India skipper Virat Kohli has been named as the Leading Cricketer in the World in the 2017 edition of Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack, which is published this week.
The 28-year right-handed batsman, who was recently conferred with the prestigious Padma Shri award, enjoyed a sensational 2016, scoring heavily across all the formats. No surprises then that Almanack editor Lawrence Booth wrote Kohli produced “the year of his dreams,” averaging more with the bat in each of the three formats than anyone: 75 in Tests, 92 in one-day internationals and 106 in Twenty20 internationals”.
After leading India to a 3-0 series win against New Zealand, the Delhi-born cricketer captained his side to a remarkable 4-0 win over England last year. The right-handed batsman led from the front, scoring an incredible 655 runs in the five-match series.
His 235-run knock at the Wankhede against the Alastair Cook-led side made Booth call him “the spiritual successor to Sachin Tendulkar”. Kohli then led Team India to a series win in One-Day Internationals and Twenty20 Internationals over the same opposition in his first assignment as the full-time limited-overs captain.
Kohli has now joined his illustrious predecessor Virender Sehwag (2008, 2009) and Sachin Tendulkar (2010) to win the award which was first given to Australia’s Ricky Ponting after his monumental performance in 2003. Australia’s Ellyse Perry bagged the top honours in women’s cricket.
Another significant feature of the latest edition of the Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack is that two Pakistani cricketers – Misbah-ul-Haq and Younis Khan – have made it to the list of the five Cricketers of the Year. This is the first time after 1997 that two players from Pakistan have made it to the list. In 1997, Mushtaq Ahmed and Saeed Anwar were selected in the list of top five Cricketers of the Year. It is also the first time after 2007 when Mohammad Yousuf made it to the prestigious list, that any player from Pakistan has received this honour.
Explaining the decision to choose the Pakistani veterans in the list, Booth writes:
“Misbah-ul-Haq was central to one of the most riveting series in England for years, a 2-2 draw that left fans longing for a decider. His century in the First Test at Lord’s set a benchmark for his team-mates, while his celebratory press-ups became one of the motifs of the year. Against the odds, he led Pakistan, without a home Test since 2009, to the top of the rankings – and all at the age of 42.
“With the pressure on, Younis Khan delivered. His classy 218 in the final Test of the summer, at The Oval, helped Pakistan square the series after successive defeats had left them in danger of squandering their win at Lord’s. It was his 32nd Test hundred – and a reminder that his struggles earlier in the series had been a blip rather than part of a decline.”
The other three cricketers in the list, which dates back to 1889, are Ben Duckett, Toby Roland-Jones, and Chris Woakes. The England all-rounder marked his arrival on the international stage by claiming 26 wickets in the four-match series against Pakistan. On the other hand, Roland-Jones stole the limelight after his hat-trick against Yorkshire at Lord’s as he sealed Middlesex’s first County Championship triumph in 23 years while Duckett amassed 2,706 runs in all formats in the last summer.
Booth further supported Alastair Cook’s decision to step down as the Test captain of the Three Lions following a dismal year that saw them drawing against Pakistan and Bangladesh before being thrashed by India.
“He chose the right time to go,” writes Booth. “By his own admission, England’s Test cricket had stagnated. This was partly a result of being lumbered with seven matches in less than nine weeks in Bangladesh and India, a touring schedule that must never be repeated.
“But the two meltdowns during his reign – Australia 2013-14 and India 2016-17 – reflected an abiding weakness. Lacking the tactical acumen to influence a game on its own, Cook was half the leader when he wasn’t scoring runs. That his team lost only four of his 17 Test series in charge was a testament to a very English grit: understated, occasionally self-conscious, always bloody-minded. It proved an exhausting combination.”