Rishabh Pant only Indian in ICC Men's Test Team of Year 2022
Jan 24, 2023
Dubai [UAE], January 24 : India's star wicket-keeper batter Rishabh Pant has been included in ICC's Men's Test Team of the Year, announced by the International Cricket Council (ICC) on Tuesday.
"The ICC's Men's Test Team of the Year includes 11 players who produced remarkable returns in the 2022 calendar year, with either bat, ball or their all-round talents. Here are the 11 players who excelled to such an extent in Test cricket in 2022 that they have made the selection for the ICC's Men's Test XI of the year," ICC said in a statement.
England Test captain Ben Stokes has been named the captain of the side while Rishabh Pant has been included as wicket-keeper.
India's keeper-batter Rishabh Pant enjoyed a stunning year with the bat, hitting 680 runs from 12 innings at an average of 61.81 and a strike rate of 90.90. Two centuries and four fifties in a single season only tell part of the story, as Pant's destructive style of batting gave his team a boost all year long. In 2022, he hit 21 sixes in Test matches. He also had good glove work, delivering six stumpings and grabbing 23 catches.
However, it might be a while before Pant can be seen in action in a Test match as the 25-year-old is still recovering from the wounds he received in a terrible vehicle accident last month.
England's extraordinary turnaround in 2022 may have seen Bairstow star with the bat, but it was Ben Stokes who instilled the change and introduced such a remarkable attacking mindset. Since taking over the team at the beginning of the English summer, Stokes' captaincy has revolutionised England, assisting them in nine victories. He has also shown success with both the bat and the ball. At an average of 36.25 down at number six, Stokes scored 870 runs throughout the year that included two centuries.
Usman Khawaja's re-entry into Australia's Test XI could not have begun any better as he scored hundreds in both of his innings against England, including a magnificent 137 in the first and an undefeated 101* in the second. The talented left-hander contributed significantly to Australia's well-earned success by scoring 496 runs at a staggering average of 165.33 during the series victory in Pakistan. He hit two hundreds and two other scores in the nineties.
Men's Test Team of the Year 2022: Usman Khawaja (Australia), Kraigg Brathwaite (West Indies), Marnus Labuschagne (Australia), Babar Azam (Pakistan), Jonny Bairstow (England), Ben Stokes (Captain, England), Rishabh Pant - (WK, India), Pat Cummins (Australia), Kagiso Rabada (South Africa), Nathan Lyon (Australia) and James Anderson (England).
