Kohli sweeps ICC awards; Pant receives honour

Star Indian cricketer and captain Virat Kohli never fails to impress. The swashbuckling batsman became the first player in history to win three major ICC awards in one go – the Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy for ICC Cricketer of the Year, ICC Men’s Test Player of the Year and ICC ODI Player of the Year for 2018.

Kohli has been named skipper for both the one-day and Test Teams of the Year by the International Cricket Council.

Kohli leads the ICC Test squad that that includes fellow Indians wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant and speedster Jasprit Bumrah. In the ODI Team of the Year, there were four Indians including Kohli. The others are opener Rohit Sharma, spinner Kuldeep Yadav and Bumrah.

The Delhiite is also atop the Test and ODI rankings for batsmen.

“It feels amazing. It’s a reward for all the hard work that you do throughout the calendar year. I feel really grateful and very, very happy with the team doing well at the same time myself performing,” he said in a media release from the ICC.

“To be rewarded in this manner from amongst all of them is obviously a very proud moment for me and something that gives you more motivation to keep repeating the same things because you have to keep the standard of cricket up and keep bringing in consistent performances. From that point of view, these awards give you that extra motivation,” he added.

In another honour for India, Pant was named as the ICC’s Emerging Player of the Year in the annual awards.

The Indian team, currently on tour, created history by clinching the Test series on Australian soil and then winning the ODI series as well.

The Indians now take on New Zealand in ODI and T20 series.