His
performance is put into sharper context by the fact that India played most of
their cricket in 2018 away from the subcontinent - there were tours of South
Africa, England and Australia, apart from the home series against the West
Indies.
Kohli,
whose India are No. 1 in the world in the ICC Test rankings and at No. 2 in
both ODIs and T20Is, scored runs across formats: 1322 runs in 13 Tests at an
average of 55.08 with five centuries, and 1202 runs in 14 ODIs at 133.55, with
six centuries. He also ended the year at No. 1 in both the rankings for Tests
and ODIs.
Virat
Kohli's prolific 2018, especially as a batsman, has been reflected in the ICC
awards with the India captain winning the year's three biggest prizes: the Sir
Garfield Sobers Trophy for cricketer of the year, the Test player of the year
and the ICC men's ODI player of the year.
"It
feels amazing. It's a reward for all the hard work that you do throughout the
calendar year. I feel really grateful and very, very happy with the team doing
well at the same time myself performing," Kohli told the ICC.
"Having
recognition at the global level from the ICC is something you feel proud of as
a cricketer because you understand that there are many players playing the
game."
The
36-member voting panel was unanimous in picking Kohli for the Sobers award,
with Kagiso Rabada finishing second both for the overall category and the one
for Test players. Rashid Khan, meanwhile, was the runner-up for the ODI award.
Among
the other major winners were Rishabh Pant, who was named the Emerging Cricketer
of the Year. The Indian wicketkeeper-batsman made his Test and ODI debuts in
2018 and put in a number of noteworthy performances, especially in the longest
format. In eight Tests in the year, Pant scored 537 runs, with a century - 114
in the second innings against England at The Oval. He was also good behind the
stumps, grabbing 40 catches and pulling off two stumpings.
Aaron
Finch's 172 off just 76 balls in Harare against Zimbabwe in July was chosen as
the best T20I knock of the year. It was also the highest score in the format,
and Finch broke his own record of 156, scored against England in Southampton in
2013, to claim the mark.
"It
was just one of those days that things seemed to go my way, so it was nice to
break my own record and get a 172. After I got a hundred and I started to
middle consistently, that is when I knew it was going to be a big one. It all
happened pretty quick," said Finch of the score that ended just three runs
short of Chris Gayle's 175, the record for all T20 cricket.
Scotland
batsman Calum MacLeod, meanwhile, won the Associate Cricketer of the Year
award. His unbeaten 157 against Afghanistan in the World Cup qualifiers and
then the match-winning unbeaten 140 against England in Edinburgh were among the
most memorable knocks of the year in ODI cricket.
Kumar
Dharmasena was named the Umpire of the Year, while Kane Williamson won the
Spirit of Cricket award, and India's victory in the Under-19 World Cup was
voted as the Fans' Moment of the Year.
ICC Test Team of
the year
Virat
Kohli (capt),
Tom
Latham,
Dimuth
Karunaratne,
Kane
Williamson,
Henry
Nicholls,
Rishabh
Pant (wk),
Jason
Holder,
Kagiso
Rabada,
Nathan
Lyon,
Jasprit
Bumrah,
Mohammad
Abbas.
ICC ODI Team of
the year
Virat
Kohli (capt),
Rohit
Sharma,
Jonny
Bairstow,
Joe
Root,
Ross
Taylor,
Jos
Buttler (wk),
Ben
Stokes,
Mustafizur
Rahman,
Rashid
Khan,
Kuldeep
Yadav,
Jasprit
Bumrah.
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