ICC Awards: Virat Kohli Appointed Captain of ICC Test Team of the Year

India captain, Virat Kohli has been named as the skipper of ICC Test team of the year which includes Steven Smith as well.

There was a direct race between Kohli and Smith for the captaincy post, and the India skipper won the race, as India didn’t lose a Test series in 2017. In fact, the side only lost one Test against Australia in Pune in February.

ICC Men’s Test Team of the Year

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ICC has named Dean Elgar and David Warner as the two openers. Dimuth Karunartne was also in the race for openers slot but lost the place to Elgar and Warner.

Cheteshwar Pujara, the second highest run-scorer with 1140 runs, will bat at number three. Skipper Kohli will bat at number four while Steven Smith at number four in ICC’s Test XI of the year. Smith was the highest run-scorer scorer during the year and has also been named ICC Test Cricketer of the Year.

Ben Stokes also got selected, as the pace bowling all-rounder. He missed the Ashes 2017/18 due to his involvement in the bar incident in Bristol in September last year.

South Africa wicket-keeper batsman, Quinton de Kock, has won the race to keep wickets for the side. Bangladesh’s Mushfiqur Rahim and England’s Jonny Bairstow were ahead of him in runs tally, but the youngster got preferred for the job.

India’s Ravichandran Ashwin is the lone specialist spinner on the team. The ICC Test Cricketer of the year 2016 bagged 56 wickets in 11 Tests to emerge out as the third highest wicket-taker. Surprisingly, Nathan Lyon – who scalped 63 wickets – was not included.

Mitchell Starc, James Anderson and Kagiso Rabada are the three quicks in the team. Starc’s inclusion is surprising, as he bagged 26 wickets in six Test matches and also missed five games for his side.Both Anderson and Rabada shone for their team with 55 and 57 wickets, respectively.

ICC also announced the ODI team of the year. Virat Kohli has been given the charge to lead that team as well. David Warner, Quinton de Kock and Ben Stokes are the three other players to find a place in that squad as well.

ICC’s Test Team of the year –

Dean Elgar, David Warner, Virat Kohli (c), Steve Smith, Cheteshwar Pujara, Quinton de Kock (wk), Ben Stokes, Ravichandran Ashwin, Mitchell Starc, Kagiso Rabada, James Anderson