Cricket’s giant Virat Kohli becomes first to sweep top three ICC awards

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(Reuters) – Indian captain Virat Kohli capped a memorable 2018 season by becoming the first to win the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) cricketer, test and one-day international (ODI) player of the year awards, the ICC said on Tuesday (Jan. 22).

Kohli, the top scorer in both tests and one-dayers in 2018, was also named captain of the ICC test and ODI teams of the year.

The 30-year-old top-order batsman scored 1,322 runs in 13 tests at an average of 55.08, and scored 1,202 runs in 14 ODIs at an average of 133.55, notching up 11 centuries across the formats.

“It feels amazing. It’s a reward for all the hard work that you do throughout the calendar year,” Kohli said in a statement.

“To be rewarded in this manner… is a very proud moment for me and something that gives you more motivation to keep repeating the same things because you have to keep the standard of cricket up and keep bringing in consistent performances.”

Kohli, who won cricketer and ODI player of the year in 2017, was the unanimous choice for the former award in 2018, with South Africa fast bowler Kagiso Rabada finishing runner-up, the ICC said.

Rabada also finished second in the test player category, while Afghanistan leg-spinner Rashid Khan was runner-up to Kohli for the ODI award.

ICC awards:

Test team of the year: Tom Latham, Dimuth Karunaratne, Kane Williamson, Virat Kohli (captain), Henry Nicholls, Rishabh Pant (wicketkeeper), Jason Holder, Kagiso Rabada, Nathan Lyon, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammad Abbas.

ODI team of the year: Rohit Sharma, Jonny Bairstow, Virat Kohli (captain), Joe Root, Ross Taylor, Jos Buttler (wicketkeeper), Ben Stokes, Mustafizur Rahman, Rashid Khan, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah.

ICC Men’s Cricketer of the Year – Virat Kohli (India)

Men’s Test Cricketer of the Year – Virat Kohli (India)

Men’s ODI Cricketer of the Year – Virat Kohli (India)

Men’s Emerging Cricketer of the Year – Rishabh Pant (India)

Men’s Associate Cricketer of the Year – Calum Macleod (Scotland)

Men’s T20I Performance of the Year – Aaron Finch (172 off 76 balls v Zimbabwe)(Australia)

Umpire of the Year – Kumar Dharmasena

Spirit of Cricket – Kane Williamson (New Zealand)