In 2023, the ICC Men’s Team of the Year was revealed. Many World Cup stars made the cut. With no surprises, Indian cricketers claimed six out of 11 places. It showcased their ODI mastery last year.
Rohit Sharma was chosen as the leader. Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammad Siraj, and Mohammad Shami were selected from his team to complete the XI.
The remaining spots were taken by athletes from the three other World Cup semi-final qualifying teams. Even being the World Champions, Australia had only Travis Head and Adam Zampa representing. The New Zealand team, Australia’s close rivals, saw Daryll Mitchell securing the No.5 spot.
Heinrich Klaasen and Marco Jansen of South Africa completed the ODI Team of the Year.
Gill, Kohli, Rohit, and Mitchell scored the most runs in ODIs last year. For ODI wickets, it was Kuldeep, Siraj, and Shami who took the lead in 2023. Not just that, Kohli was named the Player of the Tournament in the World Cup. He smashed a record in a sole edition with 765 runs, out of which three were centuries.
Head’s selection, however, took into account his outstanding Player of the Match displays against South Africa and India in the World Cup semifinal and final, respectively.
In response, fans took to Twitter to highlight a number of noticeable elements, such as Kohli’s comeback, his record-tying seventh participation in the Team of the Year, and the lack of Pakistani players in the lineup.
Here are a few responses:
Four Indians featured in the ICC Men’s T20I Team of the Year 2023
The International Cricket Council shared the Men’s T20I Team of the Year yesterday. Four players from India made the cut in the team of 11.
Interestingly, the ODI XI’s six Indian members didn’t join the T20I side, and the reverse also held true. In terms of batting, Yashasvi Jaiswal, the opener, along with Suryakumar Yadav, the world’s best T20I batter, secured spots in the 11.
Ravi Bishnoi and Arshdeep Singh have their names listed in the team’s bowlers.
The lower-ranked countries played more Twenty20 Internationals than the top teams because 2023 was the year of the ODI World Cup, and this was reflected in the Team of the Year. Along with Mark Adair of Ireland and Alpesh Ramjani of Uganda, two cricketers from Zimbabwe, Sikandar Raza and Richard Ngarava, were included in the esteemed eleven.
Daring batsmen Mark Chapman, Phil Salt, and Nicholas Pooran completed the side, with Suryakumar selected as captain.