 42 scalps, he is joined in the pace department by the South African spearhead after 20 wickets in just 4 Tests and the now-retired English stalwart with his 38 wickets in eight games.

CA Test XI Of 2023: Usman Khawaja, Dimuth Karunaratne, Kane Williamson, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Lorcan Tucker, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Pat Cummins, Kagiso Rabada, Stuart Broad