Calcutta: Despite being sidelined since the end of the World Cup due to a knee injury, Mohammed Shami has been allotted a place in the ICC ODI team of the Year, which was announced by the world body on Wednesday.
The pacer turns out to be the lone Indian in the ICC ODI XI, while in the Test team of the Year, Ravichandran Ashwin does find a place but only as the 12th man. It needs to be mentioned that Ashwin has been in tremendous form for the last few months, engineering India's Test victories over Sri Lanka and South Africa.
Australia captain Steve Smith and New Zealand pacer Trent Boult has the honour of being included in both Test and ODI teams, while Alastair Cook got selected in the Test team for the fifth time. Cook will be leading the Test side that also includes two other England players in Joe Root and Stuart Broad.
Root is the 12th man in the ODI team, which also features the retired Kumar Sangakkara, selected as wicketkeeper. The team will be led by AB de Villiers. Being part of the ODI team for the fourth time in five years, this is the first time that De Villiers will be leading the side.
For Sangakkara, this was his fourth nomination in the ODI team. In the case of Smith, he earned his inaugural ODI nomination after playing a leading role in helping Australia seal their fifth World Cup title and is named alongside the Player of the Tournament -- Mitchell Starc.
Apart from Smith, the Test team also features two other Australians in opener David Warner and paceman Josh Hazlewood. There are also three players from Pakistan in the team - Younis Khan, wicketkeeper Sarfraz Ahmed and leg-spinner Yasir Shah. All three of them were instrumental in Pakistan's 2-0 win over England in the Tests at the United Arab Emirates.
Bangladesh's 20-year-old left-arm pacer Mustafizur Rahman, who burst on to the scene with highly impressive performances versus India and South Africa, has become the first ever player from his country to make the ODI Team of the Year. In the past, Shakib-al Hasan had been named in the 2009 Test Team of the Year.
The teams were chosen by a specially appointed selection panel chaired by the ICC's cricket committee chairman and former India captain Anil Kumble.
"I would like to congratulate all the players for their selection in the Test and ODI teams of the year. It is an achievement for each of them to be proud of and a recognition for their good performances in the qualifying period," Kumble said in an ICC release.
"Team selection is one of the toughest jobs and when you have a large pool of outstanding players to select from in a 12-month period, then it becomes even more difficult."Testament to the quality of cricket played is the calibre of players to have missed out on selection. While selecting these squads, the selectors considered various combinations and took into account several factors in overall performances.
"Congratulations to all of the players on their selections," Kumble added.
ICC Test Team of the Year: David Warner, Alastair Cook (captain), Kane Williamson, Younis Khan, Steve Smith, Joe Root, Sarfraz Ahmed (wicketkeeper), Stuart Broad, Trent Boult, Yasir Shah, Josh Hazlewood. 12th man: Ravichandran Ashwin
ICC ODI Team of the Year: Tillekaratne Dilshan, Hashim Amla, Kumar Sangakkara (wicketkeeper), AB de Villiers (captain), Steve Smith, Ross Taylor, Trent Boult, Mohammed Shami, Mitchell Starc, Mustafizur Rahman, Imran Tahir. 12th man: Joe Root
