Pakistani pacer Muhammad Abbas is the only Pakistani cricketer who has been named in the International Cricket Council (ICC)'s Test team of the year. Abbas has performed outstandingly in the year 2018 by taking 38 wickets from seven Tests at an average of 13.76, including three five-wicket hauls and a 10-wicket match haul.

Abbas took 17 wickets in the two-match Test series against Australia, after securing 19 wickets in England and Ireland earlier in the year. No other player from Pakistan could make it to the ICC Test and ODI men teams of the year. Besides Abbas, the ICC Test team of the year also included Tom Latham, Kane Williamson and Henry Nicholls of New Zealand, Rishabh Pant and Jasprit Bumrah of India, Sri Lanka's Dimuth Karunaratne, Windies' Jason Holder, Kagiso Rabada of South Africa, and Nathan Lyon of Australia.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2019