International Cricket Council (ICC) every year announces the ICC team of the year in the month of January. Moreover, they announces ODIs & Test Team of the year. And, the greats of the game always appears in the list of ICC. However, we will discuss about the players with most appearances in the ICC Test team of the year.

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Players with most appearances in the ICC Test team of the year :

#1. Dale Steyn | 8 appearances

The South-African fast bowler, Dale Steyn is known for his speed & swinging ability with the bowl, especially in the longest format of the game. Although the South African left Test cricket in 2019, he comes at the top of our list. Dale Steyn appears in the ICC Test team of the year in following years 2008,2009,2010,2011,2012,2013,2014 and 2016. Steyn is leading the chart's with total of 8 appearances with a consistency from 2008 to 2014 and 2016 later.

#2. Kumar Sangakkara | 7 appearances

The Sri-Lankan legend Kumar Sangakkara comes just after Dale Steyn with 7 appearances in the longest format. Sangakkara is one of the legends of the game with a pile of runs to his name. He scores a total of 12400 runs in his career with an average of 57.14. However, Sangakkara appears in the ICC Test team of the year in following years 2006,2007,2008,2010,2011,2012,2014 & 2016.

Also Read : Most test wickets in England by Indian bowlers

#3. Jacques Kallis | 6 appearances

The former South-African cricketing giant comes at third place of most appearences in Test team of the year list. Jacques Kallis is not only a Test giant but also a ODI cricket giant for several. Kallis recorded a total of 13289 runs in Test cricket, most by any all-rounder in the game. However, he appeares total of 6 times in the list. Kallis appears in the ICC Test team of the year in following years 2004,2005,2008,2010,2011 and 2012.

Read Also : Highest batting average as captain in tests in England

#4. Stuart Broad | 5 appearances

The England pacer Stuart Broad comes at the fourth spot in the list with total of 5 appearances in the game. Moreover, Broad has a pile of wickets to his name that is count of 524 & still counting. However, he appeares total of 5 times in the list along with Cook and ABD. Broad appears in the ICC Test team of the year in following years 2009,2011,2012,2014,2015.

Alastair Cook | 5 appearances

The former English Skipper comes along with Stuart Broad and De Villers in the list. Alastair Cook also recorded most runs for England in the longer format of the game. He appeares a total of 5 times in the Test team of the year along with ABD and Stuart Broad. Cook appears in the ICC Test team of the year in following years 2011,2012,2013,2015 and 2016.

Also Read : Bowlers with best strike rates in Test Cricket

AB De Villiers | 5 appearances

AB De Villers, Mr. 360 of the game comes along with the two greats of the game. AB De Villers is one of South-Africa's game changer batsman irrespective of all formats. ABD appears total of 5 times in the list of the Test team of the year. De Villers appears in the ICC Test team of the year in following years 2009,2011,2012,2013 and 2014.

N.B : The stats are accurate as of 02/09/2021.

The form of Indian cricket team's star batsman Virat Kohli is proving to be a matter of concern for Team India. After the poor performance in the three-match home series against New Zealand, India has a lot of expectations from its former captain. Kohli's record in Australia has been excellent. However, in the first innings of the Perth Test match, Virat has disappointed the team and his fans.

Also Read: Border-Gavaskar Trophy: Jasprit Bumrah breaks record with five-wicket haul in first test

Kohli dropped Labuschagne's catch

Virat Kohli played an innings of 5 runs in 12 balls and was out on the ball of Josh Hazlewood. Apart from this, Kohli also dropped the catch during Indian bowling. He dropped an easy catch of Marnus Labuschagne on the ball of Jasprit Bumrah. This brilliant ball found the edge of Labuschagne's bat, on which Kohli did not make much movement and dropped the ball in a hurry to take the catch.

Kohli dropped 29.6% of his catches

Virat is generally considered a good fielder but among the players who have got at least 100 chances since 2011, Kohli has the highest catches dropped percentages among Indian players. This figure also raises questions on Kohli's catching ability.

Kohli has dropped 29.6 percent of his catches in this period and only the England Test great James Anderson is ahead of him in terms of the catches dropped percentages. However, Anderson is a bowler who was never known for his fielding abilities. If we talk only about batsmen, then Virat Kohli has dropped the maximum number of catches since 2011.

Also Read: AUS vs IND Border-Gavaskar Trophy Day 1 report: India bounce back with bowlers with 17 wickets falling on Day 1

Kohli dropped the most catches in the last 5 years

From 2019 till now, Virat Kohli has been the number one Indian in terms of dropping catches. This trend has continued in all three formats of cricket. Kohli has dropped a total of 36 catches in international cricket since 2019. He has dropped 16 catches in Tests, 13 catches in T20I, and 7 catches in ODI format. 

