3 players unlucky to miss out on ICC men's T20I team of 2023 ft. Rinku SinghÂ
After a T20I frenzied phase, the primary focus in 2023 was on the two longer formats due to the WTC Final and the ODI World Cup. However, the handful of matches in the shortest format showcased resulted in several memorable performances, particularly by some newcomers.
Suryakumar Yadav was crowned the ICC T20I Player of the Year for the second year in succession, and he was also nominated as the skipper for the Team of the Year. The team featured four Indian players, while players from the West Indies, England, New Zealand as well as associate nations also marked their presence.
ICC T20I Team of the Year for 2023
Yashasvi Jaiswal, Phil Salt, Nicholas Pooran (WK), Suryakumar Yadav (C), Mark Chapman, Sikandar Raza, Alpesh Ramjani, Mark Adair, Ravi Bishnoi, Richard Ngarava and Arshdeep Singh.
While most of the selection calls were relatively straightforward considering the massive lack of T20I matches in the calendar year, some players were unlucky to miss out on the ICC Men's T20I team of 2024. Here are three of them:
#1 Mitchell Santner
The New Zealand all-rounder had an excellent year in the shortest format, which arguably went under the radar. He began the year with a spell of 2-11 during the T20I series against India away from home and was also on point in the T20I series against the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Leading the team during the home series against Bangladesh, Mitchell Santner ended up with one of the finest spells in his T20I career, claiming four wickets while conceding only 16 runs during the third match of the series.
The left-arm spinner ended the year with 16 wickets in 12 matches at an average of 17.81 and an economy rate of 6.33.
#2 Alzarri Joseph
Alzarri Joseph surprisingly made his T20I debut in 2022, despite having played consistent T20 cricket since 2016. He had a good maiden year in the shortest format for the West Indies but elevated his game to a whole other level with his exploits in 2023.
He achieved the rare feat of bagging a T20I fifer during a T20I against South Africa away from home, ending with figures of 5-40. He was also among the wickets in the home series against India and England and ended the year with 16 wickets in just nine matches at an average of 21.06. However, his economy was a bit on the higher side, reading at 10.37.
#3 Rinku Singh
The Indian left-handed batter had a breakthrough start to his international career after being selected on the back of his exceptional 2023 Indian Premier League (IPL) season for the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR).
Rinku Singh was surprisingly not selected for the tour of the Caribbean, but he made his T20I debut in the series against Ireland. He has not turned back since and made the latter half of the year his own.
He made an instant impression with a quickfire cameo against Ireland to begin his international career and also went on to have a prolific Asian Games 2023 campaign as India bagged the gold medal. He closed out the year on a high, playing several impactful knocks in the home T20I series against Australia as well as the highest score of his career so far during the South Africa tour.
Rinku Singh ended up with 262 runs in eight innings at an imperious average of 65.50 and an explosive strike rate of 180.69, to make a serious case for the 2024 T20 World Cup Indian squad, but narrowly missed out on the ICC T20I team of 2023.
Will any of these aforementioned players make it to the T20I team of the year next time around? Let us know what you think.