Russell, Rutherford, Pooran named in ESPNcricinfo’s Teams of the Year

LONDON, England (CMC):

The West Indian trio of Sherfane Rutherford, Nicholas Pooran and Andre Russell have been rewarded for their impressive performances in 2024 by being named in the ESPNcricinfo’s One-Day International and T20 Teams of the Year.

Rutherford, who was recently nominated for the ICC’s ODI Cricketer of the Year Award, is included in the ODI team, while Pooran and Russell are in the T20 team.

The 26-year-old Rutherford was included ahead of teammate Keacy Carty and England’s Harry Brook after scoring 425 runs in seven innings at an average of 106.25.

Earlier this month, he scored five consecutive 50-plus scores in ODIs, becoming the fourth West Indian after Gordon Greenidge, Chris Gayle and Shai Hope, who have six in a row each, to achieve this feat.

The team comprises Sri Lanka’s quartet of Pathum Nissanka, Kusal Mendis, Charith Asalanka and Wanindu Hasaranga; Afghanistan’s Rahman-ullah Gurbaz, Azmat-ullah Omarzai and Mohammad Nabi; Liam Livingstone from England; Bangladesh’s Taskin Ahmed; and Haris Rauf of Pakistan.

Meanwhile, Pooran enjoyed a stellar year in the T20 format, scoring 2331 runs in 74 innings at an average of 40.89 and an impressive strike rate of 157.3.

He also scored one century and 15 half centuries.

Russell also had an outstanding year where he accumulated 1075 runs at a strike rate of 185.3 and took 49 wickets at a strike rate of 26.2.

The other members of the team include Travis Head of Australia, England’s Phil Salt, Tilak Varma, Arshdeep Singh and Jasprit Bumrah of India, South Africa’s Heinrich Klaasen and Tristan Stubbs, Rashid Khan of Afghanistan, and Matheesha Pathirana of Sri Lanka.