Rohit ICC’s ODI Cricketer of the Year; Kohli Test & ODI Captain

Rohit Sharma had slammed five centuries in the 2019 ODI World Cup

In 2019, Rohit Sharma had scored 1490 runs in 28 matches. He has been named the ICC’s ‘ODI Cricketer of the Year’ for 2019.

(Photo: AP)

• ICC names Rohit Sharma as ‘2019 ODI Cricketer of the Year’.
• Virat Kohli wins the ‘Spirit of Cricket’ Award.
• England all-rounder Ben Stokes wins Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy for the world player of the year.
• India fast bowler Deepak Chahar bags ‘T20I Performance of the Year’ Award.

India's swashbuckling opener Rohit Sharma was on Wednesday named the ICC's '2019 ODI Cricketer of the Year' for his incredible run of form through the year while India skipper Virat Kohli bagged the 'Spirit of Cricket' title for his gesture while stopping fans from booing Australia's Steve Smith during their World Cup match at the Oval.

England's World Cup-winning all-rounder Ben Stokes got the 'Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy' for Player of the Year. The 32-year-old Rohit had a memorable 2019 when he scored 10 hundreds across formats, including five in the World Cup.

ODI Cricketer of the Year: Rohit Sharma

The 32-year-old Rohit aggregated 1409 runs from 28 matches with seven hundreds in the ODI format in 2019.

He hit a purple patch in the World Cup amassing 648 runs in nine games at an average of 81.00 with five hundreds and a half-century. Rohit also became the first batsman in World Cup history to score five centuries in a single edition.

"It is great to be recognised in this fashion. We are very happy with the way we performed as a team in 2019. We could have done better but we have a lot of positives and a lot to look forward to in 2020," Rohit said.

Kohli Wins ‘Spirit of Cricket’

India captain Virat Kohli was named skipper of both the Test and ODI teams of the year by ICC. He was also honoured with the ‘Spirit of Cricket’ award and said he was surprised to win the category.

He explained his reasons for backing Smith the way he did, during the 2019 ICC World Cup.

“It is part of camaraderie that sportsmen must have with each other. That moment was purely understanding an individual’s situation. I don’t think a guy who is coming out of a situation like that needs to be taken advantage of.”

Virat Kohli, India skipper

"You can sledge, can have have banter on the field, you say things to the opposition in wanting to beat them. But booing someone is not in the spirit of any sport, I don't endorse it," Kohli added.

Men’s Cricketer of the Year

England’s World Cup-winning all-rounder Stokes got the biggest prize — the ‘Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy’ for Player of the Year, while Australia fast bowler Pat Cummins was named the Test Player of the Year.

Stokes was rewarded after a fabulous 12 months that saw him play a decisive role in England's dramatic victory at the World Cup final along with a host of other memorable performances, including an epic Ashes hundred.

“This award is testament to my teammates and the support staff that have been there every step of the way. Fundamentally, without the support of these individuals, we would never achieved our objective of lifting a major trophy.”

Ben Stokes, England cricketer

Cummins grabbed 59 wickets in 12 Test matches during the period and finished the year as the top-ranked bowler in the Test rankings.

“It’s a tremendous honour to be considered the best player of last year and one which was certainly unexpected. I owe much to my team, team-mates and all those involved in Australian cricket for what was a really successful year for the team.”

Pat Cummins, Australia cricketer

Emerging Player of the Year: Marnus Labuschagne

Marnus Labuschagne was an easy winner of the Emerging Player award after scoring 1,104 runs in 11 Tests, which saw him zoom in the ICC Test Player Rankings from 110 at the start of the year to fourth by the end of the year.

England umpire Richard Illingworth became the seventh person to win the David Shepherd Trophy for Umpire of the Year.

T20 International Performance of the Year: Deepak Chahar

India seamer Deepak Chahar, who won the T20 International Performance of the Year, said his haul of six for seven against Bangladesh in Nagpur, which included a hat-trick, would always be cherished by him. "Taking six wickets conceding only seven runs was a dream performance for me and will always remain close to my heart," Chahar said.

ICC Men’s Cricket Awards

1. Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy for Best Cricketer of the Year – Ben Stokes (England)
2. Test Cricketer of the Year – Pat Cummins (Australia)
3. ODI Cricketer of the Year – Rohit Sharma (India)
4. T20I Performance of the Year – Deepak Chahar (India, 6-7 v Bangladesh)
5. Emerging Cricketer of the Year – Marnus Labuschagne (Australia)
6. Associate Cricketer of the Year – Kyle Coetzer (Scotland)
7. Spirit of Cricket Award – Virat Kohli stopping the fans booing Steve Smith at the Oval
8. David Shepherd Trophy for Umpire of the Year – Richard Illingworth

ICC Test Team of the Year (in batting order): Mayank Agarwal, Tom Latham, Marnus Labuschagne, Virat Kohli (captain), Steve Smith, Ben Stokes, BJ Watling (wicketkeeper), Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Neil Wagner, Nathan Lyon.

ICC ODI Team of the Year (in batting order): Rohit Sharma, Shai Hope, Virat Kohli (captain), Babar Azam, Kane Williamson, Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler (wicketkeeper), Mitchell Starc, Trent Boult, Mohammed Shami, Kuldeep Yadav