India did not have a player in the ICC’s men’s ‘T20 Team of the Year’ due to a disastrous World Cup campaign in the UAE, but two players from minnows Ireland are in the ‘ODI Team of the Year’.
Similarly, there are no players from Australia, England, New Zealand, or the West Indies on the team. Babar Azam, the team’s captain, and Fakhar Zaman make up the Pakistani contingent.
South Africans Janneman Malan and Rassie van der Dussen; Bangladeshi Shakib Al Hasan, Mustafizur Rahaman and Mushfiqur Rahim, who is also the designated wicketkeeper; Sri Lankans Wanindu Hasaranga and Dishmantha Chameera and Irishmen Paul Stirling and Simi Singh make up the rest of the squad.
India played six one-day internationals in 2021 and won four and lost two.
The two 50-over matches they played were against England at home, which they won 2-1, and against Sri Lanka away, which they won by a similar margin.
Since they won both the series they played in 2021, the reason for not selecting an Indian in the XI is more likely due to lack of matches than poor performance.
Shikhar Dhawan is the only Indian to have played all six ODIs in 2021, and he scored 297 runs from six games.
Premier bowlers like KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma didn’t play all six ODIs in 2021, as did Virat Kohli, KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar played in five of those six games, taking nine wickets from those five matches.
In order for the Indians to qualify for the team of the year, there must be enough impactful performances to earn points.
Stirling, for example, had 705 runs in 14 One-Day Internationals in 2021 with an average of 79.66, which made him an automatic selection.
In eight games for the Proteas, Janneman has run for 509 runs at an average of nearly 85.
Among the 11 players, Babar, who has played the fewest games, also has 405 runs with two hundreds in six games, while Zaman has 369 runs.
Rassie van der Dussen averaged 57 in the middle order in 2021 with 342 runs in eight games, while Shakib had 277 runs and 17 wickets as an all-rounder.
Wanindu Hasaranga scored 356 runs and picked up 12 wickets while Mushfiqur Rahim had 400-plus runs while picking up stumpings and catches.
Mustafzur Rahaman and Duhmantha Chameera took 18 and 20 wickets, respectively, while off-spinner Simi took 19 wickets.
