The International Cricket Council on Tuesday announced the ICC Test and One Day International (ODI) teams of the year for 2018. Indian skipper Virat Kohli, who has had a remarkable year as a batsman as skipper, was named the captain of both teams.
Other than Virat Kohli, star pacer Jasprit Bumrah is another Indian who finds place in both teams. Young wicket-keeper batsman Rishabh Pant has been included in the Test team of the year.
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The ODI Team of the Year has India vice-captain Rohit Sharma and chinaman Kuldeep Yadav apart from Kohli and Bumrah.
The ICC Team of the Year for both ODI and Test were selected by the ICC Voting Academy comprising former players, members of the media and broadcasters.
The 30-year-old Indian captain has scored 1,322 runs at a staggering average of 55.08 with five centuries in 13 Tests. Kohli also amassed 1,202 runs at an astounding average of 133.55 with six hundred in 14 ODIs.
Kohli ended the calendar year 2018 as the table topper in both ODIs and Tests as a batsman in the MRF Tyres ICC Player Rankings. Team India finished the year as the top-ranked side in the longest format of the game and number two in ODIs.
England is ranked number in ODI ranking. Responding to the news, a delighted 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 been to help 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,” Kohli added.
Meanwhile, New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson, his teammates Henry Nicholls and opener Tom Latham are also included in the ICC Test Team of the Year.
Sri Lanka’s Dimuth Karunaratne, West Indies’ Jason Holder, South Africa’s Kagiso Rabada, Australia’s Nathan Lyon and Pakistan’s Mohammad Abbas are also included in the ICC Test Team of the Year.
In the limited overs squad, Three Lions too have four players — Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow, Jos Buttler and Ben Stokes.
Bangladesh’s Mustafizur Rahman, Afghanistan’s Rashid Khan and New Zealand’s Ross Taylor are also in the ICC ODI XI.
