New Delhi: . Team India captain Virat Kohli has swept the top International Cricket Council (ICC) awards. He bagged the Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy for ICC Cricketer of the Year, the ICC Men's Test Player of the Year and the ICC ODI Player of the Year - for his performances in 2018. He was also named the captain of the ICC Test Team and the ODI Team of 2018.
It is the first time in the history of this award that a cricketer has bagged all the three top awards. Piling up 1322 runs from 13 Tests, 1202 from 14 ODIs and 211 from T20Is, he emerged as the top candidate for the award.
Commenting on having won these awards, Kohli, who had won the Sir Garfield Trophy and ICC ODI Player of the Year awards last year and was also the ICC ODI Player of the Year in 2012, said: “It has been an amazing year. I was able to play in a manner that I would not have imagined. If the intention is right and you keep working hard, the results are there in front of your own eyes. The intent has always to be helping your team at any cost, that is when these performances come by and you are pushing yourself to the limit, which you otherwise will not be able to. That is something I experienced in 2018 a lot.”
India’s rising star and wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant has been named as the ICC Emerging Player of the Year while Australia opener Aaron Finch has won the ICC Men’s T20I Performance of the Year award for the second time. Scotland’s Calum MacLeod was crowned the ICC Associate Player of the Year while New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson won the ICC Spirit of Cricket award. Kumar Dharmasena is the ICC Umpire of the Year and has won the prestigious David Shepherd Trophy.
The ICC Test team also have wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant and fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah. New Zealand also has three players in the Test squad with captain Kane Williamson, Henry Nicholls and opener Tom Latham. Five other nations make up the remainder of the Test team – Dimuth Karunaratne (Sri Lanka), Jason Holder (Windies), top-ranked Kagiso Rabada (South Africa), Nathan Lyon (Australia) and Mohammad Abbas (Pakistan).
The ODI team has Indian opener Rohit Sharma and their spinner Kuldeep Yadav and pacer Bumrah along while England are represented by Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow, Jos Buttler and Ben Stokes. Mustafizur Rahman (Bangladesh), top-ranked Rashid Khan (Afghanistan) and Ross Taylor (New Zealand) complete the ICC ODI XI.
India winning the ICC U19 World Cup in New Zealand has been voted as the Fans’ Moment of the Year with 48 per cent of the votes. Afghanistan’s miracle comeback at the ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier came in second with 36 per cent votes.
ICC Men’s Test Team of the Year (in batting order):
1. Tom Latham (New Zealand)
2. Dimuth Karunaratne (Sri Lanka)
3. Kane Williamson (New Zealand)
4. Virat Kohli (India) (capt)
5. Henry Nicholls (New Zealand)
6. Rishabh Pant (India) (wk)
7. Jason Holder (Windies)
8. Kagiso Rabada (South Africa)
9. Nathan Lyon (Australia)
10. Jasprit Bumrah (India)
11. Mohammad Abbas (Pakistan)
ICC Men’s ODI team of the year (in batting order):
1. Rohit Sharma (India)
2. Jonny Bairstow (England)
3. Virat Kohli (India) (capt)
4. Joe Root (England)
5. Ross Taylor (New Zealand)
6. Jos Buttler (England) (wk)
7. Ben Stokes (England)
8. Mustafizur Rahman (Bangladesh)
9. Rashid Khan (Afghanistan)
10. Kuldeep Yadav (India)
11. Jasprit Bumrah (India)
