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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.
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.
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.
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.
Tom Latham, Dimuth Karunaratne, Kane Williamson, Virat Kohli (c), Henry Nicholls, Rishabh Pant, Jason Holder, Kagiso Rabada, Nathan Lyon, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammad Abbas.
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 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.
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.
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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