Kohli? Bumrah? Too Modern for Nick Knight’s Time Machine XI

Be honest, can you even imagine a 21st-century India-England Test XI without Virat Kohli and Jasprit Bumrah? The former England opener Nick Knight clearly had other ideas. ‘The Draft,’ Knight went ahead and dropped both modern-day icons, leaving fans and pundits scratching their heads. While his picks are definitely legendary in their own right, leaving out Kohli and Bumrah feels like walking into a cricket store and skipping the bats section altogether — it just doesn’t feel complete! But is there some logic behind these omissions, or is it pure English bias?

A Star-Studded XI — But Where’s the Balance?

Nick Knight’s XI has some star quality. Cook and Sehwag lead off – grit, spin/ fireworks – significant contrast here. Following Cook and Sehwag, we will get past Vaughan to have Tendulkar, Pietersen, and Thorpe in a batting order that is frightening enough for the final four. MS Dhoni can keep wicket, with an unheralded trio of Zaheer Khan, James Anderson, and Stuart Broad as pace back-up, while Swann is spin with Kumble as 12th man.

Impressive? For sure. But here’s the problem – no all-rounders. In a game that relies on balance, not having a Ben Stokes, or even an Ashwin for that matter, gives the side an upfront feel. And while Thorpe was in class, is he categorically better than Kohli’s 29 Test centuries and ten years of dominance? I feel like Knight went for nostalgia rather than a team that could compete with today’s best teams. Not picking Bumrah, arguably the most destructive fast bowler to play in this generation, is a massive blind spot, especially considering how asymmetrically Bumrah did in both India and England.

Also read:- ENG vs IND 2025: Old Trafford or The Oval – Where Should India Unleash Jasprit Bumrah?

Why Kohli and Bumrah Deserved a Spot

Let’s talk Kohli first. Sure, his current form might not be at its peak, but across the 2010s, he was arguably the best all-format batter in the world. On England’s green pitches, he turned criticism into compost and bloomed with a towering 593-run harvest. A batsman who thrives in pressure, commands a chase, and has carried Indian batting on his shoulders.

Now, Bumrah. If you’re looking purely at numbers, perhaps Knight’s old-school choices make sense. But Tests aren’t just about numbers — they’re about impact, intimidation, and clutch moments. Bumrah has all three. He’s redefined fast bowling in India, bringing a lethal edge to India’s pace battery that was once a rare commodity. If you’re forming an attack to rattle the opposition, how do you overlook a bowler who averages under 21 in Tests?

Recency Bias or Vintage Comfort?

It can be said that Knight may have relied quite a lot on the vintage comfort of names like Vaughan and Thorpe (good players undoubtedly, but possibly not representative of how the game of cricket has changed in regards to attitude and all roundness), which also reflects a common malady of former cricketers, romanticizing the past without consideration of development of fitness, skill, and versatility.

Nick Knight’s combined XI will generate some controversy, which is perhaps Knight’s point. Leaving out Kohli and Bumrah from any 21st-century Test XI without India and England is always going to torrify some people. These types of selections remind us about how subjective greatness in cricket tends to be. Do you think more in terms of stats, impact, or just personal bias?

So, what’s your combined India-England Test XI? And does it have room for the modern-day giants, or are you team ‘nostalgia’ like Nick Knight? Let us know — the debate is far from over!