Cricket’s governing body announced the ICC ODI Team of the Year 2018 on Tuesday. The India National Cricket Team captain, Virat Kohli is named as the skipper of the side. An XI which has explosive players on the list has four Indians included too. Off them, the second-ranked ODI batsman, Rohit Sharma; the number one bowler in ODIs, Jasprit Bumrah and Kuldeep Yadav are also there. The XI also has four players from the ranked number one ODI team, England. The remaining three players are from New Zealand, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan.
ICC ODI Team of the Year 2018 announced
Meanwhile, the XI has six batsmen, one all-rounder, and four bowlers. The top two teams in the ICC ODI rankings, England and India, have eight of their players named on the list. From England, the opener in the limited-overs, Jonny Bairstow will pair alongside Rohit Sharma. Joe Root and dominating wicketkeeper-batsman Jos Buttler are the other two Englishmen; plus Ben Stokes, the star all-rounder is named on the list too. Apart from them, Bangladesh’s Mustafizur Rahman, New Zealand’s Ross Taylor, and Afghanistan’s Rashid Khan have made a cut as well.
However, the numbers attained by few of the players are remarkable. The top three batsmen had all scored over 1000 runs in a calendar year with Kohli averaging the most (133.55) of them all. Coming to the middle order, the pair of veteran Taylor and England’s Jos Buttler have some records to showcase too. As Taylor averaged 91.28 in 2018, Buttler collected 671 runs off the bat with 26 catches and nine stumpings in the past year.
Beware of the bowlers, world!
The bowling list has some firepower too. Leading the pack is the world’s number one ODI bowler, Jasprit Bumrah. To partner him, the ICC has named Bangladesh’s left-arm seamer, Mustafizur Rahman. The bowling duo had achieved some phenomenal figures to make it to the list. Bumrah, on the one hand, picked 22 wickets at an average of 16.63. Rahman, on the other side, had scalped 29 wickets at 21.72.
However, the spinners on the list are Kuldeep Yadav and Rashid Khan. The wrist spinners, however, didn’t leave a stone unturned to make a name for themselves. Kuldeep had 45 wickets in 2018 at 17.77, whereas, Afghanistan star player, Rashid averaged a magnificent 14.45 after picking 48 wickets.
ICC ODI Team of the Year 2018 –
Rohit Sharma, Jonny Bairstow, Virat Kohli, Joe Root, Ross Taylor, Jos Buttler, Ben Stokes, Rashid Khan, Kuldeep Yadav, Mustafizur Rahman and Jasprit Bumrah.
Presenting the ICC Men's ODI Team of the Year 2018! ?
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— ICC (@ICC) January 22, 2019