The International Cricket Council (ICC) has come under severe criticism for not nominating any Pakistani player for the ICC Test Player of the Year award.
On Tuesday, ICC announced four nominations for the ICC Test Player of the Year. England’s Joe Root, Sri Lanka’s Dimuth Karunaratne, India’s Ravi Ashwin, and New Zealand’s Kyle Jamieson have been nominated for the award.
However, Pakistani cricket fans believe that ICC has been unjust with Pakistani players as Shaheen Afridi and Hassan Ali had a memorable year in the longer format of the game.
Certainly, their grievance is justifiable because statistics prove that both Pakistani players performed better than Ashwin and Jamieson in a number of aspects of the game.
Ashwin played 9 matches this year, taking 52 wickets at an average of 16.94. He took 5 wickets thrice and his best bowling figures were 6/51. In comparison, Hassan claimed 41 wickets in 8 matches at an average of 16.07. He took 5 wickets on 5 occasions and his best bowling figures were 5/27.
On the other hand, Jamieson played 5 matches and took 27 wickets at an average of 17.51. He claimed 5 wickets thrice and his best bowling figures were 6/48. In comparison, Shaheen played 9 matches and claimed 47 wickets at an average of 17.06. He took 5 wickets on 4 occasions and his best bowling figures were 6/51.
Here are the detailed bowling stats of both bowlers nominated for the ICC Test Player of the Year award.
| Player | Matches | Wickets | Average | 5W | Best Bowling |
| Ravi Ashwin | 9 | 52 | 16.94 | 3 | 6/61 |
| Kyle Jamieson | 5 | 27 | 17.51 | 3 | 6/48 |
Here are the bowling numbers of both Pakistani bowlers who missed out on the nomination for the ICC Test Player of the Year award.
| Player | Matches | Wickets | Average | 5W | Best Bowling |
| Shaheen Afridi | 9 | 47 | 17.06 | 4 | 6/51 |
| Hassan Ali | 8 | 41 | 16.07 | 5 | 5/27 |
What are your thoughts on the nominations? Let us know in the comments section.
