ICC Awards 2019: Four Indians in ICC ODI XI of 2019

The ODI XI of 2019 was announced by ICC and as it turns out four Indian players have been named in the side. ICC release an ODI XI of the year which is put together by all the best players in the format for that particular year.

The four Indian players to be named in the side are Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Mohammad Shami and Kuldeep Yadav. Kohli was also named the captain of this side by ICC at the annual award ceremony.

ICC Awards 2019: Kohli leads a star-studded ODI XI

Among others, West Indies’ batsman Shai Hope was named as Rohit’s opening partner while Pakistan’s Babar Azam was named after the skipper of the side, Kohli. New Zealand captain Kane Williamson was also given a spot as a result of a great World Cup with the bat where he carried his team in the tournament final. He was also named the man of the tournament. World-cup winners Jos Butler and Ben Stokes find their spots for their wicket-keeping and all-round skills respectively.

Australia’s pacer Mitchell Starc, who was the highest wicket-taker at the World Cup with 28 wickets is one of the three pacers in the side. New Zealand’s Trent Boult ended the year as the second-highest wicket-taker in the format and found a deserving spot in the team. Mohammad Shami and Kuldeep Yadav make up the other two spots as mentioned above.

Rohit named ICC ODI Cricketer of the year

Both Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli had a great year with the bat in 2019, having scored 1490 and 1377 runs respectively. Rohit scored seven centuries while his skipper scored five centuries. The two batting heroes played some fantastic cricket and contributed to the team’s success significantly. Rohit was the leading run-getter of the year and also received the ICC ODI player of the year award. At the 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup, he scored five centuries, most by any player in a single edition of the tournament.

Along with the two batting maestros, Mohammad Shami also had a fantastic year with the ball as he full-fledged came back into the ODI set-up. The fast-bowler from Bengal took 42 wickets from 21 matches in 2019 and was the highest wicket-taker of the year in the format. Kuldeep Yadav, once again stood, as he was the only spinner to be picked by ICC in the ODI XI of the year. He had picked 32 wickets from 23 matches.

5️⃣ #CWC19 centuries
7️⃣ ODI centuries in 2019

Your 2019 ODI Cricketer of the Year is Rohit Sharma.#ICCAwards pic.twitter.com/JYAxBhJcNn

— ICC (@ICC) January 15, 2020

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oyrAqAL4uGw