ISLAMABAD – Babar Azam has been included in Wisden’s ODI team of the yearfor 2019 following a brilliant year with the bat. Indian captain, ViratKohli, has been selected as the captain of the team.
In the last 12 months, the run-machine amassed 1,092 runs, including threecenturies, at an average of 60.66. He scored runs at will, boasting astrike rate of 92.30.For now, there is no sexier batsman on the planet.
In a blog post on Sunday, the cricketing website revealed the team of theyear, saying:
The Wisden Cricket Monthly ODI team of the year is a different beast,rewarding not spectacular moments of individual brilliance, but continuedexcellence over a 12 month period.
Here’s how the team selected by a panel of writers based on consistentperformances in the format between December 3, 2018, and December 3, 2019:*Player* *Batting* *Bowling*Runs Average 100s Wickets Economy Strike RateRohit Sharma 1,232 53.56 6Jason Roy 845 70.41 3Virat Kohli (C) 1,288 64.40 5Babar Azam 1,092 60.66 3Shakib Al Hasan 841 84.10 2 16 4.75 49.5Ben Stokes 719 59.91 0 12 5.69 46.9Shai Hope (WK) 1,420 67.61 5Mitchell Starc 27 5.42 20.5Yuzvender Chahal 29 5.73 29.3Jasprit Bumrah 25 4.62 31.8Trent Boult 38 4.70 30.5
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Talking about Babar’s technique, the website wrote:
His technique is so pure that he doesn’t really do failure: the good ballsget smothered, the bad ones are cuffed away with clinical poise. If thereis a criticism, it’s that he’s so good, he should dominate even more.
Further, his cover drive has been dubbed as the ‘signature shot of theera’. Wisden, however, fears that the pressure of carrying the battingline-up may hamper his flamboyance, however, “for now, there is no sexierbatsman on the planet”.
