Mumbai: The Indian Cricket team had reasons to cheer when Indian captain Virat Kohli was declared ICC Cricketer of the Year for his phenomenal form across all formats.This surprise came a day after the team suffered its first test series defeat in South Africa.
Kohli scored 2,203 Test runs at an average of 77.80, including eight centuries, 1,818 ODI runs, including seven centuries at 82.63, and 299 T20I runs at a strike rate of 153. Kohli was rewarded for his prolific run in the qualification period from Sept. 2016 to the end of 2017.
Kohli, has also captained India to the top of the ICC Test rankings.This is the second time in succession that an Indian won the overall cricketer of the year award. Off-spinner R Ashwin had claimed the honour last year."It's a great honour to win the Test Player of the Year award. It's called test cricket for a reason and I’m very humbled to win that award," Kohli said
ICC awards for the year are:
Test team of the year: Dean Elgar, David Warner, Virat Kohli (captain), Steven Smith, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ben Stokes, Quinton de Kock (wicketkeeper), Ravichandran Ashwin, Mitchell Starc, Kagiso Rabada, James Anderson.
ODI team of the year: David Warner, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli (captain), Babar Azam, AB de Villiers, Quinton de Kock (wicketkeeper), Ben Stokes, Trent Boult, Hasan Ali, Rashid Khan, Jasprit Bumrah.
ICC Men's Cricketer of the Year - Virat Kohli (India).
Men's Test Cricketer of the Year - Steve Smith (Australia).
Men's ODI Cricketer of the Year - Virat Kohli (India).
Men's Emerging Cricketer of the Year - Hasan Ali (Pakistan).
Men's Associate Cricketer of the Year - Rashid Khan (Afghanistan).
Men's T20I Performance of the Year - Yuzvendra Chahal (6-25 v England) (India).