India spinner and allrounder Ravichandran Ashwin has been nominated by the ICC along with Joe Root, Dimuth Karunaratne, and Kyle Jamieson for the ICC Men’s Test Player of the Year. All four of them were named by the ICC on Tuesday.
It has been an excellent year for Ashwin as he performed with both bat and ball for India in Tests.
Ashwin’s Performances against Australia and England and in ICC World Test Championship
He had a clinical performance that helped India clinch another series win Down Under earlier this year and fended off 128 balls to help India get a draw. He took the prized wickets of Steve Smith and David Warner in Australia’s second innings.
In the home series against England, he took 32 wickets in four matches at 14.72 and also contributed 189 runs with the bat. For his performance, he was given the Player of the Series.
Although India couldn’t win the inaugural ICC World Test Championship against New Zealand, Ashwin still performed his very best on a seamer-friendly wicket and took four wickets in the match.
Other Contenders for the ICC Men’s Test Player of the Year
Joe Root, England’s Test captain also had a fine year as he scored 1708 runs and fell just two runs short of Viv Richards as the batsman with the highest runs scored in a single calendar year. But, his runs didn’t much help a floundering England Test side.
New Zealand pacer Kyle Jamieson has also emerged as one of the best finds for Test cricket this year. The 26-year-old tall bowler was part of the New Zealand Test side that won the ICC World Test Championship. He took seven wickets and also played a contributing knock of 21 runs and eventually was awarded the Player of the Match.
Sri Lanka’s Dimuth Karunaratne has also been in prime form this year as he played in a variety of conditions all over the world and has established himself as one of the best openers in Test cricket.
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