ICC awards: King Kohli clinches ODI Cricketer of the Year award; Cummins bags Garfield Sobers trophy

ICC awards: India's stalwart batter Virat Kohli added another major title to his overflowing trophy cabinet on Thursday by bagging the ICC Men's ODI Cricketer of the Year award for the 2023 season. The former Indian skipper had an impeccable ICC ODI Cricekt World Cup 2023 campaign, where he shattered multiple records, propelling his side to the finals of the ICC's top event.

𝗜𝗖𝗖 𝗠𝗲𝗻'𝘀 𝗢𝗗𝗜 𝗖𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗸𝗲𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗬𝗲𝗮𝗿 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟯

It goes to none other than Virat Kohli! 👑🫡

Congratulations 👏👏#TeamIndia | @imVkohli pic.twitter.com/1mfzNwRfrH

— BCCI (@BCCI) January 25, 2024

'King Kohli' rules in ODIs

The 35-year-old was among the four players nominated for the Men's ODI Cricketer of the Year 2023 Award by the International Cricket Council (ICC). Besides Virat Kohli, speedster Mohammed Shami, opener Shubman Gill, and New Zealand's Daryl Mitchell were competing for the prestigoius award. The batting icon scored 1377 runs in 27 matches. He also bagged a wicket and picked up 12 catches for India. 'King Kohli' also finished as the leading wickettaker in the 2023 edition of the World Cup.

Kohli's exceptional 2023 season

His hunger for runs was insatiable, with half-centuries in nine out of his 11 World Cup innings. He surpassed Sachin Tendulkar to become the tournament's leading run-getter with 765 runs, etching his name in cricketing history. He even crossed the magical 50-century mark in ODIs, solidifying his reputation as one of the modern era's greats. Kohli had an astonishing figure of 95.62 and batted at a strike rate of over 90 for India at the World Cup. He hammered three hundereds in a recently concluded World Cup.

Cummins claims Sir Garfield Sobers trophy

Australian skipper Pat Cummins clinched the ICC Men's Cricketer of the Year 2023 award on Thursday. The Australian star defeated his compatriot teammate Travis Head and Indian stalwart Virat Kohli to claim the Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy in 2023.

SIR 𝐏𝐚𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐤 𝐉𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐂𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐬 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟑💫
🥇:Men's Ashes retained VS 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿
🥇:World Test Championship VS 🇮🇳
🥇: Men's ODI World Cup VS 1.4 Billions 🇮🇳
🥇: Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy VS 🌎 @patcummins30 ❤️ pic.twitter.com/KqlPvZ3Mnu

— Aussies Army🏏🦘 (@AussiesArmy) January 25, 2024

The 30-year-old all-rounder guided Australia to clinch the ICC World Test Championship 2023 title and then led the team that clinched the ICC ODI World Cup for the record sixth time. The right-arm pacer sclaped 59 wickets in 32 international innings in 2023 and scored 422 runs with the bat as well.

India's star batter, Kohli, had previously won this award in 2017 and 2018. Kohli finished the year with 2048 runs in just 36 international innings, with the help of a record eight centuries. Kohli was adjourned the 'Player of the Tournament award'.

Pat Cummins played a crucial role in the Protese's glorious campaign in both the WTC and ODI World Cups.

Natalie Sciver-Brunt wins Women's Cricketer of the Year 2023

On the other hand, England's all-rounder, Natalie Sciver-Brunt, bagged the ICC Women's Cricketer of the Year 2023 award. She was competing with Beth Mooney, Ashleigh Gardner, and Chamari Athapaththu for the ICC's prestigious award. Notably, Sciver-Brunt won this award in 2022 as well. She became the third player after Austarlia's Ellyse Perry and Indai's Smriti Mandhana to win the 'Rachael Heyhoe Flint Award' multiple times.

TWO YEARS IN A ROW 🐐👑

Nat Sciver-Brunt, you are something else 😍#EnglandCricket pic.twitter.com/837BkFTANs

— England Cricket (@englandcricket) January 25, 2024

Sciver-Brunt hammered 894 runs in 18 international matches in 2023 and also claimed nine wickets to defend her title.

Congratulations to Usman Khawaja, named the 2023 ICC Men's Test Cricketer of the Year! pic.twitter.com/RkjwAPam8a

— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) January 25, 2024

Khawaja wins the Test Cricketer Award

Meanwhile, returing star Usman Khawaja won the ICC Men's Test Cricketer of the Year for 2023. Khawaja outperformed his compatriot Travis Head, India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, and England's Joe Root for the prestigious ICC award. On Wednesday, top-ranked batter Suryakumar Yadav was named the ICC Men's T20I Cricketer of the Year 2023, while New Zealand's Rachin Ravindra secured the ICC Men's Emerging Cricketer of the Year award.