Highest catches dropped percentages since 2011 | Min 100 chances

• 31.7% James Anderson
• 29.6% Virat Kohli
• 27.9% Alastiar Cook
• 25.7% Tim Southee

Test cricket, being the purest and best format of the game, holds a special place in the hearts of cricket enthusiasts. Any achievement in this format is always significant. Among the many records in Test cricket, the most prestigious are those related to run-scoring and centuries. So, let's take a look at the most memorable Test centuries in cricket history.

Also Read: Most Test centuries in overseas by active batters

Sir Donald Bradman's 254 at Lord's

Sir Donald Bradman scored his first century in his maiden Test match at Lord's during the summer of 1930, when he hit 254 for Australia versus England. This is one of the most memorable Test centuries in cricket history.

Just aged 21 and batting at three, Bradman scored 254 during his knock off 376 balls, hitting 25 fours in an innings that helped his side make a total of 729/6d. That innings would be the highest individual score by an overseas batsman for just over 70 years before Graeme Smith scored 259 at the Home of Cricket in 2003.

Brian Lara's 400* against England

Brian Lara holds the record for the highest individual score in Test cricket, scoring an unbeaten 400  off just 582 balls against England in 2004. Lara reclaimed his record from Australian Matthew Hayden, who only six months earlier had broken the record with 380 in Perth in October 2003.

After Lara’s mammoth innings of 400*, West Indies decided to call it a day and declared their innings on 751/5. On a laboring three days, three England bowlers were smashed for more than 100 runs with the ball.

To date, Mahela Jayawardene of Sri Lanka is the only batter to get any closer to the record as he smashed 374 against South Africa in July 2006, but could not break Lara’s legendary feat. 

Sachin Tendulkar’s 241 vs Australia

Sachin Tendulkar's unbeaten 241 off 436 balls during the 2003-04 Border-Gavaskar trophy is one of the most memorable Test centuries in cricket history. 

Tendulkar's innings enabled India to draw the Test match against Australia as the series finished on a 1-1 scoreline. He hit 33 boundaries during his innings which lasted for 10 hours and 13 minutes but he did not hit a single cover drive as he was repeatedly getting out while trying to play shots outside the off-stump. it was the one time when the Master Blaster shackled himself into playing like a commoner but the innings was as exquisite as any of his flashier ones.

Also Read: Most Test centuries in the World Test Championship

Ricky Ponting’s twin centuries at the SCG

For most players, playing 100 Test matches is a huge achievement, only 50 have achieved it in the history of Test cricket and Ricky Ponting is one of them. Apart from that feat, the ex-Australia captain also smashed twin centuries in his 100th Test match. He scored 120 and 143* in the first and second innings respectively against South Africa in the SCG Test.

Ponting scored 120 from 174 balls in the first innings, smashing as many as 13 boundaries to become the first Australian to score a hundred in his 100th Test match. A total of five players had recorded a century in their 100th Test match but none of them was an Australian.

Ponting brought up his 2nd century (143*) of the game in only 111 balls. In this process, Ponting became the first player to smash a twin hundred in his career’s 100th Test match and is also the only player with this feat to date.

Rahul Dravid’s 233 at Adelaide 

Rahul Dravid's 233 off 446 balls against the mighty Australian bowling attack was nothing but a great innings, hitting 23 fours and 1 sixes. Probably, one of the best Tests came from Dravid as he turned around the game in India’s favor with a brilliant innings. 

Australia posted a big total on board and the onus was on Dravid to take India close to it after four wickets fell. Dravid played responsibly and ensured India came within shouting distance of this total. He made a 303-run partnership alongside VVS Laxman that took India’s fight back. Dravid was the last man to get out after facing 446 balls and spending close to 10 hours in the middle.

Dravid was not done, though. He remained unbeaten on 73 as India chased down a target of 230, winning by four wickets. It was India's first Test win Down Under after 22 years.

VVS Laxman’s 281 at Eden Gardens

VVS Laxman scored an epic 281 against the mighty Australians at the Eden Gardens in 2001. It is a knock that defined the word legend and put Laxman’s name into the annals of cricketing history for eternity. 

Australia enforced the follow-on after being a comfortable 274 runs ahead. Steve Waugh and his men would have expected to wrap up pretty quickly. Then Laxman walked in at No 3 and delivered a memorable performance at the Eden Gardens. In the company of Rahul Dravid, he put on 376 runs that took India past 600. India declared on the final day and bowled out Australia to win the game by 171 runs.

Kevin Pietersen’s 186 in Mumbai 

Kevin Pietersen’s 186 against India in Mumbai is the best of the lot, surely. With the pressure on after his double failure at Ahmedabad, Pietersen showed he was none for the worse for his exile. Walked off to a standing ovation at the Wankhede.

Pietersen came to the crease with England 68-2 in their first innings, batting after India's effort of 326. He dominated a stand of 206 with fellow centurion Alastair Cook as England leveled the score at 1-1 and took the momentum on for another victory in Kolkata and eventual 2-1 success.

