ICC announce Test Team of the year, three Indian players included

The governing body of world cricket, the International Cricket Council (ICC) has announced the men’s Test team of the year where 11 potential candidates who had showcased outstanding performances in the year gone by have received notable mentions.

However, what really stands out here is that three Indians have found a place in this. One happens to be a batter, another is a wicketkeeper batter while the other is a bowling all-rounder. So without further a do, here’s a look at the star performers who have been included in the ICC Test Team of the Year.

Kane Williamson appointed captain in ICC Men’s Test Team of the Year

The ICC in its recently released Men’s Test Team of the Year has appointed New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson as captain. The year 2021 was indeed a memorable one for Williamson as he starred with his captaincy tactics as well as with the bat. The Tauranga cricketer had led New Zealand to a World Test Championship triumph in June last year against favorites India. The number three batter scored 395 runs in 4 matches averaging 65.83 including a century.

Team India’s white-ball skipper Rohit Sharma had amassed 906 runs in the last calendar year which included a couple of tons. While one came at a rank-turner in Chennai, the second one came at the overcast conditions at the Oval in London. Rohit’s Test average in the year gone by was 47.68.

India’s young stumper Rishabh Pant might have managed just a century in the home series against England but, he contributed with match-winning knocks of 97 and an unbeaten 89 at the SCG and Gabba as Team India registered a second straight series win on Australian soil. Apart from scoring 748 runs in 12 matches, Pant was effective behind the stumps with 39 dismissals in 23 innings to his name.

The third & final Indian on the list is Ravichandran Ashwin. The Tamil Nadu cricketer registered 54 scalps from nine games averaging 16.64. He was also very handy with the bat scoring 355 runs at an average of 25.35 including a match-winning century against England at Chepauk.

The other players in Test XI include Sri Lanka skipper Dimuth Karunaratne, Australia’s Marnus Labuschagne, England Test skipper Joe Root, Pakistan middle-order batter Fawad Alam, Black Caps pacer Kyle Jamieson, Pakistani pace duo of Hasan Ali, and, Shaheen Afridi.

ICC Test Team of 2021: Dimuth Karunaratne, Rohit Sharma, Marnus Labuschagne, Joe Root, Kane Williamson (c), Fawad Alam, Rishabh Pant (wk), Ravi Ashwin, Kylie Jamieson, Hasan Ali, Shaheen Afridi.