Cape Town - Former England batsman Michael Vaughan has selected three Proteas in his best Test XI of 2016.
Vaughan sat with former Australian cricketer Marcus North and England spinner Graeme Swann on BT Sport and selected his best Test squad for 2016.
The ICC Test Team of the Year, which was announced last week, created quite a stir after they pushed world No 1 Test batsman Steve Smith to 12th man and failed to include Indian Test captain Virat Kohli.
Controversial picks in the ICC's team included English captain Alastair Cook, Australian Adam Voges and South Africa’s Dale Steyn.
Former Test batsmen Rahul Dravid, Gary Kirsten and Kumar Sangakkara selected the side based on players’ performances in the period from September 14, 2015 to September 20, 2016.
Steyn had played four Test matches during the performance period taking 14 wickets at an average of 15.14.
It seems likely that his 10 wickets in the two-Test series against New Zealand in August might have swayed the former Test stalwarts to include the South African.
Vaughan, however, thought otherwise when deciding his best Test XI.
The Englishman omitted Steyn and instead chose three South Africans: wicketkeeper/batsman Quinton de Kock, batsman AB de Villiers and fast bowler Kagiso Rabada.
De Villiers, although succumbed to injury in the latter part of 2016, played eight Tests and made 468 runs at an average of 33.42.
De Kock, who was also handed the gloves in Vaughan's list, appeared in four Test matches and scored 308 runs at an average of 77.00.
Vaughan picked Rabada based on his breakthrough debut year, as the 21-year-old took 29 wickets in eight Tests at an average of 24.44.
According to Sports Cafe website, Vaughan singled out Rabada as the "best quick bowler in the world".
The Proteas trio were also selected in the ICC ODI Team of the Year with De Kock named ODI Cricketer of the Year.
Vaughan’s Test Team of the Year for 2016:
David Warner (Australia), Joe Root (England), Steve Smith (Australia - captain), Virat Kohli (India), AB De Villiers (South Africa), Ben Stokes (England), Quinton de Kock (South Africa - wicketkeeper), Ravichandran Ashwin (India), Josh Hazlewood (Australia), Mitchell Starc (Australia), Kagiso Rabada (South Africa)
ICC Test Team of the Year for 2016:
David Warner (Australia), Alastair Cook (England - captain), Kane Williamson (New Zealand), Joe Root (England), Adam Voges (Australia), Jonny Bairstow (England - wicketkeeper), Ben Stokes (England), Ravichandran Ashwin (India), Rangana Herath (Sri Lanka), Mitchell Starc (Australia), Dale Steyn (South Africa)
12th man: Steve Smith (Australia)