Why Virat Kohli did not find a place in the ICC Test team of 2016

As part of their annual exercise to acknowledge the best players in international cricket, the ICC recently announced the winners for 2016 in various categories of the game. India’s Ravichandran Ashwin was adjudged the ICC cricketer of the year.When the Test teams were announced, India’s Test captain, Virat Kohli, was conspicuous by his absence. In a year that saw him hit three double centuries, and score bucketful of runs, failing to make the cut in the Test team drew widespread disbelief.

Yet, it has to be noted that the time period during which the performances have been taken into consideration is from 14th September 2015 to 20th September 2016, a window in which Kohli scored just 451 runs in 8 Tests, at an average of 45.10, with one century and one fifty to his credit.

During this time, he had a below-par series against South Africa at home, scoring just 200 runs in six innings, with one fifty under his name. The rest of the four matches were in the West Indies, where Virat Kohli compiled his first double hundred, but scored a total of 251 runs in four innings, to end up with an average of 62.75.

In the same period, for which he has been named the ODI captain of the year, Kohli scored 626 runs in 10 ODIs, at an impressive average of 62.60, including three hundreds and as many fifties. His strike rate of 94.13 during this period was a shade more than his overall figure of 90.43. In five matches against Australia, Kohli scored two centuries and two fifties to end the series with an average of 76.20, and a strike rate close to 100.

The announced Test team is captained by Alastair Cook, the English skipper who is currently under fire for his team’s dismal showing against India in the recently concluded Test series. However, during the mentioned period of voting, Cook was in a rich run of form, having scored 1269 runs in 14 Tests, at an average of 55.57, with two centuries and seven fifties. The window also features the mammoth 263 that he scored against Pakistan at Abu Dhabi last year.

The announced Test team is as follows:David Warner (Australia), Alastair Cook (C) (England), Kane Williamson (New Zealand), Joe Root (England), Adam Voges (Australia), Jonny Bairstow (WK) (England), Ben Stokes (England), Ravichandran Ashwin (India), Rangana Herath (Sri Lanka), Mitchell Starc (Australia), Dale Steyn (South Africa), Steve Smith (Australia, 12^th man) .

For all the fans of the Indian Test skipper, here’s a video treat just for you.