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Greatest of all-time Test Cricketers of 21st Century: Winners to be unveiled during WTC Final - Check nominees

To celebrate historic feats in Test cricket, Star Sports has strung together a mammoth activity to pick the Greatest Of All Time of the 21st century in Tests from among Batsmen, Bowlers, All-rounders and Captains.

Greatest of all-time Test Cricketers of 21st Century: Winners to be unveiled during WTC Final - Check nominees

Mumbai, June 16: The game of cricket has witnessed sea changes in its history of 144 years, but Test cricket has occupied a special place in the hearts of every cricket enthusiasts. In its glorious history of more than a century, the longest format of the game has witnessed several success stories highlighting the physicality and mental toughness of players across the 22 yards.

There have been memorable victories and hard-fought fabled battles, but a world champion was never crowned. That debate will be put to rest when the top two nations in Test cricket in the last two years - India and New Zealand square off in the Ultimate Test in the ICC World Test Championship (ICC WTC) Final, starting June 18.

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To celebrate historic feats in Test cricket, Star Sports, India's leading sports broadcaster, has strung together a mammoth activity to pick the Greatest Of All Time (G.O.A.T) of the 21st century in Tests from among Batsmen, Bowlers, All-rounders and Captains.

The one-of-a-kind initiative brought the entire cricket community together - right from the legends of the game, senior sports journalists around the globe, broadcasters, statisticians, analysts, anchors - the creme de la creme united under one roof.

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Who are the nominees:

The nominees for the categories were carefully selected through a rigid process that included a set criterion for each category.

Men's Test Batsman: Sachin Tendulkar, Steve Smith, Kumar Sangakkara, Jacques Kallis

Men's Test Bowler: Muttiah Muralitharan, Shane Warne, Dale Steyn, Glenn McGrath

Men's Test All-rounder: Jacques Kallis, Ben Stokes, Andrew Flintoff, Ravichandran Ashwin

Men's Test Captain: Steve Waugh, Graeme Smith, Ricky Ponting, Virat Kohli.

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Jury:

An elite 50-member jury was formed comprising legends of the game like Sunil Gavaskar, Ian Bishop, Harbhajan Singh, Shane Watson, Scott Styris, Gautam Gambhir among others, renowned sports journalists and coaches. Star Sports have also given fans a chance to be a part of the jury, as fan polls will be conducted between June 15 and 17 June on Twitter. The polls for Captain and All-rounder will take place on June 17.

Fan Poll for Test Batsman: https://twitter.com/StarSportsIndia/status/1404751482218377221

Fan Poll for Test Bowler: https://twitter.com/StarSportsIndia/status/1404793839542575105

How the nominees were selected:

To ensure complete transparency, what followed next was a stringent category-wise selection procedure. All stats considered for the nominees are from or after January 1 2000, only.

Greatest Men's Test Batsman: Criteria: (2 out of the 3 should be met): Minimum 10,000 runs, 50+ average, 25+ 100s.

Why NO VIRAT KOHLI amongst nominees in GOAT Batsmen?

# India's star batsman and a modern-day batting legend, Virat Kohli, has had a terrific career in Test cricket so far but the flamboyant right-handed batsman failed to meet the criteria as he neither has scored 10000-plus Test runs nor has he slammed more than 25 centuries in the longer format. The Delhi dasher has so far amassed 7490 runs in red-ball cricket and slammed exactly 25 tons while his average of 52.37 speaks volumes about his consistency and greatness. But he just missed getting an induction in the nominees' list by a whisker.

Greatest Men's Test Bowler: Mandatory criteria: 250 Wickets. Flexible criteria (2 out of the 3 should be met): Home average

Greatest Men's Test all-rounder: Criteria: 2500+ Runs, 150+ Wickets, Positive average difference

Greatest Men's Test Captain: Criteria: Minimum 10 home and away wins, win or drawn % more than 70.

When will the winners be announced?

The winners for all the categories will be announced during the lunchtime show during the ICC WTC Final from June 18-22 on the Star Sports Network.

Story first published: Wednesday, June 16, 2021, 17:48 [IST]
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