Player of the year — Virat Kohli
The manner in which he rebounded from his failures against Australia — 46 runs in five innings before hurting his shoulder — spoke of a man whose appetite for runs is simply relentless. In 46 matches across formats, Kohli scored 2,818 runs, far ahead of Hashim Amla (2,073) in second place. He was in the top five run-scorers in each format, and finished the year with back-to-back Test double-centuries against Sri Lanka. As impressive was his ability to rouse his team. After being skittled for 189 on the opening day in Bangalore, the series against Australia was as good as lost. But Kohli’s aggression and positivity ensured that India came out and fought tigerishly on the second, conceding just 197 runs while taking six wickets. That momentum shift was ultimately decisive. If he can coax a series victory out of his players in South Africa, England or Australia, a place in the pantheon will be his at the age of 30.
Batsman of the year — Steve Smith
Will top the Test run charts for the year if he scores 14 in the Boxing Day Test against England. The best long-format batsman in the world matched Kohli’s tally of five centuries, and invariably made them at the most important times. When Australia arrived in India in February, it was on the back of nine straight Test losses in Asia. Smith’s response? A second-innings hundred on a minefield of a pitch that shut India out of the contest. He finished that four-Test series with 499 runs. Later in the year, in the most high-profile contest of all, he ground England into the Gabba dust with a patient 141. Then, with the urn within touching distance, he stroked 239 at the WACA in Perth. In his case, the ‘Bradmanesque’ descriptor isn’t lightly used.
Bowler of the year — Hasan Ali
Finished with 63 wickets at 18.85 in 29 matches across the formats. Slightly built, but genuinely quick, his finest hours came at the Champions Trophy in England in June. Having been thrashed by India in their opening game, Pakistan had no margin for error. Ali took three apiece against South Africa and Sri Lanka to help seal a semifinal place, and then took out Jonny Bairstow, Eoin Morgan and Ben Stokes as England were upset in the last four. In the final, as the Indian sign was finally laid to rest, he took three for 19, including MS Dhoni, one of the game’s finest finishers. And then there was that celebration. “My celebration is actually a bomb that gets blasted after I take a wicket,” he told Roznama Express. India certainly felt the aftershocks.
Innings of the year — Shai Hope (118 not out at Headingley)
It had been nearly a decade since West Indies won an away Test against opposition other than Bangladesh. They hadn’t won in England since 2000, and 23-year-old Hope, playing his 12th Test, had crossed 50 only once. But at Headingley, in conditions perfectly suited to England’s swing-and-seam-oriented bowling attack, Hope crafted twin innings of 147 and 118 not out. Kraigg Brathwaite contributed 134 and 95, but it was Hope that saw Jason Holder’s unfancied side home with an innings that stood out for its composure, shot selection and sense of occasion. Jimmy Anderson and Stuart Broad, who have laid waste to many a touring side over the past decade, were kept to just one wicket in 49 overs as Hope kept his emotions in check until the winning hit.
Spell of the year —Steve O’Keefe (6 for 5)
In the build-up to the first Test of the series in Pune, there was considerable paranoia in the Australian ranks about what Shane Warne reckoned looked like an “eighth-day” pitch. India’s spin twins, R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja, were expected to run riot. But after Australia were bowled out for 260, it was India that collapsed in a heap. And it was a 32-year-old left-arm spinner playing only his fifth Test that did the damage. Steve O’Keefe’s first nine overs went for 30, and gave little hint of what was to come. In his next 25 balls, he snared six for five, including KL Rahul, Ajinkya Rahane and Wriddhiman Saha in the same over. He managed identical figures of six for 35 in the second innings as Australia romped to a 333-run victory.
Team of the year
Tests: India. ODIs: Pakistan. T20Is: Pakistan.
Test XI: Dean Elgar, Shikhar Dhawan, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli (capt), Steve Smith, Jonny Bairstow (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Mitchell Starc, Kagiso Rabada, Nathan Lyon, James Anderson.
ODI XI: Rohit Sharma, Quinton de Kock, Virat Kohli (capt), Joe Root, Faf Du Plessis, Hardik Pandya, MS Dhoni (wk), Kagiso Rabada, Rashid Khan, Jasprit Bumrah, Hasan Ali.
T20I XI: Evin Lewis, Hashim Amla, Virat Kohli (capt), AB de Villiers, Shoaib Malik, MS Dhoni (wk), Sunil Narine, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah, Hasan Ali, Kesrick Williams.
