Here, we try to pick an underrated world Test XI. We try to avoid picking players for whom it has become clichéd to describe as “underrated”, meaning that players like Tom Latham, Dean Elgar, Dimuth Karunaratne and Neil Wagner don’t make the cut on this occasion.

For each player, we’ve listed out their Test statistics since the start of 2020.

Pathum Nissanka (Sri Lanka)

Age: 23
Test record since 2020: 427 runs @ 42.70; one hundred, four fifties

A precocious opener who averages north of sixty in first-class cricket, Nissanka has taken to Test cricket like a duck to water. He has passed 50 in half of his Test innings thus far and looks likely to become a long-term fixture in the Sri Lanka Test side.

Ibrahim Zadran (Afghanistan)

Age: 20
Test record since 2020: 208 runs @ 52; two fifties

Given the paucity of Tests that Afghanistan have contested since their admission into Test cricket, Zadran has played just four Tests and only two in the last two years. But from the little that we have seen of him, there’s been a lot to like. The collective batting average for Test openers over the last few years is the lowest it’s been in over a century; it is even more impressive than usual for a young opener to come in and look the part so soon.

Nkrumah Bonner (West Indies)

Age: 33
Test record since 2020: 577 runs @ 41.21; one hundred, three fifties

Picking a No. 3 wasn’t straightforward; aside from a handful of established superstars of the Test game, few have flourished in that position in recent times. Bonner is an unlikely occupant of that spot in this XI. An average of less than 30 in first-class cricket didn’t promise much, but the 33-year-old has been excellent for West Indies since making his Test debut in early 2021 – he scored a fourth-innings hundred at Antigua to prevent defeat against Sri Lanka back in March.

Fawad Alam (Pakistan)

Age: 36
Test record since 2020: 703 runs @ 50.21; four hundreds, two fifties

It is a cricketing travesty that a player with as good a first-class record as Alam has been handed so few opportunities in the Test arena. Since his recall in 2020, he has been exceptional, scoring hundreds against four different opponents in four different countries, including an away ton against world Test champions New Zealand.

Dhananjaya de Silva (Sri Lanka)

Age: 30
Test record since 2020: 714 runs @ 64.90; two hundreds, four fifties

Dhananjaya has quietly built up an impressive Test record over a significant period of time, averaging a few decimal points below 40 with the bat over 38 Tests. A technically sound right-hander with a majestic drive, Dhananjaya played one of the knocks of 2021.

Henry Nicholls (New Zealand)

Age: 30
Test record since 2020: 682 runs @ 37.88; two hundreds, three fifties

A borderline pick given that we are far from the first to label Nicholls as an ‘underrated’ Test batter. That said, it’s probably fair to say that the majority of the cricket-watching public do not appreciate just how consistent he has been for such a long time. Nicholls averages 39.88 from 44 Tests and has spent the best part of the last three and half years ranked in the world’s top 20 Test batters, reaching as high as No. 5 in 2019. He narrowly pips Temba Bavuma and Sean Williams to a spot in the side.

Liton Das (Bangladesh)

Age: 27
Test record since 2020: 905 runs @ 50.27; two hundreds, seven fifties

Das has long been regarded as one of Bangladesh’s most talented batters but it’s only been in the last year or so that he has delivered on that promise in the Test arena, a period where he has become the fulcrum of the Bangladesh middle order. As a mark of his class, Das registered scores of 86 and 102 in two of his three innings during Bangladesh’s recent tour of New Zealand. Das takes the gloves in this side.

Tim Southee (New Zealand)

Age: 33
Test record since 2020: 59 wickets @ 21.08; four five-fors

The most established international in this team but he makes it on account of his quietly dramatic improvement in output in recent years. Since the start of 2020, Southee averages considerably less than his longtime teammates Trent Boult and Neil Wagner in Test cricket and has recently delivered wherever he’s played. Last year, he took a five-for in India, another in England and took five wickets in New Zealand’s famous World Test Championship final victory over India.

Mark Wood (England)

Age: 32
Test record since 2020: 45 wickets @ 27.26; two five-fors

Wood’s overall career numbers give a slightly misleading picture of what the Durham bowler currently produces in Test cricket. Since the 2019 St Lucia Test where the Ashington quick – regenerated by his longer run-up – caused havoc, Wood has not looked back. Capable of hitting the mid-90s mph, there are few, if any, faster bowlers on the planet.

Suranga Lakmal (Sri Lanka)

Age: 34
Test record since 2020: 27 wickets @ 22.07; one five-for

Another who has been on the international circuit for some time. His overall career record is reasonably underwhelming – though it should be considered that home conditions aren’t especially conducive to his style of bowling – but in recent times, his game has leapt to another level entirely. He has a reasonable claim to be the most improved Test bowler on the planet.

Taijul Islam (Bangladesh)

Age: 29
Test record since 2020: 38 wickets @ 32.15; two five-fors

Slightly less-heralded overseas than his spin-bowling partner Mehidy Hasan, Taijul has been a quietly consistent performer for Bangladesh for some time now. He currently sits second on Bangladesh’s all-time Test wicket-taking list; it is not that unfeasible that he finishes his career on top of the pile.