Kane Williamson picks his all-time Test XI of 21st century; Virat Kohli axed

Former New Zealand captain and analyst Kane Williamson has picked his all-time Test XI of the 21st century. Interestingly, Williamson has opted not to go with his counterpart, Virat Kohli, who recently announced his retirement from the longest format of the game.

Speaking to ESPNCricinfo, Williamson has picked the Australian explosive batter Matthew Hayden and Indian dashing batter Virender Sehwag as his openers. Notably, Hayden scored 8625 runs from 103 Tests while Sehwag accumulated 8586 runs from 104 Tests.

On the other hand, Ricky Ponting and Sachin Tendulkar made it to the No.3 and No.4 spots, respectively. While the former Australian skipper amassed 13378 runs from 168 Tests, the Master Blaster still holds the most Test runs, racking up 15921 runs from 200 Tests.

Furthermore, Steve Smith and AB de Villiers have been picked to occupy the No. 5 and No.6 positions, respectively. Smith, the former Aussie skipper, amassed 10350 runs from 117 innings, and De Villiers scored 8765 runs in 114 Tests in the middle-order.

Former Indian captain MS Dhoni has been entrusted to lead the side and keep the wickets. While Dhoni could score only 4876 runs from 90 Tests, he played an impressive role as a Test captain for Team India. 

Dale Steyn, Shoaib Akhtar, and Glenn McGrath form the pace battery, with the former Sri Lankan spinner Muttiah Muralidaran emerging as the lone spinner in his all-time Test XI of the 21st century.

The former South African seamer scalped 439 wickets from 93 Tests, while Akhtar pocketed 178 wickets from 46 Tests with his amazing pace. On the other hand, McGrath scalped 563 wickets from 124 Tests, with Muralitharan picking up 800 Test wickets from only 133 matches to emerge as the leading wicket-taker in this format.

Kane Williamson's all-time Test XI of the 21st century: 

Matthew Hayden, Virender Sehwag, Ricky Ponting, Sachin Tendulkar, Steven Smith, AB de Villiers, MS Dhoni (c & wk), Dale Steyn, Shoaib Akhtar, Glenn McGrath, Muthiah Muralidaran.

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