The International Cricket Council (ICC) have recently announced the Men’s Test and ODI teams of 2018. The Indian skipper Virat Kohli has been honoured with the role of the skipper in both the teams.
This achievement caps off Kohli’s brilliant year both as a batsman and the skipper. The ICC Voting Academy comprises of former players, media members and broadcasters.
Kohli has played 13 Tests in 2018. In those matches he has scored 1,322 runs at an average of 55.08, which includes five centuries. In 14 ODIs, he has scored 1,202 runs at an astounding average of 133.55. He had six ODI centuries in 2018.
His overall achievements saw him in the list of every voting member. Moreover most of them even opted his name as the skipper of both the teams.
Kohli also ended 2018 as the top batsman in both Test and ODI. He is top ranked in the MRF Tyres ICC Player Rankings. India ended as the top ranked team in Tests and finished second in ODIs, behind England.
The voting period is between 1 January and 31 December 2018. During this time India had won six Tests and lost seven. The Tests are won in South Africa, England and Australia. Apart from that there were some close games too in away series. In ODIs, India won nine games, lost four and tied one game.
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An amazing year for the cricketing fraternity
India captain Virat Kohli said, “It has been an amazing year. I was able to play in a manner that I would not have imagined. If the intention is right and you keep working hard, the results are there in front of your own eyes. The intent has always to be helping your team at any cost, that is when these performances come by and you are pushing yourself to the limit, which you otherwise will not be able to. That is something I experienced in 2018 a lot.”
Apart from Kohli, wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant and pacer Jasprit Bumrah also feature in the Test list. New Zealand have three players — Kane Williamson, Henry Nicholls and opener Tom Latham.
The other five nations comprises the rest of the Test team. They are Dimuth Karunaratne (Sri Lanka), Jason Holder (Windies), top-ranked Kagiso Rabada (South Africa), Nathan Lyon (Australia) and Mohammad Abbas (Pakistan).
In the ODIs, India has Kohli, opener Rohit Sharma, spinner Kuldeep Yadav and pacer Jasprit Bumrah. Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow, Jos Buttler and Ben Stokes represent England. The other players are Mustafizur Rahman (Bangladesh), top-ranked Rashid Khan (Afghanistan) and Ross Taylor (New Zealand).
Test and ODI team of 2018
ICC’s Test XI of 2018: Tom Latham (New Zealand), Dimuth Karunaratne (Sri Lanka), Kane Williamson (New Zealand), Virat Kohli (India) (capt), Henry Nicholls (New Zealand), Rishabh Pant (India) (wk), Jason Holder (Windies), Kagiso Rabada (South Africa), Nathan Lyon (Australia), Jasprit Bumrah (India), Mohammad Abbas (Pakistan).
ICC’s ODI XI of 2018: Rohit Sharma (India), Jonny Bairstow (England), Virat Kohli (India) (capt), Joe Root (England), Ross Taylor (New Zealand), Jos Buttler (England) (wk), Ben Stokes (England), Mustafizur Rahman (Bangladesh), Rashid Khan (Afghanistan), Kuldeep Yadav (India), Jasprit Bumrah (India).
Details of the Awards:
Cricketer of the Year: Virat Kohli
Test Player of the Year: Virat Kohli
ODI Player of the Year: Virat Kohli
Twenty20 International Performance of the Year: Aaron Finch (Australia)
Emerging Player of the Year: Rishabh Pant
Associate Player of the Year: Calum Mcleod
Umpire of the Year: Kumar Dharmasena
Women’s Cricketer of the Year: Smriti Mandhana
Women’s ODI Cricketer of the Year: Smriti Mandhana
Women’s T20I Cricketer of the Year: Alyssa Healy
Women’s Emerging Cricketer of the Year: Sophie Ecclestone
Spirit of Cricket: Kane Williamson (New Zealand)
Fan’s Moment of the Year: India win U19 World Cup