The International Cricket Council(ICC)announced that India’s Virat Kohli has been announced as the ICC Men’s ODI Cricketer of the Year 2023.
Virat Kohli had a superb year with the bat, culminating in a record tally of runs at the home World Cup, where his contributions played a major part in India’s run to the final.
Virat Kohli built on his comeback in 2022 with a spectacular 2023, where he found peak form in ODIs, and capped it off with a Player of the Tournament performance at the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023.
India’s No.3 smashed at least a half-century in nine of his 11 innings at the World Cup, finishing with a mind-blowing 765 runs, the most ever scored by an individual batter at a men’s Cricket World Cup, going past the previous record set by Sachin Tendulkar in 2003.
Virat Kohli finished the tournament with an average of 95.62 and a strike rate of 90.31, with three centuries including one in the semi-final against New Zealand.
He completed a record tally of 50 ODI hundreds with his knock in the semi-final, making him the leading century-hitter in the format’s history.
While he ended the tournament with another half-century in the final, it didn’t lead India to a victory and the stunned silence that followed his dismissal in Ahmedabad in the final was a testimony to how big Kohli was to India’s chances at the title win.
He finished the year with 1377 runs at an average of 72.47, recording six centuries and eight half-centuries in 24 innings.
Virat Kohli reserved his best at the World Cup for the semi-final knockout clash against New Zealand. Walking in at the fall of Rohit Sharma’s wicket, Kohli hit his stride immediately, remaining unmoved until after he completed a record 50th century in the format.
“It’s stuff of dreams, Anushka was sitting right there, Sachin paaji was there in the stands,” Kohli said later while being interviewed during the innings break.
If the setting made the knock “picture perfect” for Kohli, the occasion made it all the more important for India. Having endured heartbreak at the hands of the Kiwis four years back in England, Kohli’s record ton and huge stand with Shreyas Iyer paved the way for a monumental total of 397.
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Published: 25 Jan 2024, 05:50 PM IST