No Virat Kohli or Rohit Sharma! This India player is one of four nominees for ICC Test Cricketer of the Year 2023

ICC has announced its four nominees for the ICC Test Cricketer of the Year 2023 on Friday (January 5).

Four players have been shortlisted for the award and one of them will go on and win the prestigious award bestowed by the apex body of global cricket.

Three batters and one all-rounder will be fighting it out for the award. There are two Australians, one Indian player and one English player in the final list of nominees.

Australia had a significant year of 2023 in cricket as they won the World Cup 2023. But even before that, they won their maiden World Test Championship title after beating India in the Final.

The Nominees

Travis Head, Usman Khawaja (Australia)

Two Australian players, Travis Head and Usman Khawaja have made it to the list.

Usman Khawaja had a brilliant 2023 where he scored 1210 runs in just 13 matches. The Aussie batter was the only player to score four-figure Test runs. His performances in the Ashes was astonishing and he was also prolific against India and other opponents.

Travis Head also had a superb year where he scored 919 runs in 12 matches. The dashing batter was instrumental in their WTC Final victory as he scored a fantastic hundred against India.

Joe Root (England)

England batter Joe Root has also been nominated for the ICC Test player of the year award. Root scored 787 runs and picked up 8 wickets in 8 Test matches in the last calendar year.

Ravichandran Ashwin (India)

The sole nomination from India is courtesy of Ravichandran Ashwin. The veteran off-spinner is in the running to win the Test player of the Year crown. It was a fantastic 2023 for Ashwin, where he picked up 41 wickets in just 7 matches. He also scored 150 runs with the bat which included a half-century in the calendar year of 2023.

Ashwin got 25 scalps in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy earlier in 2023, then picked up 15 more wickets against West Indies in just two matches.