Joe Root edges Virat Kohli for captaincy: Test cricket team of the year 2018

As 2018 nearly draws to a close, we release the best composite 12-man line-up to feature in the longest format of the game

It is the year 2018, and it is coming to a close. Granted there are still Test matches being played, but less than a week remains before 2019 becomes a part of our lives.

We have, therefore, put together what we believe would be the best Test line-up from the year almost gone by.

What might surprise those of you who have followed the action closely this year is the fact that so many Sri Lankan players have done well in the long form - despite the team's chequered year on and off the field - and a few of them find their way in the 12-member line-up.

Some fans will find it hard to digest that we have named not Virat Kohli as the captain of this team but English counterpart Joe Root. There are two reasons for this: one being Root's own success as Test captain, but also that Kohli's tendency to pick fights with players and fans does not make him the ideal ambassador cricket really needs today.

Kohli, though, makes the XI purely as a batsman - for he has been the best player in the world this year.

You can check out our team by browsing the photo gallery above. To move on to the next photo, click on the arrows, or if using a mobile device, simply swipe.

Happy viewing.

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Read more:

Cricket's hits and misses in 2018: Mixed year for Virat Kohli, and the rise of Nepal's Sandeep Lamichhane

Good, bad and ugly of cricket in 2018: UAE taking centre stage, Virat Kohli's behaviour and ball-tampering

The Cricket Pod: Everest Premier League booming in Nepal, and India's Virat Kohli outshone in Perth Test

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