The XI to beat
The Test World XI
Every Test draft ends in a five-match series against these eleven.
Why a fixed opponent
The World XI is the same for everyone and never changes from game to game, so a 3–2 series means the same thing for every player and results can be compared and shared. It was chosen by the game’s owner as a team spread across eras and countries: 8 nations are represented in the table below. The ODI, T20I and IPL games each have their own fixed opponent.
The eleven and their Test records
Career Test figures as held in the Beat My 11 data. Both batting and bowling numbers are shown for everyone. 5W is five-wicket hauls in an innings and 10W is ten-wicket matches. A dash in the bowling average means the player took no Test wickets.
| # | Player | Role | Nation | Tests | Runs | Avg | 100s | 50s | Wkts | Bowl avg | 5W | 10W |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Don Bradman | Opener | Australia | 52 | 6,996 | 99.9 | 29 | 13 | 2 | 36 | 0 | 0 |
| 2 | Sunil Gavaskar | Opener | India | 125 | 10,122 | 51.1 | 34 | 45 | 1 | 206 | 0 | 0 |
| 3 | Sachin Tendulkar | Middle order | India | 200 | 15,921 | 53.8 | 51 | 68 | 46 | 54.2 | 0 | 0 |
| 4 | Brian Lara | Middle order | West Indies | 131 | 11,953 | 52.9 | 34 | 48 | 0 | – | 0 | 0 |
| 5 | Joe Root | Middle order | England | 169 | 14,278 | 50.5 | 41 | 69 | 74 | 48.1 | 1 | 0 |
| 6 | Andy Flower | Wicketkeeper | Zimbabwe | 63 | 4,794 | 51.5 | 12 | 27 | 0 | – | 0 | 0 |
| 7 | Jacques Kallis | All-rounder | South Africa | 166 | 13,289 | 55.4 | 45 | 58 | 292 | 32.6 | 5 | 0 |
| 8 | Muttiah Muralitharan | Spinner | Sri Lanka | 133 | 1,261 | 11.7 | 0 | 1 | 800 | 22.7 | 67 | 22 |
| 9 | Joel Garner | Fast bowler | West Indies | 58 | 672 | 12.4 | 0 | 1 | 259 | 21 | 7 | 0 |
| 10 | Wasim Akram | Fast bowler | Pakistan | 104 | 2,898 | 22.6 | 3 | 7 | 414 | 23.6 | 25 | 5 |
| 11 | Shaun Pollock | Fast bowler | South Africa | 108 | 3,781 | 32.3 | 2 | 16 | 421 | 23.12 | 16 | 1 |
How the shape works
The XI follows the same eleven spots you fill: two openers, three middle-order batters, a wicketkeeper, an all-rounder and a spinner in the flex pair, and three fast bowlers. That makes it a fair test: your XI has the same balance of batting, bowling and keeping as the team it plays. How teams are scored is explained on the how it works page.
Other opponents
ODI World XI · T20I World XI · IPL All-Star XI
Figures as of 8 October 2026.