Kohli’s ICC accolades
INDIA captain Virat Kohli has been named ICC Male Cricketer of the Decade at the International Cricket Council’s Awards of the Decade. Kohli, who was also named ODI Player of the Decade, lifted the 2011 World Cup and the 2013 Champions Trophy with India, before inspiring the team to their first Test series victory on Australian soil two years ago.
“It’s been an honour for me to be able to go out there and perform for my team, and it’s a great honour for me to win this award,” Kohli said in a video message. “My only intention was to make winning contributions for the team and I just strive to do that in every game.”
India’s all-formats captain was the decade’s highest run-scorer with 20,396, hitting the most 50s (66) and having the highest average (56.97) of players with more than 70 innings.
He was also the only player with more than 10,000 one-day international runs, including 39 centuries and 48 fifties at an average of 61.83.
Meanwhile, Australian batsman Steve Smith was named ICC Test Cricketer of the Decade, while Afghanistan spinner Rashid Khan said he was “speechless” after being picked as the men’s T20 Player of the Decade.
“For someone from Afghanistan to get this award, it’s a special moment for me,” he said.