The Indian men’s cricket team had a rather disappointing 2022 year. At the start of the year, they lost the Test and ODI series in South Africa; in the middle, they lost the Edgbaston Test to England; in the end they lost the ODI series in Bangladesh. Also, there were the big matters of not reaching the finals of the Asia Cup and T20 World Cup.
There were also some positive moments. Virat Kohli ending his century drought, and his epic knock vs Pakistan at the MCG. Ishan Kishan hammered a double century vs Bangladesh. India also clean-swept the entire home season, and ended the year with a Test series win in Bangladesh.
In this article, we look at India’s top 5 batsmen across all formats in 2022:
Shreyas Iyer – 1609 runs
Shreyas Iyer had his breakthrough year in international cricket as he ends as the highest Indian scorer of 2022 with 1609 runs scored in 40 innings across the three formats. Iyer averaged 48 in international cricket this year, having raised 14 fifties and a century (in an ODI vs South Africa).
It can be said with confidence that Iyer has cemented his place in the Test team, and has made a strong case for an ODI spot (avg of 55 this year) in the regular side.
Rishabh Pant – 1380 runs
While Rishabh Pant’s place in India’s T20I XI is now untenable, he has perhaps been India’s best batsman in the other two formats this year. In 7 Tests this year, Pant averaged 61 and scored at a strike rate of 90, including smashing centuries in Cape Town and Edgbaston. In ODIs, he averaged 37 and struck at 96.
Suryakumar Yadav – 1424 runs
Suryakumar Yadav has barged into this list sheerly on the back of the year he had in T20Is. The number 1 ranked T20I batter, Suryakumar Yadav blasted 1164 runs in T20Is alone this year, staggeringly at a terrific strike rate of 187, smashing two centuries -in England and New Zealand – and 9 fifties. He has been included in the ODI squads too on the basis of his mind-blowing form in T20Is.
Virat Kohli – 1348 runs
After a gap of 1020 days, Virat Kohli broke his century drought and hit his 71st international ton, in the Asia Cup, and followed it up with an ODI century in Bangladesh.
He was at his best in the T20Is- average of 58 and strike rate of 137, scoring 781 runs of his 1348 runs in T20Is. In ODIs, Kohli averaged 27 and 26 in Tests in 2022.
Ishan Kishan – 893 runs
Ishan Kishan got himself inducted in the list of batsmen with a double century in ODIs after he slammed 210 vs Bangladesh. Kishan had a terrific 2022 in ODIs: in 7 innings, he hit 3 50+ score, average 59 and struck at 110. In 16 T20Is, he averaged 29.
