Jasprit Bumrah and Rohit Sharma are the only two Indian cricketers to be honoured with the Wisden award in 2022.
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India’s leading fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah and captain Rohit Sharma are named in Wisden’s Five Cricketers of the Year. Bumrah and Rohit are the two only Indian cricketers honoured with the award for being the stand-out players during their England tour in 2021.
India lost five, won two and drew one in the series with the duo displaying fine performances. The Wisden Cricketer of the Year remains an honour which can be won just once in a player’s career and is determined by the impact on the English home season.
“Jasprit Bumrah was central to India’s two Test wins last summer, taking three for 33 on the final afternoon at Lord’s, then thrillingly bowling Ollie Pope and Jonny Bairstow in successive overs to hasten his team to victory at The Oval,” Lawrence Booth, Wisden’s editor, said.
“Had rain not washed out the last day of the First Test at Trent Bridge, his nine wickets there might have led to an Indian win, too. In all, he managed 18 wickets at 20 apiece in the four Tests, and scored some unexpected – and crucial – tailend runs.
“Rohit Sharma was at the heart of his side’s 2-1 lead over England, and played starring roles with the bat at Lord’s, where he made an elegant 83 in treacherous conditions, and at The Oval, where his superb 127 helped India overcome a first-innings deficit of 99,” Booth added. “His series tally of 368 runs at 52 was higher than any of his team-mates.”
READ MORE: Joe Root Test Record: Batting, Bowling, Captaincy
Former England Test captain Joe Root was named Wisden’s Leading Cricketer in the World in the 2022 edition of Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack, which was published on Thursday.
The prolific top-order batter accumulated 1,708 runs at 61.00 in 15 Tests in 2021 which helped him clinch the honour despite his poor run as a captain.
“Root rose above the struggles of England’s Test side to produce one of the all-time great performances in a calendar year,” Booth said. “His 1,708 runs have been beaten only by Mohammad Yousuf in 2006 and Viv Richards in 1976, and included six hundreds. And he scored his runs in his fifth year as England captain, at which point many of his predecessors had already called it a day.”
New Zealand’s opener Devon Conway, South Africa allrounder Dane van Niekerk and England’s Ollie Robinson are the other three players to be names as Cricketers of the Year.
