Virat Kohli, Ellyse Perry, Rashid Khan, Steve Smith Bag ICC's Top Awards 1
Virat Kohli. Image Credit: Twitter.

Virat Kohli, Indian skipper and Ellyse Perry bagged top awards as Male and Female Cricketers of the Decade, with Virat Kohli also awarded ODI cricketer of the decade, while Ellyse Perry clean swept the women’s awards with the ODI and T20I cricketer of the decade awards.

Steve Smith former Australian skipper won the Test cricketer of the decade award while Rashid Khan of Afghanistan was named T20I cricket of the decade. MS Dhoni won the spirit of the game award.

Virat Kohli and Steve Smith
Virat Kohli and Steve Smith. Image Credit: Getty Images.

Virat Kohli And Ellyse Perry Sweeps Top Awards In Male And Female Category

Ellyse Perry is an Australian sportswoman who has represented her country in both cricket and football, debuting for both the national cricket team and soccer team at the age of 16. She is the youngest Australian to play international cricket and the first to have appeared in both ICC and FIFA World Cups.

Ellyse Perry
Ellyse Perry. Image Credits: Twitter

She became associated in only cricket from 2014 onwards. A fast-medium all-rounder, she was the first player to amass a combined 1,000 runs and 100 wickets in T20Is besides holding the record for the highest score by an Australian woman in Tests (213 not out), and the third player to claim 150 wickets in women’s ODIs.

Rashid Khan who has 89 wickets in only 48 T20I matches for Afghanistan averaging a meagre 12.62 is an exceptional spinner who is tough to handle in international cricket and IPL where he is the most economical.

Steve Smith, top-ranked Test batsmen in the world,  has amassed 7229 runs in 74 Tests averaging a staggering 62.31 which is among the top 5 in the world. Under the able captainship of MS Dhoni who is known for is cool composure, India won 2 Worlds Cups-2007 T20-the inaugural edition and 2011 World Cup after a hiatus of 28 years.

 

Virat Kohli In All 3 Teams Of Decade And Is Skipper Of Test Team

ICC Men’s T20I Team of the Decade: Rohit Sharma, Chris Gayle, Aaron Finch, Virat Kohli, AB De Villiers, Glenn Maxwell, MS Dhoni (c, wk), Kieron Pollard, Rashid Khan, Jasprit Bumrah, Lasith Malinga

ICC Men’s ODI Team of the Decade: Rohit Sharma, David Warner, Virat Kohli, AB De Villiers, Shakib al Hasan, MS Dhoni (c), Ben Stokes, Mitchell Starc, Trent Boult, Imran Tahir, Lasith Malinga

ICC Men’s Test Team of the Decade: Alastair Cook, David Warner, Kane Williamson, Virat Kohli (c), Steve Smith, Kumar Sangakkara, Ben Stokes, R Ashwin, Dale Steyn, Stuart Broad, James Anderson.

MS Dhoni, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma
MS Dhoni, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma. Image Credits: Twitter

The winners of all the individual ICC awards will be the recipient of a unique artwork created in a collaboration between the ICC, Mumbai-based studio Kulture Shop and Indian artist Pratap Chalke. The Rachel Heyhoe-Flint and Sir Garfield Sobers winners will also get a spectacular hand-painted artwork bat, while the other individual award winners will be the recipient of a limited-edition canvas painting that captures their unique passion and spirit.

“We wanted to present the winners with truly memorable awards that captured the personality of these icons of the game. It’s been fantastic to work with Chalke and the team at Kulture Shop to bring this vision to life in such a bold, impactful way,” said Finn Bradshaw, Head of Digital at the ICC.

Shoaib Akhtar lashed out at ICC for not including any Pakistan player in the T20I, Test and ODI teams. Among the teams, likes of MS Dhoni, Kumar Sangakkara, Alastair Cook have retired while Lasith Malinga, Imran Tahir and Chris Gayle are contemplating retirement but playing global T20 leagues.

AB De Villiers is in talks and might stage a comeback after retiring in 2018. Pakistan’s Babar Azam was a surprise omission from the teams.