ICC (International Cricket Council) named Virat Kohli, ODI Cricketer of the Decade and Male Cricketer of the Decade. Steven Smith was conferred Test Player of the decade and Rashid Khan earned the T20I Player of the Decade award.
ODI CRICKETER OF THE DECADE
ICC chose Virat Kohli as the ICC men’s ODI Player of The Decade. Virat Kohli beat MS Dhoni, Rohit Sharma, AB DE Villers, Kumar Sangakkara, Mitchell Starc, and Lasith Malinga to get the Title. Virat Kohli made 10000+ ODI runs (highest by any batsman) with a bewitching average of 61.83 in the last decade including 39 centuries and 48 half-centuries. No doubt he deserved it.
TEST CRICKETER OF THE DECADE
Steven Smith has got the ICC Men’s Test Cricketer of The Decade. He has made his way to the award among other big contenders like Kane Williamson, Virat Kohli, Yasir Shah, Rangana Herath, and James Anderson. The ace batsman amassed 7040 runs in the last decade with an incredible average of 65.79 (highest by any player). His 7040 runs consisted of 26 hundred and 28 fifties.
T20I PLAYER OF THE DECADE
The Afghan star Rashid Khan, who made his T20 debut in 2016 has earned the ICC Men T20I Player of The Decade. The other nominees of this award were Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Lasith Malinga, Imran Tahir, Aaron Finch, and Chris Gayle. The veteran player grabbed 89 T20 wickets in 48 matches with an unbeatable bowling average of 12.6, which was best among all bowlers in International cricket. He also took 2 four-wicket hauls and 2 5-for.
ICC MALE CRICKETER OF THE DECADE
It was very obvious that Virat Kohli would win the Sir Garfield Sobers Male Cricketer of the Decade Award and today ICC imparted the award to him for his consistent performance across all formats. He has notched up 20396 runs with an average of 56.97 in the last decade (highest by any player). He has also hit the most number of centuries 66 and half centuries 94 in the last decade. He was also a part of India’s 2011 World Cup and Champions Trophy-winning team. AB DE Villiers, Joe Root, Kane Williamson, Steven Smith, and Kumar Sangakkara also contested for the award.
ICC SPIRIT OF CRICKET AWARD OF THE DECADE
Former Indian world cup winning captain MS Dhoni won the ICC Spirit of Cricket Award of the Decade for calling back English cricketer Ian Bell after he got run out weirdly in 2011 at Nottingham.
ICC WOMEN’S ODI, T20, AND FEMALE PLAYER OF THE DECADE
Aussie women cricketer Elysse Perry won ICC Women’s ODI, T20, and Female Player of the Decade. She has made 1155 runs and grabbed 89 wickets in the last decade in T20s. in ODIs she scored 2621 runs with an average of 66.97 (highest by any female cricketer) and bagged 98 wickets.
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