India‘s premier off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has been included among 4 nominees shortlisted by the ICC for the Test Cricketer of the Year award. Joe Root, Kyle Jamieson, and Dimuth Karunaratne are the other three who could make the cut for this award.
The year 2021 has been a roller coaster ride for Ravichandran Ashwin. Ashwin finished the calendar year as the leading wicket-taker. Indian off-spinner picked 52 wickets in 9 Tests with an average of 16.94 which included 3 fifers.
On another side, he wasn’t picked in any of the 4-Test match series in England which raised many eyebrows. However, the home series against England was most fruitful for him as he picked 32 wickets in 4-match series with 3 fifers. Ashwin also picked 14 wickets in the 2-Test series against New Zealand. In both the series at home, he received the ‘Player of the Series’ award.
The no.2 ranked all-rounder also chipped in with the bat as well. He started the year with a marathon match-saving effort at Sydney. Later in the home series against England, he also scored a hundred in front of his home crowd at Chennai.
Among other nominees, Joe Root would be the toughest competitor for Ashwin. England captain had a dream run in the year 2021 as the Yorkshire batter scored runs in every part of the world. Root scored 1708 runs in 15 Tests this year with an average of 61 which included 6 hundreds.
He started the year with a big hundred and a double hundred in the two-Test match series at Galle against Sri Lanka. Then in India, he again had a Player of the match performance with a double hundred at Chennai.
Joe Root scored 1708 runs in the year 2021
Then in the home series against India, he scored 3 back-to-back hundreds against a quality Indian pace attack. However, he is still chasing his first hundred in Australian soil as he failed to convert his three fifties into a hundred in the ongoing Ashes down under.
Next on the list is New Zealand all-rounder Kyle Jamieson who picked 27 wickets in 5 Tests this year. In his very first match of the year, he picked 11 wickets in the match against Pakistan at Christchurch. But his most memorable performance of the year would be his ‘Player of the Match’ performance in the World Test Championship final against Virat Kohli & Co. as the Kiwis beat the table-toppers to become champions of the inaugural edition of the World Test Championship.
Last but not the least, Sri Lanka’s Test captain Dimuth Karunaratne will also compete for this award as he scored 902 runs in 7 Tests this year which included 4 hundreds. A hundred at Johannesburg in the New Year test is something he would cherish a lot. He also scored 3 hundreds in the home series against Bangladesh and West Indies which included a big double hundred (244) at Pallekele.