Wisden cricketers' almanack honours four Indians among cricketers of the year

In an unprecedented occurrence for cricket on these shores the Wisden Cricketersrsquo Almanack the worldrsquos most prestigious cricket annual that some still like to call the bible of cricket has selected four Indian cricketers to be among their five cricketers of the yearIndia Test captain Shubman Gill seasoned allrounder Ravindra Jadeja wicketkeeperbatsman Rishabh Pant and pacer Mohammed Siraj make it in the famous yellowjacketed annual Nottinghamshire captain Haseeb Hameed the England opener who came on the 201617 tour to India is the fifth Cricketer of the YearIndian honours donrsquot end with the Cricketers of the Year section Gill claims the Wisden Trophy for his performance against England in last yearrsquos Edgbaston Test where he scored 269 and 161 to play a lead role in Indiarsquos massive 336run win India womenrsquos player Deepti Sharma was picked as one of the Leading Cricketers in the WorldWisden editor Lawrence Booth on the Indian starsShubman Gillrsquos runmaking dominated the AndersonndashTendulkar Test series his tally of 754 the most in a series for India against England That included a remarkable double of 269 and 161 at Edgbaston in between hundreds at Headingley and Old TraffordRavindra Jadeja played a crucial role in Indiarsquos fightback in England topping their averages with 516 runs at 86 His six scores of 50 or more included a matchsaving century in ManchesterRishabh Pantrsquos helterskelter excellence was one of the summerrsquos highlights not least at Headingley where he made 134 and 118 He added three halfcenturies mdash the last after breaking his footMohammed Siraj took more wickets mdash 23in the EnglandIndia Test series securing a 22 draw with a lastditch fivefor at The Oval including three of Englandrsquos final four wickets on a dramatic final morningDeepti Sharma helped inspire India to World Cup glory on home soil scoring 215 runs at 30 and taking 22 wickets at 20 with her offspin mdash an unprecedented double at a World Cup by a man or woman The final against South Africa was a distillation of her talents five wickets a halfcentury and a runoutAussie domination in Wisdengtgt Australia have had five cricketers in one edition and four cricketers twicegtgt L Hassett W Johnston R Lindwall A Morris and D Tallon featured in the 1949 editiongtgt In 1973 Wisden picked Greg Chappell Dennis Lillee Bob Massie and Keith Stackpolegtgt In 1994 they selected David Boon Ian Healy Shane Warne and Merv HughesLegends speakFormer India allrounder Mohinder Amarnath a Wisden honouree in 1984 welcomed the achievementlsquoI am very happy It shows we are dominating world cricket across formats The contribution of the four has been huge their performances speak for themselves I am happy for all four but Jadeja in particular He has contributed immensely to Indiarsquos major victories and has often remained unsung It his 1984 selection carried special significance at a time when Indian cricket was not held in the same regard globallyrsquoFormer India captain Dilip Vengsarkar who was among Wisdenrsquos Five in 1987 said the honours reflected Indiarsquos strong showing in EnglandlsquoThe IndiaEngland series in 2025 was keenly contested India played outstanding cricket which is why Gill Jadeja Pant and Siraj have been recognised Siraj bowled his heart out especially on the final day at The Oval Test cricket is the ultimate format Players are judged by their performances in Tests Obviously I felt happy because it his 1987 honour was a form of recognition for my performance We dominated that 1986 England side and that is always specialrsquoKapil Dev who featured in Wisdenrsquos Five in 1983 called it a proud momentlsquoThis is excellent news mdash four Indian cricketers in one edition This is Indiarsquos time The way we are playing across the world itrsquos a great honour I do not remember what I did after winning a feature in Wisdenrsquos Five in 1983 I have moved on But four cricketers in one year Irsquom very happy This is prestigious for all IndiansrsquoFormer India womenrsquos captain Diana Edulji said Deepti Sharmarsquos recognition reaffirmed her status as a leading allrounderlsquoThis is a great honour coming from Wisden It vindicates that we deserved to win the World Cup More Indians getting into Wisden will be better for our youngsters who will look to emulate these achievers They can be looked up to as role modelsrsquo1933Year the first Indian Test cricketer ndash CK Nayudu ndash was picked among Wisdenrsquos Five