Ravichandran Ashwin Among Nominees For ICC Men's Test Cricketer Of The Year 2023

On Friday, January 5, the International Cricket Council (ICC) unveiled the list of nominees for the ICC Men’s Test Cricketer of the Year 2023. From the India National Cricket Team only one player – Ravichandran Ashwin – was included in the list.

Ashwin is the only bowler nominated for the prestigious award as the rest of the players are the batters from the Australia National Cricket Team and the England National Cricket Team.

The veteran off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin once again had a terrific run in 2023 in the purest format of the game and he made contributions both with the ball and bat for India.

He bagged a total of 41 wickets in just 7 matches at an average of 17.02, including 4 5-wicket hauls. With the bat, he chipped in with 150 runs during the year. Ravichandran Ashwin was at his absolute best in the home Border-Gavaskar Trophy series against Australia as he bagged 25 wickets and won the Player of the Series award.

During the series, Ashwin surpassed the legendary spinner Anil Kumble to become India’s leading wicket-taker against Australia in Tests with 114 wickets under his belt. He is one of the favorites to win the award and if he manages to do that it will be the second instance of him becoming the ICC Men’s Test Cricketer of the Year, having clinched the award in 2016.

Ravichandran Ashwin To Battle With Travis Head, Usman Khawaja, and Joe Root For ICC Men’s Test Cricketer of the Year 2023 Award

The second player nominated for the award is the Australia National Cricket Team batsman Travis Head, who had a remarkable 2023. He scored 919 runs in 12 matches and played blinders for his team. He was highly impressive in the ICC World Test Championship Final as well as the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 final and his innings helped Australia win both the titles.

Apart from the aforementioned competitions, Travis Head made an impact with the bat in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series against India, scoring over 200 runs. He also smashed three half-centuries in the first three Ashes 2023 matches against England and then finished off his 2023 with vital contributions in the series against Pakistan.

The third player nominated for the award is Australia National Cricket Team opening batsman Usman Khawaja, who amassed 1210 runs in 13 matches. This is the second consecutive time that Khawaja has been nominated for the ICC Men’s Test Cricketer of the Year award.

The best of Usman Khawaja was seen when he took part in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series against India and the Ashes series against England. He finished as the top run-scorer in both series, registering 333 and 496 runs respectively. Also, he was the only player to score over 1000 runs in Test cricket in 2023.

The fourth and last player nominated for the award is the England National Cricket Team batting superstar Joe Root, who scored 787 runs in 8 matches. With the ball, he bagged 8 wickets. Root is one of the hot favourites for the award and in case he wins it, this will be his second ICC Men’s Test Cricketer of the Year award after 2021.

Joe Root started off the Ashes 2023 series by smashing 118 runs in the first Test. However, he went through a small lean patch before bouncing back strong and finishing the series on a positive note.