Virat Kohli selected as skipper in ICC ODI Team of the Year

Both Rohit and Kohli racked up some serious numbers in the limited-overs format in the qualifying period - from September 2016 to the end of 2017 – and in last December, the Indian opener became the first batsman in the history of ODI cricket to score three double-centuries. Kohli, however, was lesser in comparison to his deputy as he scored 1,460 runs in 2017 – the fourth-highest by any batsman in a calendar year.

While David Warner has been selected as the partner for Rohit, Pakistan’s stylish right-hander Babar Azam will follow Kohli in the line-up. Azam continued his remarkable start to his ODI career and scored 26 percent of Pakistan’s runs in 2017, the highest proportion of any player to his country’s overall tally.

Two-time winner of the ICC’s ODI Cricketer of the Year award, AB de Villiers has been slotted in at No.5. The former South African skipper hit a career-best innings of 176 against Bangladesh last October, off just 104 deliveries. De Villiers’ compatriot Quinton de Kock, who was awarded as the ODI Cricketer of the Year award last year, retained his place in the ODI Team of the Year. De Kock hit 956 runs in 2017, the most he has scored in a calendar year.

England’s controversial all-rounder, Ben Stokes has been picked as the sole all-rounder in the team. His three centuries in 2017 included a career-high 102 not out against Australia in the 2017 Champions Trophy and he was also successful in picking 16 wickets at an average of 39.68 during the qualifying period.

The team has three proper pacers in the line-up with Trent Boult spearheading the attack. Boult, who was at his penetrative best and was particularly potent in the Powerplay, registered a career-best figure of 7/34 against West Indies at Christchurch last December. 

Jasprit Bumrah and Hassan Ali are the two other pacers in the team and will be helped by the presence of Afghanistan’s teenage leg-spinner Rashid Khan, who picked up 50 wickets at an extraordinary average of 11.20. Rashid has also been selected as the winner of the ICC’s Associate Cricketer of the Year award. His figures of 7/18 against West Indies last June were the fourth-best in the history of ODI cricket.

ICC ODI Team of the Year 2017: David Warner, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli (c), Babar Azam, AB de Villiers, Quinton de Kock (wk), Ben Stokes, Trent Boult, Hasan Ali, Rashid Khan, Jasprit Bumrah.