Also Read: Fab Four: Most Test Centuries

Alastair Cook’s 263 in Abu Dhabi

Alastair Cook showed ultimate endurance in baking-hot Abu Dhabi to beat the record for the longest Test innings by an Englishman.

Cook's 836-minute vigil surpassed the 797 minutes Sir Len Hutton spent at the crease against Australia in 1938 and now only Gary Kirsten (878 minutes) and Hanif Mohammad (970 minutes) have registered longer knocks in Test cricket than Cook.

Another quirk from the England captain's masterclass, which included just the 18 fours, was that when it reached 783 minutes it exceeded the length of the fourth Ashes Test of the 2015 series at Trent Bridge.

India

He was the first batter to score a duck in his 100th test.

Australia

Australia' first World Cup winning captain Allan Border scored a duck in his 100th test.

West Indies

Courtney Walsh also scored a duck in his 100th Test for West Indies.

Australia

Legendary Australian captain Mark Taylor too scored a duck in his 100th Test.

New Zealand

Former New Zealand skipper Stephen Fleming scored a duck in his 100th Test.

England

Former English skipper Alastair Cook scored a duck in his 100th Test.

New Zealand

Brendon McCullum scored a duck in his 100th Test for New Zealand

Ashwin scored a duck in his 100th test against England. He became the second Indian to enter in this list after Dilip Vengsarkar.

Pujara and Kohli

Both Cheteshwar Pujara and Virat Kohli have scored five centuries against England in 27 and 28 test matches respectively.

Dilip Vengsarkar

Former Indian captain Dilip Vengsarkar comes next with five centuries against England in 26 test matches.

Graham Gooch

Former England captain Graham Gooch scored five hundreds against India in 19 test matches.

Ian Botham

One of the greatest all-rounders Ian Botham comes next with five hundreds against India in 14 test matches.

Kevin Pietersen

Kevin Pietersen, who played a stellar role in England's last Test series win in India, scored six centuries against India in 16 test matches.

Mohammad Azharuddin

Former Indian captain Mohammad Azharuddin comes next with six centuries against England in 15 test matches.

Alastair Cook

Former England captain Alastair Cook scored seven centuries against India in 30 test matches.

Sachin Tendulkar

The great Sachin Tendulkar comes next with seven centuries against England in 32 test matches.

Rahul Dravid

Former batting great and current India coach Rahul Dravid comes next with seven centuries against England in 21 test matches.

Former England captain Joe Root leads the list with nine centuries against India in 25 test matches.

The clash between India and England in Test cricket has always been intense, drawing attention from cricket enthusiasts around the globe. The two giants will gear up for a five-match red-ball series starting in Hyderabad on January 25.

Some players have stood out in the India and England test series. We have seen many remarkable individual performances by batters from both sides. So, it's time we look at the top 6 highest individual scorers in the India vs England Tests.

Also Read: When and how ICC Awards 2023 will be announced?

Top 6 Highest Individual Scores in India vs England Tests

On July 27, 1990, Graham Gooch completed one of the finest knocks by an Englishman in Test cricket. He scored 333 runs off 485 deliveries against India at the Lords. Gooch, leading England in that match, opened the innings with Mike Atherton and went on to play an epic inning.

His inning includes 43 fours and three sixes, helping his team post a mammoth total of 653/4 declared. His inning contributed to England's victory as they emerged victorious by a huge margin of 247 runs.

Karun Nair registered his name in history during the 2016 Test series when he struck an extraordinary triple century against England in Chennai. His unbeaten score of 303 remains the highest individual score by an Indian against England.

Nair became the second Indian batsman to score a triple century in a Test inning after Sehwag. He completed his triple ton on the fourth day of the fifth Test against England.

Former England captain Alastair Cook showed his ability with a career-best 294 runs in Birmingham against India in 2011. This exceptional innings played a pivotal role in England's commanding victory by an innings and 242 runs. Cook's monumental effort is the sixth-highest score by an Englishman, and the best since Graham Gooch's 333 against the same opposition in 1990.

Also Read: Most Runs in First Class Cricket by Indians

Boycott played a sensational inning of 246 runs in the Headingley Test against India in 1967. He played this innings in 555 balls with the help of 30 fours and one six. His inning was considered very slow and as a punishment, Boycott was dropped from the team. However, his stunning performance contributed to England's triumph by six wickets.

235 was the highest test score in the career of Ian Bell and it came against India in 2011. He punished the Indian bowlers and they had no answers to his brilliance. He made 235 runs in 364 balls by hitting 23 fours and 2 sixes. His inning was the difference between the 2 teams. England outplayed India in the match and won by an inning and 8 runs.

Kohli's highest score of 235 runs in the India vs England series came in the fourth Test at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai in 2016. His inning came off 340 deliveries, with 25 fours and a six, to set up India's 4-0 series victory. Kohli put on a batting masterclass at the Wankhede. With the upcoming 2024 series coming in, Kohli will try to replicate such brilliance and leave an indelible mark once again.