On Friday, January 5, the International Cricket Council (ICC) released the list of nominees for the ICC Men’s Test Cricketer of the Year 2023. Indian 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 bowlers are batsmen for the Australia National Cricket Team and the England National Cricket Team.
Veteran Ravichandran Ashwin once again had a great run in 2023 in the purest format of the game and contributed with both the ball and the bat for India.
He got a total of 41 wickets in just 7 matches at an average of 17.02, including 4 5-wicket hauls. With the bat, he contributed 150 runs during the year. Ravichandran Ashwin was at his best in the home Border-Gavaskar Trophy series against Australia when he bagged 25 wickets and won the Player of the Series award.
During the series, Ashwin overtook legendary spinner Anil Kumble to become India’s leading wicket-taker against Australia in Tests with 114 wickets to his name. He is one of the favorites to win the award and, if he manages to do so, it will be the second time he has become the ICC Men’s 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 Cricketer of the Year 2023 award
The second player nominated for the award is Australian 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 very 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 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 matches of Ashes 2023 against England and then finished his 2023 with vital contributions in the series against Pakistan.
The third player nominated for the award is Australian National Cricket Team opening batsman Usman Khawaja, who amassed 1210 runs in 13 matches. This is the second time in a row that Khawaja has been nominated for the ICC Men’s Cricketer of the Year award.
Usman Khawaja was at his best when he featured in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series against India and the Ashes series against England. He finished as the leading run-scorer in both series, registering 333 and 496 runs respectively. Furthermore, he was the only player to score more than 1000 runs in Test cricket in 2023.
The fourth and final player nominated for the award is England national cricket team’s batting superstar Joe Root, who scored 787 runs in 8 matches. With the ball, he bagged 8 wickets. Root is a big favorite for the award and should he win it, this will be his second ICC Men’s Cricketer of the Year award after 2021.
Joe Root started the 2023 Ashes series by scoring 118 runs in the first Test. However, he went through a bit of a rough patch before recovering strongly and ending the series on a positive note.