New Delhi: Ravichandran Ashwin, who proved to be one of the finest spinners in the year 2021, has been nominated for the ICC Men's Test Player of the Year 2021 Award, ANI reported.
England skipper Joe Root, Kiwi all-rounder Kylie Jamieson and Sri Lanka's Test skipper Dimuth Karunaratne are the other players who have been nominated for the Men's Test Player of the Year 2021 award.
The year 2021 has been very special for Ashwin. The senior off-spinner has taken 52 wickets in Test cricket this year from just 8 Test matches.
This year, Ashwin got to play Test matches against Australia, England and New Zealand. He has taken 52 wickets against these three teams in 2021.
Ashwin had managed to take only 13 wickets in the year 2020. Although this year he could play only 6 Tests.
Earlier, he had bagged 21 wickets in the year 2019 and 38 wickets in the year 2018. Accordingly, the year 2021 was exceptional for him in terms of his bowling performance.
Ashwin has taken 50-plus wickets 4 times in a calendar year. It includes the years 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2021. Before Ashwin, Kapil Dev has taken 50-plus wickets twice in a calendar year. Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh are also included in the elite list.
Team India management has included R Ashwin as the lead spinner in the Test series being played in South Africa. He is in India's playing XI for the Centurion Test. If Ashwin performs well in this series, he will break many records. Ashwin also has the chance to break his own record for most wickets in a calendar year.