Dubai, Jan 24: England captain Joe Root on Monday has been named as the ICC Men's Test Cricketer of the Year for 2021. Root beat stiff competition from New Zealand pacer Kyle Jamieson, Sri Lanka opener Dimuth Karunaratne and India off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin to clinch the award.
"I am incredibly proud to have received the award for ICC men's Test player of the year. Very proud to be in the same breadth with many wonderful players around the world. It means a lot to get this award. I would like to say a massive thank you to my family, team-mates and coaches for all the support we had throughout the year," said Root, who is the second England player to win the award after Sir Alastair Cook in 2011.
The magnitude of Root's sublime form in 2021 can be summed up by one simple stat -- he has become only the third player in history to aggregate over 1700 runs in Test cricket in a calendar year.
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