LONDON: Indian men’s team captain Rohit Sharma and star pacer Jasprit Bumrah have been named among Wisden’s Five Cricketers of the Year.
The duo topped the bowling and batting averages on last year’s tour of England – a series that was ended one game early due to a COVID scare and will be completed with a one-off Test in July.
Apart from them, Ollie Robinson, Devon Conway and Dane Van Niekerk were also named Wisden’s Five Cricketers of the Year; South Africa’s Lizelle Lee is the new leading women’s cricketer in the world.
Former England skipper Joe Root has been named Wisden’s Leading Cricketer in the World in 2022, days after stepping down as Test captain.
Root holds the record for the most number of matches and wins as England Men’s Test captain. His 27 victories put him ahead of Michael Vaughan (26), Sir Alastair Cook, and Sir Andrew Strauss (24 each).
Root was appointed as the captain after Cook’s resignation in 2017. He led the side to a number of famous series victories, including a 4-1 home series win over India in 2018 and a 3-1 triumph away to South Africa in 2020.
New Zealand’s Conway scored 200 at Lord’s in his first Test innings and was part of the Black Caps’ inaugural World Test Championship winning side, while South African all-rounder Van Niekerk is recognised for captaining Oval Invincibles to glory in the first edition of the women’s Hundred.
Elsewhere in the Almanack, two other players are honoured for their performances in 2021. South Africa’s Lizelle Lee is named the Leading Woman Cricketer in the World, after scoring more runs in 11 ODIs (632), while Pakistan’s Mohammad Rizwan is named as the Leading T20 Cricketer in the World. (ANI)
