New Delhi: India captain Virat Kohli on Monday won the Sir Garfield Sobers Award for ICC Male Cricketer of the Decade.
Virat Kohli, who had scored 20,396 runs in all international cricket during the time period, which is more than anyone else, was also part of team India that won the ICC CWC 2011 and ICC Champions Trophy 2013. He was also named ICC Cricketer of the Year in both 2017 and 2018, so it was no surprise that he emerged as the clear jury favourite with winning the Sir Garfield Sobers Award for ICC Male Cricketer of the Decade.
Kohli was also awarded the ICC Men’s ODI Cricketer of the Decade, whilst Steve Smith bagged the ICC Men’s Test Cricketer of the Decade for scoring 7,040 runs in 69 Tests in the period at an average of 65.79 with 26 centuries. He was also named the ICC Player of the Year in 2015 and ICC Test Player of the Year in 2015 and 2017. In the MRF Tyres ICC Test Player Rankings, his points tally was of 947 at the end of 2017 which is the second-highest in the history of the ICC Test batting rankings history.
MS Dhoni won the ICC Spirit of Cricket Award of the Decade, chosen by fans unanimously for his gesture of calling back former England batter Ian Bell following a disputable runout at Trent Bridge in 2011.
The ICC Awards of The Decade that recognise the best players across Cricket over the past 10 years, invited fans to vote for the first time by selecting the winners across categories including the Sir Garfield Sobers and Rachael Heyhoe Flint Awards, which celebrate the best overall player from the men’s and women’s game over the past decade. Fans provided 100% of the vote for the ICC Spirit of Cricket Award of the Decade, from a list of the past winners since 2011. More than 1.5 million fans from across the globe participated casting 5.3 million votes.