ICC Awards 2020: List of all 7 players nominated in Test Player of the Decade category

The International Cricket Council (ICC) has announced the nominations for its much-venerated Awards of the Decade for 2010-2019. 4 batsmen and 3 bowlers will be in the fray for the ICC Men's Test Player of the Decade category.

Indian talisman Virat Kohli will vie for the award with all the members of the celebrated Fab 4. This includes the ICC number 1 ranked Test batter Steve Smith, England red-ball captain Joe Root and New Zealand's best batsman Kane Williamson.

The bowlers will be represented by Sri Lankan stalwart Rangana Herath, one of the greatest bowlers for England James Anderson and Pakistan's star leggie Yasir Shah.

Soon... 👀 pic.twitter.com/9zO6mmw9o8

— ICC (@ICC) November 24, 2020

Performances of the nominees of ICC Test Men's Test Player of the Decade category

Australian Steve Smith is way ahead of other batsmen on the list and is the certain favorite. Named in the same breath as the great Don Bradman Smith, he has redefined Test cricket in the last decade. He has been at the number 1 spot in the ICC Test rankings for a long time, only to be transiently replaced by Kohli.

With his peculiar but utterly effective batting style, he has amassed around 7000 runs, which also included his early years as a leg-spinner and the year lost in the sandpaper-gate saga. His career average of over 62 makes him stand out among the rest.

26th Test hundred for Steve Smith – what a player! FOLLOW #Ashes live 👇https://t.co/zrb0K55IBc pic.twitter.com/oF91qkVxgC

— ICC (@ICC) September 5, 2019

Kohli is not too far behind. He has tailed Smith as the constant ICC number 2 ranked batsman. The 32-year-old scored over 8000 Test runs in the last decade, performing proportionately home and away. If someone can give Smith a run for his money as the decade's best Test batsman, it would be Kohli.

Joe Root has not been any less brilliant. He started his Test career in 2012 and has so far scored over 49 fifties - the most half-centuries by far. He has also scored over 7000 runs while consistently averaging in the high 40s and wee 50s.

Kane Williamson has also made over 6000 runs, with a brilliant average of over 50. He is arguably the most underrated Test player of the decade and could be the underdog for this ICC award.

James Anderson recently became the first fast bowler to reach the milestone of 600 wickets. Many batsmen have failed to negotiate his swing, seam and accuracy as his over 430 Test wickets in the last decade manifest. If there were a specific award for the decade's best Test bowler, Anderson would be the clear winner.

Both Rangana Herath and Yasir Shah have been the pillars of their bowling line-ups in the last 10 years. While the indefatigable Herath took 363 wickets between 2010 and 2018, Shah took over 200 wickets with highly skillful bowling since his Test debut in 2014.

The ICC will announce the results on 18th December 2020, along with other categories including Player of the Decade, Associate Player of the Decade, same categories for the women's game and the ICC Spirit of Cricket Award.