The ICC ODI Team of the Year has been announced. No Indian features in the team. Babar Azam has been named the skipper.
On Wednesday, the International Cricket Council (ICC) announced the T20I Team of the Year, where no Indians were featured. On Thursday, the ODI Team of the Year was announced, and ironically, no Indians managed to make it again. On the other hand, Pakistan limited-overs skipper Babar Azam has been named the captain again.
However, the Indians are not the only ones to miss out. The ODI Team of the Year also does not possess players from Australia, England, New Zealand and the Windies. Besides Babar, Fakhar Zaman happens to be the other Pakistani in the team. The team has a couple of South Africans, three Bangladeshis and a couple each from Sri Lanka and Ireland.
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As for the reason the Indians missing out on the ODI Team of the Year, the Men in Blue just played six ODIs in 2021, winning four. The Indians played a couple of series: vs England at home (winning 2-1) and vs Sri Lanka, away from home (winning 2-1). The Indians focused on the T20Is in 2021 due to the ICC T20 World Cup.
ICC ODI Team of 2021: Paul Stirling (Ireland), Janneman Malan (South Africa), Babar Azam (Pakistan), Fakhar Zaman (Pakistan), Rassie van der Dussen (South Africa), Shakib Al Hasan (Bangladesh), Mushfiqur Rahim (Bangladesh), Wanindu Hasaranga (Sri Lanka), Mustazifur Rahman (Bangladesh), Simi Singh (Ireland) and Dushmantha Chameera (Sri Lanka).