ICC T20I Team of the Year 2022: Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav and Hardik Pandya named in playing XI, no place for Babar Azam

England skipper Jos Buttler has been announced as the captain off the ICC men's T20I Team of the Year 2022 and wicketkeeper of the side after leading his side to the 2nd title at the T20 World Cup 2022 in Australia last year.

Source: Twitter

The International Cricket Council (ICC) on Monday (January 23) announced the ICC men’s T20I Team of the Year 2022 with three Indians – Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav and Hardik Pandya – picked in the final XI. Former India captain Kohli has been slotted into No. 3 position while world No. 1 T20 batter Suryakumar Yadav is in No. 4.

England skipper Jos Buttler has been announced as the captain and wicketkeeper of the side after leading his side to the 2nd title at the T20 World Cup 2022 in Australia last year. Pakistan wicketkeeper Mohammad Rizwan has been picked as the 2nd opener but there was no place for Pakistan skipper Babar Azam in the side.

Apart from the two Indian batters, all-rounder Hardik Pandya has also been selected in the ‘Team of the Year’. Kohli took the Asia Cup by storm, finishing as the second-highest run-getter with 276 runs in five games. He also brought an end to his century drought of close to three years with a magnificent century against Afghanistan in the final game there.

The ICC Men's T20I Team of the Year 2022 is here _

Is your favourite player in the XI? #ICCAwards — ICC (@ICC) January 23, 2023

Kohli played one of the greatest T20I innings in the match against arch-rivals Pakistan in Melbourne at the T20 World Cup 2022. The 82 not out set the tone for the rest of the tournament, where he scored three more fifties and finished as the highest run-scorer with 296 runs as India reached the semifinal.

Suryakumar ended the year as the highest run-getter, scoring 1164, including two hundreds and nine half-centuries while striking at a stunning 187.43. SKY scored 239 runs in the T20 World Cup 2022 while going at a strike rate of 189.68.

Hardik Pandya enjoyed his best year in T20I cricket by numbers in the Indian colours, scoring 607 runs while also picking up 20 wickets. Hardik displayed his incredible hitting, with his 33-ball 63 taking India to a respectable total against England in the T20 World Cup 2022 semi-final, though the knock eventually went in vain.

ICC men’s T20 Team of the Year 2022

Jos Buttler (captain), Mohammad Rizwan, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Glenn Phillips, Sikandar Raza, Hardik Pandya, Sam Curran, Wanindu Hasaranga, Haris Rauf, Josh Little