Indian captain, Rohit Sharma, was not selected by the jury for the Test XI that the International Cricket Council (ICC) released on Tuesday, despite being named captain of the Men's One Day International (ODI) Team of the Year 2023. With multiple nominations, Australia dominated the World Test Championship (WTC) playing XI and led the way in the ICC Men's Test Team of the Year 2023. Up to five Australian players were included in the ICC Test Team of the Year, which was led by speedster Pat Cummins.
Before the prominent pacer orchestrated Australia's unprecedented sixth World Cup victory in the 50-over format, Cummins led the Baggy Greens to their maiden WTC title. Cummins was nominated for the Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy for ICC Men's Cricketer of the Year in addition to captaining the ICC Men's Test Team of the Year. Australia was able to hold onto the Ashes last year thanks to Cummins. In addition, with 42 wickets in 11 games, the elite fast bowler dominated the bowling stats.
Usman Khawaja, Cummins' colleague, was chosen to start the ICC World Test Championship XI as the opener. For the second consecutive year, Khawaja was selected for the Test XI, and the Australian opener is vying for Test Cricketer of the Year. Khawaja finished the previous year's Tests with over 1000 runs (1210). Travis Head, a premier batter, also had a tremendous year in every format. Head smashed 163 versus India in the WTC final. The 2023 WTC XI was also anchored by experienced pacer Mitchell Starc and Australian Alex Carey.
In 17 WTC games last season, Kohli hit 932 runs at an average of over 45. With 758 runs in 11 games, Indian captain Rohit led his team to the WTC final matchup against Australia. But batting greats Rohit and Kohli were left off of the star-studded WTC XI for 2023. Only two Indians, veteran all-rounders Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja, were included in the ICC Test team of the year.
Jadeja began the season against Australia with a five-wicket haul and a vital fifty. In the WTC final versus Australia, the outstanding all-rounder contributed with a 48-run knock and four wickets. Ashwin, a senior all-rounder, is the fourth player to be included in the WTC XI for 2023 and a nominee for ICC Men's Test Cricketer of the Year. The spin wizard led India in wicket-taking during the highly anticipated Border-Gavaskar series. When India faced Australia in the WTC final, Ashwin was left out of the starting lineup. India's bowling arsenal against England in the home series will be spearheaded by the spinner.
