Suryakumar Yadav To Lead ICC Men’s T20I Team Of The Year, 4 Indians Included | Cricket News

The International Cricket Council (ICC) announced the team of the year 2023, naming India’s Suryakumar Yadav as the captain. The team consisted of a total of 4 Indians while the big players like Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, etc. were understandably absent, having not featured in the format since the conclusion of the T20 World Cup last year. But, the apex body did find places for other Indian stars like Ravi Bishnoi, Yashasvi Jaiswal, and Arshdeep Singh in the 11-member roster.

The Indian duo of Suryakumar and Yashasvi were the first picks at the top of the batting order while England’s Phil Salt came in next at the No. 3 spot.

Jaiswal made his India debut last year, making his bow against West Indies in August and scoring 430 runs in 14 knocks in 2023 at a strike rate of 159. Salt, on the other hand, hit 331 runs in the five-match T20I series, 170 runs better than the next top-scoring batter on the list in the series.

West Indies wicket-keeper batter Nicholas Pooran slotted in at the No. 4 spot while New Zealand’s Mark Chapman took the No. 5 place in the team.

Zimbabwe all-rounder Sikandar Raza found himself at the No. 6 spot. Uganada’s Alpesh Ramjani and Ireland’s Mark Adair were probably the two names that not many expected to feature in the team. 

Ramjani led the charts when it comes to T20I wickets for the year (55 at an economy of just 4.77) in 30 matches while Ireland’s bowling all-rounder Adair took 26 wickets at an economy of 7.42, taking a wicket every 13 deliveries.

India spinner Ravi Bishnoi was paired with Zimbabwe’s Richard Ngarava and fellow Indian Arshdeep Singh in the bowling attack. 

Arshdeep took 26 wickets in 21 appearances for India last year while Bishnoi took 18 wickets in just 44 overs across the year. The leg-spinner also climbed to No.1 on the ICC T20 Bowling Rankings as a result of his performances.

Ngarava, famously, finished the year with 26 wickets in 15 matches, only conceded 5.63 runs per over, taking a wicket every 12.1 deliveries.

ICC men’s T20I team of the Year: Suryakumar Yadav (captain), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Phil Salt, Nicholas Pooran, Mark Chapman, Sikandar Raza, Alpesh Ramjani, Mark Adair, Ravi Bishnoi, Richard Ngarava, Arshdeep Singh.