Dubai, Dec 28 (Agency) The International Cricket Council (ICC) on Tuesday revealed the nominees for the ICC Men’s Test Player of the Year awards. Indian ace spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has been nominated for his valuable contribution with bat and ball in the longest format of the game. In 2021, Ashwin claimed 52 wickets in 8 matches at an average of 16.23 and scored 337 runs at 28.08 including a century. With India trailing home series against England 1-0, Ashwin registered figures of 5/43 and 3/52 respectively in each innings to spin a web around the English batters. He also scored a century in the second innings. The ace spinner was adjudged the player of the series for his performance against the visitors. He scalped 32 wickets in four matches and scored 189 runs. England skipper Joe Root, New Zealand’s bowler Kyle Jamieson, Sri Lankan batsman Dimuth Karunaratne have also been nominated alongside Ashwin.
Root scored 1,708 runs in 15 matches with six centuries. He also became the third player in history to aggregate over 1,700 runs in Test cricket in a calendar year. Jamieson has 27 wickets in 5 matches to his credit at 17.51 an average. He was the star performer in ICC World Test Championship final in Southampton. The Kiwi pacer picked seven wickets and contributed a handy 21 runs in the first innings and was adjudged Player of the Match award. Karunaratne has 902 runs in 7 matches at an average of 69.38 with 4 centuries to his credit in this calendar year.