Joe Root Among Four Players Shortlisted For ICC Men's Test Player Of The Year

The ICC has revealed four nominees for the prestigious ICC Men’s Test Player Of The Year Award – Joe Root, Ravichandran Ashwin, Kyle Jamieson and Dimuth Karunarathne.

These four players have had a sensational year and richly deserve all the plaudits that come their way.

Joe Root

Although England have had an indifferent year in Tests as far as results are concerned, Joe Root’s run has been simply phenomenal with the bat. He has become only the third player to score more than 1700 Test runs in a calendar year, only behind Mohammed Yousuf of Pakistan and Sir Vivian Richards of West Indies.

In 15 Tests so far, Root has scored 1708 runs and has six hundreds to his name. One of the memorable performances for Joe Root has been his sensational double hundred against Sri Lanka at Galle and also against India at Chennai that set the tone for the entire year.

Joe Root also scored a fantastic hundred at Lord’s against India also shows his grit and determination. Root has also been brilliant with the ball, picking up 14 wickets including a fifer at Ahmedabad.

Ravichandran Ashwin

Ravichandran Ashwin has arguably been one of the best off-spinners India has produced in Tests. Year after year, Ashwin has been remarkable with his consistent performances and 2021 was no different. In eight games, Ashwin has picked up 52 wickets this year at a sensational average of 16.23.

Ashwin has also been handy with the bat, having scored a brilliant hundred on a turning track in Chennai. He has amassed 337 runs too this year.

Kyle Jamieson

There is no doubt that New Zealand have found a future superstar in Kyle Jamieson, given his stellar performances in the year 2021. If one is overshadowing at times the performances of star pacers like Trent Boult, Tim Southee and Neil Wagner, one must certainly be special.

Jamieson was the star of the show in the World Test Championship final, picking up seven wickets in the game and also contributing a handy 21 in the first innings, being named as the Player of the Match. He also picked six wickets in foreign conditions in India and showed he had the ability to adjust as per the conditions.

Dimuth Karunarathne

Dimuth Karunarathne has gone somewhat under the radar with his performances in 2021. In seven games, Karunarathne has scored 902 runs at a sensational average of 69.38 with four centuries to his name.

Karunarathen scored a fine hundred against South Africa at Johannesburg, followed it up with two hundreds in two Tests against Bangladesh and also scored a hundred against West Indies.

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