Team wise best batsman of the year 2016

Cricket is known to be a batsman’s game. The year of 2016 proved to be no different. An exhilarant display of batsmanship was on the cards for the cricket fans to watch. The year saw some great performances come from the willows of the stars of the game; and some from the bats of stars in the making. India’s Virat Kohli stole the limelight with his meteoric rise in all the three formats of the game. Towards the end of the year, Pakistan’s Asad Shafiq won hearts with a defiant ton at the Gabba against all odds.

Triple centuries in Tests are a spectacle. 2016 saw some special triple ton knocks come from Azhar Ali and Karun Nair. England’s Jonny Bairstow rightly proved that the wicket-keepers can indeed emerge as the top run getters in any format of the game. Make no mistake, the tail enders showed their prowess with the bat too, in this calendar year. While the performances have been many, there have been some special baton holder for every team. Here is a look at the team wise best batsman of 2016:

Australia – Steve Smith

The Australian team saw the dominance of their batsmen in the year of 2016. While the contenders for the best batsman of the team were many, one man stood out from the rest. Skipper Steve Smith was in ominous touch in the year of 2016 across all the formats. Prior to the commencement of the year end Boxing Day Test, Smith was the leading run-getter for Australia in Tests. The number one ranked Test batsman had amassed 914 runs in 10 matches at an average over 60.

With 3 tons and 5 fifties, he was surely the mainstay of Australian batting. His merry run continued across the formats. In the ODIs, he scored 1154 runs in 26 matches that included a belligerent top score of 164 against New Zealand recently. Although, the team had dwindling fortunes in the limited-overs, Smith’s personal performances never went down.