McGrath picks Kohli to lead his Test Team of the Year

Legendary Australian pacer Glenn McGrath on Thursday picked India Test skipper Virat Kohli to lead his Test Team of the Year which also includes International Cricket Council (ICC) top-ranked Ravichandran Ashwin as the other Indian in the 12-member squad.

Besides Kohli and Ashwin, McGrath's squad includes three Australians in David Warner, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, England's Joe Root, Ben Stokes, Stuart Broad and wicketkeeper Jonny Bairstow, New Zealand's Kane Williamson, Pakistan's Yasir Shah and South African pacer Kasigo Rabada.

Kohli, who was recently picked by Cricket Australia (CA) as the One-Day International (ODI) Team of the Year captain, had a brilliant run in the longest version both as a batsman as well as the leader of the World No.1 pack.

Under his captaincy, India played 12 Tests in the year, winning nine and drawing three with the team extending their winning streak to an unprecedented 18 matches.

The 28-year-old right-hander has amassed 1,215 runs in the calender year, including four centuries (three double tons), and two half centuries.

Ashwin, on the other hand, has been the cornerstone of India's success in the longest format, picking 72 wickets from the 12 matches.

Commenting on his squad pick, McGrath said: "I haven't picked it just on stats alone. Stats are important, but it's all about attitude, the way you hold yourself in the game, and the effect you can have on the game."

"To me that's probably more important than stats. But if you've got both, you've got the perfect cricketer, the perfect team and I'm happy with this team," the former Aussie great was quoted as saying by cricket.com.au.

Glenn McGrath's Test Team of the Year: Virat Kohli (Captain), Ravichandran Ashwin, Steve Smith, David Warner, Mitchell Starc, Joe Root, Ben Stokes, Stuart Broad, Jonny Bairstow (wk), Kane Williamson, Yasir Shah, Kasigo Rabada.

--IANS

tri/vt