CEAT Cricket Awards 2024: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Ravichandran Ashwin get Test honours

Yashasvi Jaiswal won the Test batter of the year award whereas Ravichandran Ashwin was chosen as the Test bowler of the year at the CEAT Cricket Rating Awards 2024 in Mumbai on Wednesday.

Jaiswal and Ashwin, who represent Rajasthan Royals in the Indian Premier League, won the accolades on the back of excellent campaigns in red-ball cricket for the Indian cricket team over the last 12 months.

Jaiswal, after his brilliant century on debut against the West Indies last July, has gone through a purple patch since. From the nine Tests he has played so far, Jaiswal has amassed 1,028 runs at an average of 68.53.

In the home Test series against England early in 2024, Jaiswal finished as the top run-getter with 712 runs, the third-highest by an Indian batter in a single series, at an astonishing average of 89.00. The 22-year-old Jaiswal also smashed back-to-back double centuries during the series.

“Yes, his (Jaiswal’s) stroke-play is superb. His ability, in particular, to hit on the up through the covers is phenomenal,” former Australian opener Matthew Hayden said during the award ceremony.

Meanwhile, Ashwin was the highest wicket-taker in the England series with 26 wickets at an impressive strike rate of 36.11. After a slow start to the series, Ashwin made up for lost time picking up 15 wickets from the last two Test matches.

Yashasvi Jaiswal is currently on top of the batting charts of the World Test Championship (WTC) 2023-25 cycle whereas Ashwin is fifth in the overall list of bowlers.

The Indian cricket team is currently on top of the WTC points table and will play Bangladesh in a two-Test series at home from September 19.

After a three-match Test series against New Zealand in October, the Men in Blue will travel to Australia, later this year, for the much anticipated Border-Gavaskar Trophy, which will include five Test matches.