Test cricket is the most difficult version of the game. Patience, diligence, and hard effort are required in this style. Not every player is cut out to play test cricket. It’s all about spending time on the field, carrying out plans but also adjusting. Many white ballplayers have developed into great test cricketers in the last decade. These players have demonstrated their worth in both the long and short formats.
Test match specialists require unique skill sets tailored to the game’s five-day format. In the shorter format, it is typically difficult for them to create an impact. Nonetheless, a select handful succeeded.
1. KL Rahul
KL Rahul made his Test debut in 2014 as a technically sound batsman from Karnataka’s Rahul Dravid school of batting, but it wasn’t until Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, and Shikhar Dhawan decided to skip the series against Zimbabwe in June 2016 that the right-hander was given a chance in the shorter formats. Because of how secure and essential he appears to be to India’s fortunes in ODI and T20 cricket presently, Rahul earning his Test debut before his limited-overs debut looks strange.
He hasn’t had as much success in Test cricket. He’s showed flashes of his ability, hit rock bottom, and then clawed his way back into the team. Kohli trusts in him, but Rahul has yet to find his formula in Test cricket, as he has in ODIs and T20Is. From here on out, Rahul’s challenge will be to establish consistency; consistency that will allow him to take on the greatest in the world on his own terms. He’s gotten his foot in the door, but now he wants to kick it open all the way.
2. Hashim Amla
Hashim Amla is a former South African cricketer who represented his country in all three formats of the sport. Amla holds the record for scoring 2000, 3000, 4000, 5000, 6000, and 7000 ODI runs in the quickest time ever. He also became the first player to attain ten ODI century in the quickest time possible. Amla, who was South Africa’s Test captain from June 2014 until January 2016, is an occasional off-break bowler. He is a right-handed batsman who has the greatest individual Test score of any South African batsman of 311 not out, which he achieved against England at The Oval in London in July 2012.
3. Steve Smith
Steve Smith is a former captain of the Australian national cricket team and an international cricketer from Australia. Smith was previously labeled as a limited-overs batsman who could struggle in the longer version of the game because of his unconventional approach, particularly early in his career when he was vulnerable outside off stump. According to the ICC Player Rankings, Smith is routinely regarded as one of the best Test batters in the world.
Due to his egregiously high Test batting average, Smith has been compared to Donald Bradman, widely regarded as the greatest batsman of all time. Smith began his career as a right-arm leg spinner for Australia, but he subsequently became predominantly a batter. He was recalled to the Australian squad in 2013 and took over the leadership from Michael Clarke in late 2015, following which he mostly batted at number three or four.
4. Rahul Dravid
Rahul Dravid is a former Indian cricketer who served as the team’s captain. He is the Director of Cricket Operations at the Bengaluru-based National Cricket Academy. He also keeps track of the India A and India under-19 cricket teams’ development. From 2016 until 2019, he was the Head Coach of the India Under-19 and India A teams. Throughout his career, “The Wall” stood firm in the face of adversity and played great knocks that epitomized perseverance and a burning determination to achieve. Dravid’s batsmanship was obvious to everybody, especially when India embarked on an international tour, which is why India was constantly looking for a method to bring him into the XI.
5. Kane Williamson
Kane Williamson is a New Zealand cricketer who presently serves as the captain of the national side in all forms. He is a right-handed batsman who also bowls off-spin on occasion. Williamson was selected to the ICC Test Team of the Decade (2011–2020) as the lone New Zealander. He led New Zealand to the inaugural ICC World Test Championship in June 2021. Williamson has 24 Test and 13 ODI centuries as of January 2021. In Tests, he has the best score of 251 while in ODIs, he has the best score of 148. In T20Is, he has failed to hit a century.
