ICC reveals Men’s T20I Team of the Year 2021; Babar Azam named captain

On Wednesday, the International Cricket Council (ICC) revealed the Men’s T20I team of the year 2021. The special XI comprised of players who showed utmost consistency throughout the last year. The ICC included a maximum of three players from Pakistan and South Africa each, two from Australia and one from England, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka.

Interestingly, no Indian player was picked in the team of the year by the apex cricketing body. Further, they didn’t select any player from the T20 World Cup 2021 finalists New Zealand, who lost the contest against Australia by eight wickets.

Pakistan’s Babar Azam was named the captain of the team, while his opening partner in the national side Mohammad Rizwan was picked as the specialist wicketkeeper.

Here is the ICC T20I team of the year 2021:

• Jos Buttler (England)
  Matches: 14, Runs: 589, Avg: 65.44, Highest: 101 (not out), SR: 143.30, 100s: 1, 50s: 5
• Mohammad Rizwan (Pakistan) (wicketkeeper)
  Matches: 29, Runs: 1326, Avg: 73.66, Highest: 104 (not out), SR: 134.89, 100s: 1, 50s: 12
• Babar Azam (Pakistan) (captain)
  Matches: 29, Runs: 939, Avg: 37.56, Highest: 122, SR: 127.58, 100s: 1, 50s: 5
• Aiden Markram (South Africa)
  Matches: 18, Runs: 570, Avg: 43.84, Highest: 70, SR: 148.82, 100s: 0, 50s: 6
• Mitchell Marsh (Australia)
  Matches: 21, Runs: 627, Avg: 36.88, Highest: 77 (not out), SR: 129.81, 100s: 0, 50s: 6
• David Miller (South Africa)
  Matches: 17, Runs: 377, Avg: 47.12, Highest: 85 (not out), SR: 149.60, 100s: 0, 50s: 2
• Tabraiz Shamsi (South Africa)
  Matches: 22, Wickets: 36, Avg: 13.36, Economy Rate: 5.72
• Josh Hazlewood (Australia)
  Matches: 15, Wickets: 23, Avg: 16.34, Economy Rate: 6.87
• Wanindu Hasaranga (Sri Lanka)
  Matches: 20, Wickets: 36, Avg: 11.63, Eco: 5.44
• Shaheen Shah Afridi (Pakistan)
  Matches: 21, Wickets: 23, Avg: 26.04, Economy Rate: 7.86
• Mustafizur Rahman (Bangladesh)
  Matches: 20, Wickets: 28, Avg: 17.39, Economy Rate: 7.00