We discussed in the previous article the list of the players who have won the ICC Men’s Cricketer of the Year Award and now we will talk about the winners for the test category and since 2004 it has been given to the players. It is equally coveted as the main award as test cricket is the topmost format of the game.
Since the year 2004 there have been awards being given every year for the best test Cricketer of the Year except the year 2020, so let’s take a look at the winners.
2004: Rahul Dravid -
Just like he won the first overall ICC Men’s cricketer of the year in 2004,He was the first recipient of the test cricketer of the year as well and Rahul Dravid was the best test batter that year especially against Australia so no surprise there.
2005: Jacques Kallis-
This all-time great South Africa player was the second player to receive this award for his outstanding performances in the test format throughout the year 2005 and he did well in both the departments.
2006: Ricky Ponting-
Just like in the case of overall cricketer of the year in 2006, Ricky Ponting won the best test cricketer of that year as well, showing that there was no better player that year in the world and he deserved this honor.
2007: Mohammad Yousuf-
This amazing batter from Pakistan was at his prime in 2007 and he was hitting centuries for fun and it is absolutely no surprise that he won the best test player of that year and he only got better after that.
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2008: Dale Steyn-
Just like Mitchell Johnson broke the deadlock in the overall player of the year category, it was Dale Steyn who became the first bowler to win this coveted prize in the year 2008 and he was the best bowler for a number of years especially in test cricket.
2009: Gautam Gambhir-
Gautam Gambhir became the first Indian player to win the best test player of the year award in 2009 and he thoroughly deserved to win it as he was so consistent in the whole of 2009 with his opening partner Virender Sehwag.
2010: Virender Sehwag-
Speaking of Virender Sehwag, he became the winner of the 2010 award for best test player following in the steps of his partner Gautam Gambhir thus showing that they were simply unstoppable for those 2 years as an opening pair and dominated world cricket.
2011: Alastair Cook-
The first player from England to win this highly coveted award was the great Alastair Cook and there was simply no other player who could have won the award this year as he was very consistent for a lot of years and in 2011 he couldn’t be ignored.
2012: Kumar Sangakkara-
Then came the turn of the first Sri Lankan player to win this award and there could have been no one else other than Kumar Sangakkara as he was on a tear during that time and no one was close that year so he was sure to win.
2013: Michael Clarke-
In the year that he won the overall ICC Men’s player of the year, he also won the best test player of the year award as he had got tons of runs against all the teams he played against and his leadership skills were amazing as well.
2014: Mitchell Johnson-
Mitchell Johnson was the best cricketer of the year in 2014 as well as the best in test cricket as well as he was at his devastating best and thus became the second bowler after Dale Steyn to win this award.
2015: Steve Smith-
This was simply the era of Steve Smith and there was only a few that were at his level and he was just getting runs for fun and toying with all the teams he played against. He was one of a kind and the world looked in awe at this man.
2016: Ravichandran Ashwin-
After years of performing so well in test cricket, it was the turn of Ravichandran Ashwin to get what he rightfully deserved and his performance in the year 2016 was the best in the world and thus he got this award.
2017: Steve Smith-
After 2015 it was Steve Smith again to win the best test player of the year again and he was in imperious form in the year and frankly he was the best in the world by some distance in test cricket at that time.
2018: Virat Kohli-
Virat Kohli finally got his reward in test cricket after being so consistent for so many years and in the year 2018, even the great Steve Smith was behind Virat Kohli when it came to test cricket and as a result he won the award that year.
2019: Pat Cummins-
It was the time for the Third bowler to take home the best test player of the year award as well as Pat Cummins was the undisputed best player in test cricket and number 1 in the world for so many years so it was no surprise.
2021: Joe Root-
This was probably the easiest year to give this award as there was no one even close to Joe Root as he got more than 1700 runs and the others got way less runs than him and he hit so many hundreds as well.
