A year of sterling success has another glorious addition for Virat Kohli – the Indian skipper has been named captain of both the ICC Test and ODI Teams of the Year for 2018.
The world governing body announced its selection for the previous year while declaring the ICC Awards 2018 on their social media handle on Tuesday, 22 January.
Three Indian players have made it to the Test Team of the Year, while four Indians found themselves in the ODI XI.
Kohli, along with Jasprit Bumrah, were included in both the teams. Rishabh Pant was selected as wicketkeeper in the Test XI, while Rohit Sharma and Kuldeep Yadav were named in the ODI Team of the Year.
Captain Kohli’s ‘Double Double’
Kohli wins the twin leadership laurel for the second straight edition of the ICC Awards. In 2017 too, the Indian skipper had been voted to helm both the Test and ODI teams for the year.
Kohli joins all-time great Ricky Ponting as the only man to have been captain of both the teams on two separate occasions. The two-time World Cup-winning Australian skipper had been voted as captain of both the ICC Test and ODI Teams of the Year in 2004 and 2007.
MS Dhoni, the man Kohli succeeded as Indian captain, had been awarded the combined mantle in 2009.
ICC Test Team of the Year 2018
India and New Zealand find the most representation in the Test Team of the Year, with three players from both countries making it to the ICC selection.
Rishabh Pant and Jasprit Bumrah found themselves alongside their skipper as reward for a bright start to their careers. The wicketkeeper-batsman and frontline fast bowler both played starring roles in India’s historic Test series win in Australia – in what was a maiden year in Test cricket for both.
Pant hit 537 runs at an average of 38.35 in eight Tests in 2018, while also effecting 42 dismissals behind the stumps. Bumrah was the fourth-highest wicket-taker in Tests last year, claiming 48 strikes in just nine matches at an average of 21.02.
New Zealand’s representation came from the high-scoring batting troika of Tom Latham, captain Kane Williamson and Henry Nicholls. All three made over 650 runs from just 7 Tests that the Kiwis played in 2018.
Sri Lanka, West Indies, South Africa, Australia and Pakistan had one player each making the cut.
Full ICC Test Team of the Year 2018
Tom Latham, Dimuth Karunaratne, Kane Williamson, Virat Kohli (c), Henry Nicholls, Rishabh Pant, Jason Holder, Kagiso Rabada, Nathan Lyon, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammad Abbas.
ICC ODI Team of the Year 2018
The ODI XI, on expected lines, saw India and England dominate. Touted by a vast majority of pundits as the two overwhelming favourites for the World Cup this summer, both countries found four players each being named in the side.
Kohli’s selection was a no-brainer, with the Indian captain outdoing even his lofty standards of recent times by scoring 1202 runs in 14 ODIs with six hundreds and a jaw-dropping average of 133.55.
Kohli was preceded by his ODI deputy Rohit Sharma and English ‘keeper-batsman Jonny Bairstow as openers – the duo being the only two players besides Kohli to total over 1000 runs in the 50-over game last year.
England’s other entrants in the ODI Team of the Year were also batting options, with Joe Root (946 runs in 24 matches) and Jos Buttler (671 runs in 23 matches, strike rate 113.53) being followed up by all-rounder Ben Stokes (313 runs and 5 wickets in 13 matches) in the order.
Veteran New Zealand batsman Ross Taylor, whose 639 ODI runs in 2018 came at average above 90, broke the Indo-English duopoly in the top-seven.
Bumrah and Kuldeep Yadav were India’s representatives in the bowling department, to go with Afghan spin sensation Rashid Khan and Bangladesh seamer Mustafizur Rahman.
Bumrah had the lowest economy rate (3.62) of any bowler with more than 10 ODI wickets in 2018, while Kuldeep was second in the wicket-taking charts with 45 scalps in 19 matches.
Rashid’s entry was a given, with the 20-year-old leggie having topped the bowling charts with 48 wickets at a superlative average of 14.45. Rahman had ended the year with 29 wickets in 18 games, conceding only 4.20 runs per over.
Full ICC ODI Team of the Year 2018
Rohit Sharma, Jonny Bairstow, Virat Kohli (c), Joe Root, Ross Taylor, Jos Buttler (wk), Ben Stokes, Mustafizur Rahman, Rashid Khan, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah.
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