Fans of the Indian Cricket Team are getting their Christmas gift a little bit too late this year. At the ICC Awards 2020 that were hosted on the last Sunday of this year, Indian skipper Virat Kohli was bestowed with awards across multiple categories. 

When it comes to describing Virat Kohli, adjectives fall short. A man knows for his impeccable batting style, proactive and aggressive captainship and off the ground charisma, Kohli went on to win the prestigious Sir Garfield Sobers ICC Male Cricketer of the Decade Award. 

During the qualification period, the current Indian captain smashed 94 half-centuries and 66 hundred with an average of 56.97 runs. All of these centuries and half centuries amass to him scoring over 20,000 runs in just 70 plus innings. 

A team player through and through, Virat thanked the ICC and his fans on twitter and said, “ “My only intention was to make winning contributions for the team and I just strive to do that in every game. Stats just become the byproduct of what you want to do on the field,” 

Let’s take a look at all the nominations for Sir Garfield Sobers Award for ICC Men’s Cricketer of the Decade.

Sir Garfield Sobers Award for ICC Men’s Cricketer of the Decade

  • Virat Kohli (India) – WINNER
  • Ravichandran Ashwin (India)
  • Kumar Sangakkara (Sri Lanka)
  • Steve Smith (Australia)
  • AB de Villiers (South Africa)
  • Kane Williamson (New Zealand)
  • Joe Root (England)

ICC Men’s Test Cricketer of the Decade

Steve “Stevie” Smith is an Aussie batsman known for his sweeping shots all around the ground. During his qualification period, Steve scored over 7,000 runs(which consists of 26 hundreds and 28 fifties) at an average of 65.79 runs.

Nominees for ICC Men’s Test Cricketer of the Decade

  • Steve Smith (Australia) – WINNER
  • Virat Kohli (India)
  • James Anderson (England)
  • Rangana Herath (Sri Lanka)
  • Joe Root (England)
  • Yasir Shah (Pakistan)
  • Kane Williamson (New Zealand)

ICC Men’s ODI Cricketer of the Decade

It seems like the Gods of Cricket wanted to shower their blessings on Virat. Later during ICC Awards 2020, Virat went on to win the Men’s ODI Cricketer of the Decade award.

Here are all the nominations for ICC Men’s ODI Cricketer of the Decade:

  • Virat Kohli (India) – WINNER
  • MS Dhoni (India)
  • Lasith Malinga (Sri Lanka)
  • Kumar Sangakkara (Sri Lanka)
  • Rohit Sharma (India)
  • Mitchell Starc (Australia)
  • AB de Villiers (South Africa)

ICC Men’s T20I Cricketer of the Decade

A bowler that can make even the best batsmen sweat, Rashit Khan from Afghanistan went on to win the Men’s T20 Cricketer of the Decade. During the qualification tenure, Rashid was the highest wicket-taker among his peers(89 wickets) with an average of 12.62. The Afghanistani spin-wizard had 3 four-wicket hauls and 2 five-wicket ones. 

Let’s look at whom Rashid Khan was stacked against: 

  • Rashid Khan (Afghanistan) – WINNER
  • Virat Kohli (India)
  • Aaron Finch (Australia)
  • Chris Gayle (West Indies)
  • Lasith Malinga (Sri Lanka)
  • Rohit Sharma (India)
  • Imran Tahir (South Africa)

While on one hand where Virat Kohli took the major ICC Awards home for men’s category, Aussie woman player Elyse Perry made a clean sweep at ICC Awards this year by taking away the awards for both ICC Women’s ODI Cricketer of the Decade & T20 Cricketer of the Decade. She also took home the prestigious Rachael Heyhoe Flint Award for ICC Women’s Cricketer of the Decade on the other hand.

Let’s look at the nominees for these categories.

Rachael Heyhoe Flint Award for ICC Women’s Cricketer of the Decade

  • Ellyse Perry (Australia) – WINNER
  • Mithali Raj (India)
  • Suzie Bates (New Zealand)
  • Meg Lanning (Australia)
  • Sarah Taylor (England)
  • Stafanie Taylor (West Indies)

ICC Women’s ODI Cricketer of the Decade

  • Ellyse Perry (Australia) – WINNER
  • Mithali Raj (India)
  • Suzie Bates (New Zealand)
  • Jhulan Goswami (India)
  • Meg Lanning (Australia)
  • Stafanie Taylor (West Indies)

ICC Women’s T20I Cricketer of the Decade

  • Ellyse Perry (Australia) – WINNER
  • Sophie Devine (New Zealand)
  • Deandra Dottin (West Indies)
  • Alyssa Healy (Australia)
  • Meg Lanning (Australia)
  • Anya Shrubsole (England)

The sportswoman thanked the ICC for the award on twitter and mentioned that she felt honored on receiving these awards especially when there were so many equally talented players who were also nominated. You can watch her reacting to the awards here: 

Dhoni Wins ICC Spirit of the Cricket Award of the Decade.

Former Indian captain and perhaps the unanimously loved Indian cricketer in recent times M.S. Dhoni went on to win the ICC Spirit of the Cricket Award of the Decade. He won this award for his gesture to bring back England’s Ian ball to the crease after he was ruled out by the umpire. Dhoni’s gesture went on to reaffirm the faith of cricket lover’s across the world for the notion that cricket is truly a gentlemen’s sport.