2017 ICC Awards: 3 Indians feature in Men's Test Team of the Year

The ICC Awards for the calendar year of 2017 were announced recently. Among the individual honors, it was Indian skipper Virat Kohli who swept off most of the coveted accolades. He was also named as the captain of the ICC Men’s ODI Team of the Year. Needless to concede from the above, Kohli was a cut above the rest in the year of 2017.

Interestingly, the Indian captain has also been named as the captain of the ICC Men’s Test Team of the Year. Team India had a herculean rise to the top of the ICC Test rankings in 2017. This was largely led from the front by Kohli. The list of the Test team announced by the International Cricket Council features 3 Indians and 3 Australians.

While team India made merry in the home conditions, Australia had the coveted Ashes to their name in the season. Commenting on the team, South Africa’s Dean Elgar and Australia’s David Warner slot in as the openers in the side. Elgar amassed 1386 runs with 6 centuries in 2017. On the other hand, Warner had 1421 runs to his name in the qualification period taken into consideration by the ICC.

In at number three is Virat Kohli. Kohli was the leading run scorer in the given time frame with 2023 runs to his name at an average of 77.80 and 8 tons to his name. Australian captain Steve Smith also had the time of his life in the longest format of the game. He stacked up 1875 runs at an average of over 78 with 8 centuries and 5 fifties to his name in 16 matches.

Arguably even more impressive were his performances in India, where Smith hit three centuries in four matches and faced 1,014 deliveries in testing conditions. India’s Cheteshwar Pujara was not far behind either. He played the longest innings of 2017, facing 525 balls against Australia at Ranchi last March. He accumulated 1914 run at an average of 63.80 with 7 tons and 9 fifties in 19 matches.

English all-rounder Ben Stokes made it to the list as well owing to his 1000 runs in 14 games to go along with 35 wickets. South Africa’s Quinton de Kock fits the list as the wicketkeeper. He aggregated 1006 runs at an average just under 50 in the year 2017. To go along with it, he had 62 catches and five stumpings to his name.

Ace Indian spinner Ravichandran Ashwin bagged 111 wickets in the year in 19 matches with staggerting 8 five-wicket hauls. He also became the quickest to reach 300 Test wickets. Australian pacer Mitchell Starc wreaked havoc in the Ashes this season. He scalped 52 wickets in 11 matches in 2017.

Meanwhile, South African speedster Kagiso Rabada reached the pinnacle of bowler’s ranking recently. He had scalped 76 wickets in 15 matches in the qualification period. English pacer James Anderson also made it to the list owing to his 59 scalped in just 14 matches.

Here is the ICC Men’s Test Team of the Year:

Dean Elgar, David Warner, Virat Kohli (c), Steve Smith, Cheteshwar Pujara, Quinton de Kock (wk), Ben Stokes, Ravichandran Ashwin, Mitchell Starc, Kagiso Rabada, James Anderson.

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