The year 2021 saw the return of cricket to a bit of normalcy, atleast on the ground, as the second half of the year saw crowds returning to cheer their favorite teams and players after much of the time spent playing the game behind closed doors.
The year 2021 also saw Australia winning their maiden T20 World Cup trophy, by beating rivals New Zealand in the final in Dubai. The tournament which was supposed to be held in India had to be moved to UAE due to the COVID situation in the country, but the hosting rights stayed with the BCCI.
Apart from this mega ICC event, teams and players flourished in individual capacities as well and today, Team COC presents to you 11 such players who did amazingly well with the bat and the ball as we present to you the COC T20I XI of the year 2021.
Mohammad Rizwan of Pakistan broke record after record with the bat as he became the first man to make more than 1,000 runs in a calendar year and finished 2021 with 1326 runs to his name in 29 matches with an average of 73.66 and a strike rate of 134.89.
He hit 1 century and 12 half-centuries with the best score of 104*. Apart from this, he also hit 42 sixes and 119 fours in the format.
Opening the innings with him will be England’s Jos Buttler who made 589 runs in 14 T20Is in 2021 with one century and 5 half-centuries at a strike rate of 143.30. He hit 26 sixes and 49 fours in 2021.
The captain of COC’s T20I XI of 2021 will be Pakistan’s Babar Azam, who finished the year with the second-most runs. He made 939 runs with one century and 9 fifties with a best of 122. He hit 99 fours and 17 sixes at a strike rate of 127.58.
The middle order of the T20I XI of 2021 sees Mitchell Marsh of Australia, Aiden Markram, and David Miller of South Africa occupying important spots. Marsh played a huge role at no.3 for Australia in their triumphant run in T20 World Cup 2021.
In all in 2021, Marsh hit 627 runs in 21 T20Is at a strike rate of 129.81 with the best score of 77. He hit 23 sixes and 59 fours.
Aiden Markram was the surprise hit in the T20Is in 2021, as he gathered 570 runs in just 18 T20Is. He made his runs at a strike rate of 148.82 with a best of 70, hitting 44 fours and 27 sixes in all.
The senior pro of the South African team David Miller showed great signs of returning to form, as he reeled off 377 runs in 17 matches at a strike rate of 149.90 with the best score of 85*. Batting lower down the order, he hit 18 sixes and 23 fours.
Wanindu Hasaranga was the highest wicket-taker in the T20 World Cup 2021 and also ended 2021 with the most wickets at 36, tied with South Africa’s Tabraiz Shamsi.
Hasaranga picked a hat-trick in the T20 World Cup and his best bowling was 4/9 with an economy of 5.44 and ended the year as the no.1 ranked T20I bowler. Hasaranga used his aggression with the ball to great effect, picking wickets at will.
Shamsi, who is the no.2 ranked T20I bowler, also picked 36 wickets at an economy of 5.72 and best bowling of 4/25. He brought variants in his bowling and got the ball to spin on unhelpful surfaces as well.
The fast bowlers in the T20I XI of 2021 are Trent Boult, Anrich Nortje, and Josh Hazlewood.
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Trent Boult was amazing as ever as he ended 2021 with 23 scalps in 15 matches with a best of 3/17 and an economy of 7.07. Anrich Nortje was probably the fastest bowler in the year and got 15 wickets in 11 matches at an economy of 6.07 and best bowling of 3/8.
However, the surprise of the year was the transition of Josh Hazlewood the Test bowler to Hazlewood the T20I master. After helping Chennai Super Kings win the IPL 2021, Hazlewood continued his good form in UAE and led the Australian team to their first-ever T20 World Cup title.
In all in 2021, Hazlewood picked 23 wickets in 15 matches at an economy of 6.87 and best bowling of 4/39.
COC T20I XI of the year 2021:
Mohammad Rizwan (PAK-WK), Jos Buttler (ENG), Babar Azam (PAK-C), Mitchell Marsh (AUS), Aiden Markram (SA), David Miller (SA), Wanindu Hasaranga (SL), Trent Boult (NZ), Anrich Nortje (SA), Josh Hazlewood (AUS), Tabraiz Shamsi (SA)
