December 31. 2022: With 2022 drawing to a close, a team of Wisden.com writers have picked out Wisden’s men’s ODI Team of the Year, part of the 2022 in Review series.
Only performances from January 1, 2022 to December 31, 2022 have been taken into consideration, with weighting given to the quality of the opponents and the match and series context.
1. Travis Head – Australia
9 ODIs, 550 runs at 68.75, SR: 112.24, 2 100s
Travis Head began the year having not played an ODI since 2018. He ended it as Australia’s first-choice opener with Aaron Finch having retired from the format. He bookended 2022 with a pair of splendid centuries: 101 off 72 to set up victory in the first ODI over Pakistan, and 152 off 130 to seal a whitewash over England.
2. Imam-ul-Haq – Pakistan
8 ODIs, 505 runs at 72.14, SR: 94.74, 2 100s
In each of his first six innings this year, Imam-ul-Haq made it to 60, demonstrating the consistency that has delivered him a record-breaking start to his ODI career. He made two hundreds at better than a run a ball against Australia, the first one of only two scores above 20 in a big defeat, and the second securing a big chase. An unbeaten 89 sealed the series, and three more half-centuries delivered a whitewash over West Indies.
3. Babar Azam – Pakistan
9 ODIs, 679 runs at 84.87, SR: 90.77, 3 100s
By now established as perhaps the pre-eminent ODI batter of his era, 2022 was another bumper year for Babar Azam. He reached fifty in eight of his nine innings, with three consecutive hundreds against Australia and West Indies making him the first batter to make a trio of tons in a row twice.
4. Shreyas Iyer – India
17 ODIs, 724 runs at 55.69, SR: 91.52, 1 100
Shreyas Iyer has always been consistent for India in ODIs, despite shuffling in and out of the XI, and 2022 was another top year. He was only dismissed in single figures once, and went 11 ODIs without being dismissed below 40 through the middle of the year. His best innings, an unbeaten 111, came against South Africa, anchoring a chase of 279 and ending a run of four consecutive defeats against the Proteas.
5. Tom Latham – New Zealand (WK)
15 ODIs, 558 runs at 55.80, SR: 101.27, 2 100s
The wicketkeeper in our XI is Tom Latham, who entrenched his reputation as a world-class middle-order batter in 2022. An unbeaten 140 spared the Black Caps’ blushes against the Netherlands, rescuing them from 32-5 and 89-6, and a masterful 145 against India – again unbeaten – helped gun down 307 from 88-3 in a middle-overs masterclass.
6. Rassie van der Dussen – South Africa
9 ODIs, 476 runs at 79.33, SR: 100.42, 2 100s
A career average of 69 showcases Rassie van der Dussen’s consistency from the moment he arrived in ODI cricket, but in 2022 he added a new dynamism to his game, allowing him to slot in at No.6 in this team, a place below his usual No.5. He set the tone excellently for South Africa this year, making 129 not out, 86 and 134 in the first game of series against India, Bangladesh and England.
7. Mehidy Hasan Miraz – Bangladesh
15 ODIs, 24 wickets at 28.20, ER: 5.44; 330 runs at 66.00, SR: 84.18
The all-rounder in our XI, Mehidy Hasan Miraz provided Bangladesh cricket with one of its proudest moments, defeating India in an ODI series. He was crucial with the bat in that series, making an unbeaten 38 to seal a heist in the first ODI, and an unbeaten century to rescue the Tigers from 69-6 in the second. With the ball he was as reliable as ever, only twice going wicketless and taking four-fors in victories over South Africa and West Indies.
8. Alzarri Joseph – West Indies
17 ODIs, 27 wickets at 25.70, ER: 4.61
Alzarri Joseph was a tearaway when he entered the international scene, but is now West Indies’ most reliable ODI bowler. Up until the end of 2019 he had an economy rate of 6.42 in ODIs. Since then, his economy is 4.49. West Indies had a tough year in 50-over cricket, losing 19 of 21 ODIs to Full Member sides and losing a series at home to Ireland, but Joseph was largely blameless.
9. Mohammad Siraj – India
15 ODIs, 24 wickets at 23.50, ER: 4.62
Mohammad Siraj had played just one ODI before 2022, back in 2019. He ended the year as a key part of India’s plans. His 3-38 against South Africa helped India to a series-levelling win.
10. Adam Zampa – Australia
12 ODIs, 30 wickets at 17.53, ER: 4.99
In more than half of his games Adam Zampa claimed three or more wickets, and with 11 wickets in three games against England, he gave Australia a proud whitewash over the world champions.
11. Trent Boult – New Zealand
6 ODIs, 18 wickets at 12.38, ER: 3.98
Trent Boult only played half a dozen ODIs in 2022, but he still made quite the impact. With ten wickets in three ODIs against Australia, keeping the Aussies to 233-8, 195-9 and 267-5, he did not deserve to be on the end of a 3-0 drubbing.
12th. Sikandar Raza – Zimbabwe
15 ODIs, 645 runs at 49.61, SR: 87.16; 8 wickets at 56.62, ER: 5.03
Sikandar Raza’s bowling wasn’t quite incisive enough to demand a place in this XI, but he provided several moments to remember: two back-to-back unbeaten hundreds to seal a series win over Bangladesh, and a century to very nearly take Zimbabwe to a chase of 280 from 169-7 against India.
