Cricket Australia announces ODI Team of the Year 2018

2018 is all set to end today. The final matches of the year concluded on Sunday when India beat Australia and New Zealand got the better of Sri Lanka in Tests. The soon-to-end calendar year did not witness any ICC tournaments but one cannot deny the fact that it was filled with some classic One-Day Internationals and we witnessed some really impressive performances from the players.

The year began on an unexpected and thrilling note. Defying all the odds, New Zealand thrashed reigning Champions Trophy holders 5-0 at home. A few days later, both England and India, two of the strongest ODI units in the world at the moment, created history. England beat Australia 4-1 in their own backyard while India won the ODI series in South Africa 5-1. It was England’s first bilateral ODI series win Down Under while the 5-1 triumph was India’s first-ever bilateral series triumph in South Africa in any format.

As the year progressed, the cricketing world witnessed some more exhilarating games. Afghanistan beating two-time World Cup winners Windies in the final of the ICC World Cup qualifiers or Scotland defeating world number one ODI side England were some of the biggest shocks of the year. England then blanked Australia 5-0 at home to show that the power-balance has finally tilted in their favour.

There were also some notable individual performances. Virat Kohli tearing apart South Africa in ODIs, Alex Hales’ blistering knock when England piled up a record 481 against Australia or Kuldeep Yadav’s breathtaking 6 for 25, the year witnessed some absolutely stunning individual performance.

Cricket Australia’s team of the year

Choosing just 11 players from hundreds is always a tough task but Cricket Australia has done thorough research to reveal its ODI team of the year. There are four Indians in the list – Rohit Sharma, Virat, Kuldeep and Jasprit Bumrah while three from England – Jonny Bairstow, Joe Root and Jos Buttler made it to the list. One player each from Windies, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh completed the list. Surprisingly, not a single player from Australia made it to the list.

Here is CA’s ODI XI of the Year 2018:

Rohit Sharma, Jonny Bairstow, Joe Root, Virat Kohli, Shimron Hetmyer, Jos Buttler, Thisara Perera, Rashid Khan, Kuldeep Yadav, Mustafizur Rahman, Jasprit Bumrah.

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