In a major surprise that is going to make lot of his fans unhappy, former Australian cricketer Brad Hogg has dropped Team India skipper Virat Kohli from his current Test-XI and has replaced him with Pakistan limited format skipper Babar Azam.
Hogg picked India’s Mayank Agarwal and Rohit Sharma as his hypothetical team’s openers, Hogg went for compatriots Marnus Labushagne and Steve Smith at number three and four.
It set the stage for the fifth pick to be Kohli’s but Hogg surprisingly chose Azam and explained why he picked the Pakistan’s rising star over India’s superstar.
“The reason why I have included Babar Azam in the lineup is because he scored a hundred against Australia in Brisbane, when Pakistan toured Australia last year,” said Hogg of Babar Azam who has averaged a stunning 75.9 in the longest format since the start of last year.
“It’s very hard for overseas teams to perform on that particular wicket but he showed that he could and that is why he is one of the best players going around.”
As has been the case previously Hogg fearing a backlash from Indian fans would not take Kohli’s omission lightly, he explained why he was left out.
“Everyone will ask why is Virat Kohli not in this team. But if you look at his last 15 Test innings, only four times he has gone over 31 [runs]. That’s why Virat Kohli is not my Test team this year,” he said.
In all, Hogg picked four players each from India and Australia, and one apiece from Pakistan, South Africa and New Zealand.
Complete line-up:
Mayank Agarwal, Rohit Sharma, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith, Babar Azam, Ajinkya Rahane, Quinton De Kock (c/wk), Pat Cummins, Mohammad Shami, Neil Wagner, Nathon Lyon.