Pakistan’s 2022 must have been completely unpredictable, but that didn’t stop their captain and star batter Babar Azam from continuing to play at the very top of his game. The fact that he ranked first in ODIs throughout the past year, despite some subpar performances in other formats, ensured that he would win the prestigious ICC Men’s ODI Cricketer of the Year award for the second consecutive year in 2022. The right-handed Babar Azam scored 679 runs at an amazing average of 84.87 in nine ODI games last year, including three hundred and five fifty-scores.
The ICC Men’s Test Cricketer of the Year 2022 title goes to England’s Test captain Ben Stokes for his outstanding performance both with the bat and the ball last year as well as his leadership. The team’s fortunes were improved by his partnership with England’s Test coach Brendon McCullum following Root’s predecessor’s disastrous run in the whites. Including two centuries, Stokes scored 870 runs in 2022 at an average of 36.25 and a strike rate of 71.21. He took 26 wickets with the ball in hand, averaging 31.19. As a result, Stokes was also chosen as the leader of the ICC Test Team of the Year 2022, along with Babar Azam.
Ben Stokes, the Test captain for England, had a fantastic home series against South Africa
Babar’s performance against the strongest bowling lineup in the world is well-known to those who followed Pakistan’s home series against Australia. Babar’s best performance of the series came during the Lahore ODI, where he struck his fastest hundred in 73 balls and 114 off 83 balls to help his team chase down a massive 348 with one over to spare. He also made a remarkable 196 off 425 balls in the second innings of the Karachi Test. Babar also hit two fifties in three ODIs during the year’s final series against New Zealand, even though the outcome wasn’t what he had hoped for.
Ben Stokes, the Test captain for England, had a fantastic home series against South Africa last year. His finest performance with the bat came in the first innings of the second Test when he scored 103, and he also took four wickets, finishing the series with 15 wickets at an average of 15.70. The globe was swept up by the innovative “Bazball” strategy that Stokes’ England squad adopted. In 2022, England won every home and away series, including the first-ever clean sweep of Pakistan in an away series. This super-attacking style of play seems to have helped England revitalize their Test cricket.
