FANS PERSPECTIVE
The fans had their say on who was the best Test Allrounder of 2016 and India’s R Ashwin won in convincing fashion, with 81% voting for the Tamil Nadu star. His India teammate Ravindra Jadeja received 10% of the votes while the England trio of Ben Stokes, Moeen Ali and Chris Woakes clinched the remainder of the votes.
Has the fan got it right with his choice for this award? Let’s find out.
5.Chris Woakes
The fans gave Chris Woakes the least number of votes with 1% even though the all-rounder proved to extremely valuable for his side.
One of the most improved cricketers of 2016, Chris Woakes proved to be valuable both with bat and ball, scoring 493 runs with the bat in hand and picking up 43 wickets with the ball to become a key component of the England setup.
Woakes proved to be an effective customer as Alastair Cook could operate him as the new ball bowler in the absence of either James Anderson or Stuart Broad and he provided important breakthroughs at key junctures.
With the Ashes set to take place next year Down Under, Woakes will look to elevate his game further as he will need to play a key role if England are to regain the coveted urn.
4.Ravindra Jadeja
Jadeja got the second most number of votes with 10%, but had a good year with the ball, while his batting continued to show improvement.
The Indian all-rounder had a better year with the ball as compared to the bat, picking up 43 wickets in 9 matches at an average of 24.55, but it is with the bat that he could not deliver to the level that was expected from him, making 375 runs in the same number of Tests.
However, in those runs, there were a few key contributions like the Test against New Zealand in Kanpur, but Jadeja would surely look to improve upon those numbers with the bat and put in a much-improved showing in the next Test against Bangladesh in 2017.
3.Ben Stokes
Stokes received the 4% of the votes even though he was one of England’s key members.
An integral member of the England team, Ben Stokes established himself as someone who can be effective with both bat and ball in the year 2016. In the 12 matches that he played in the calendar year, Stokes made 904 runs, that included a massive 258 against South Africa in the opening Test of the year at Cape Town.
Stokes was equally potent with the ball in hand, taking 33 wickets in 12 Tests with best figures of 5 for 73.
With England heading to Australia in defense of the Ashes, Stokes will need to be on top of his game and play a key role if his side are to return home with the coveted urn.
2.Moeen Ali
The all-rounder was vital to England’s success in 2016 but received a mere a 4% vote from the fans.
Moeen Ali has perhaps been one of the finds for England in 2016. Ali was only one of the five players to amass over 1000 runs in 2016, at an average of 46 and played an important role with his off-spin as well, picking up 37 wickets in 17 matches.
With England finding it hard to get a Number 4, Ali will look to make that place his own with the bat and play a key role in the Ashes next year.
1.Ravichandran Ashwin
The cricketer received a whopping 81% of the votes and is deservingly Number One on the list.
A key ingredient to any successful unit is the presence of players, who can make significant contributions in more than one aspect of the game. India have been blessed in that regard in 2016 that R Ashwin has moulded himself into on such cricketer of very high regard.
The 30-year-old played a critical role in India's Test success this year, picking up 72 wickets in 12 Tests to finish as the highest-wicket taker by a safe distance. Ashwin was not just prolific with the ball, but also proved to be important at his new Number six spot, where he made 612 runs with two hundreds at an average of 48.15.
With India set to play 5 Tests at the start of 2017, Ashwin's say in these games will again be vital and India will hope he comes good in these matches.
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