Indian captain Rohit Sharma and fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah have been named among the five players named ‘Cricketer of the Year’ in Wisden’s 2022 issue. Apart from these, New Zealand’s Devon Conway, England’s fast bowler Ollie Robinson and South African women’s cricketer Dane Van Niekerk are also named. England’s Jae Root was named the Leading Cricketer of the Year, while South African women’s team batsman Lizelle Lee was named the Leading Women’s Cricketer of the Year.
Pakistan wicket-keeper batsman Mohammad Rizwan was named T20 Cricketer of the Year. Bumrah had a stellar performance on the tour of England last season. He made a brilliant spell at the Oval to give the team a 2-1 lead. At the same time, Rohit scored 368 runs in four Tests at an average of 52.57. He scored 127 runs at The Oval.
Root scored 1708 runs in the previous calendar year, which is the third highest Test runs in a year in the history of cricket. Lee averaged over 90 in ODI cricket in 2021, including 288 runs in four innings in the series against India. Rizwan scored 1329 runs in 27 T20Is in 2021, including one century and 11 half-centuries.
Root has been selected to lead cricket at a time when he has stepped down as England’s Test captain. He holds the record of captaincy and wins in most matches in Tests for England. Under his captaincy, the team won 27 matches. Michael Vaughan (26), Sir Alastair Cook and Sir Andrew Strauss (both 24-24) are behind him.
Root was appointed captain in 2017 following Cook’s resignation. Under his captaincy, the team won 4-1 against India in 2018 and 3-1 against South Africa in 2020. New Zealand’s Conway scored 200 runs in his first Test innings at Lord’s and was part of the Kiwi team that won the World Test Championship. At the same time, under the captaincy of South African all-rounder Van Niekerk, the Oval Invincibles won the title of the first season of Women’s Hundred. ,