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Virat Kohli named captain of ICC Test XI 2018; Rishabh Pant, Jasprit Bumrah among three Indians to feature

Written by Vishwas Gupta

Virat Kohli has been named the captain of ICC Test XI of the year 2018. The ICC Test XI of the year features three players each from India and New Zealand. Rishabh Pant and Jasprit Bumrah, who had a stellar campaign in the recently-concluded Test series against Australia are the other two Indians who feature in the Test team of the year.

Tom Latham: Scored 658 runs (jont-highest), including a career-best 264* in the first Test against Sri Lanka in December.

Dimuth Karunaratne: Scored 743 runs from nine Tests, including a century and seven fifties in 17 innings. He averaged, 46.73 which is a personal best in any calendar year since his debut in 2012.

Kane Williamson: Pivotal in the Kiwis’ series win over Pakistan and Sri Lanka, he scored 89 and 139 in the final Test against Sarfraz Ahmed’s men in Abu Dhabi. Century against England and 91 against Sri Lanka were two more exceptional innings.

Virat Kohli: Virat Kohli ended the year as the highest scorer, with 1322 runs from 13 Tests at an average of 55.08.

Henry Nicholls: He aggregated 658 runs from seven Tests at a mind-boggling average of 73.11, including three centuries and three fifties.

Rishabh Pant: After making his Test debut in England, Pant scored a total of 537 runs from eight Tests in the year at an average of 38.35. Terrific start for a 21-year-old who broke many records in Australia.

Jason Holder: He scored 336 runs from six Tests with two fifties while batting in the lower-middle order. With the ball, he took 33 wickets at 12.39, including 4 fifers and one 10-wicket match.

Kagiso Rabada: No. 1 ranked ICC Test bowler, Rabada claimed 52 wickets from 10 Tests at 20.07. He also took 2 fifers and one 10-wicket match.

Nathan Lyon: In 2018, Lyon became Australia’s 4th highest wicket-taker. He ended the year with 49 wickets from 10 Tests including 17 in the 3-Test series against Kohli’s Team India.

Jasprit Bumrah: He took 48 wickets from 10 Tests at 21.02 and was pivotal in India’s historic Test series triumph Down Under.

Mohammad Abbas: He took 17 wickets in the two-Test series against Australia, before bagging 19 against England. The year ended with him claiming a total of 38 wickets from seven Tests at 13.76.

ICC Test XI of the year 2018: 

Virat Kohli (c), Tom Latham, Dimuth Karunaratne, Kane Williamson, Henry Nicholls, Rishabh Pant, Jason Holder, Kagiso Rabada, Nathan Lyon, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammad Abbas

About the author

Vishwas Gupta