Veteran Indian batter Virat Kohli on Saturday received the ICC Men’s ODI Player of the Year 2023 award in New York, where he is camped up with the Men in Blue in preparation for the upcoming T-20 World Cup. In a video shared by ICC, Kohli can be seen posing with the Player of the Year trophy and cap.
Moreover, in the shared video, Kohli can be heard saying ‘God’s plan baby!’, perhaps in a cheeky dig at one of his compatriots, Rinku Singh. Notably, Rinku had popularized the term a couple of times during the IPL first in an Instagram story about pacer Yash Dayal’s performance during the clash against Chennai Super Kings in IPL 2024 and then after his side, Kolkata Knight Riders won the IPL 2024 final match.
Notably, Rinku Singh was not included in the 15-man squad for the T20 World Cup and instead travelled to the USA as a reserve player. Kohli and Rinku seem to have a good rapport, as evidenced by a recent viral video of the KKR batsman asking his senior for a bat during the IPL 2024 season. While Kohli was seen denying Rinku his bat in the viral video, whether he later changed his mind is a matter of speculation.
Virat Kohli’s ODI success in 2023:
After a dry spell for a couple of years, Virat Kohli finally came back to form during the year 2023. In the 27 ODI matches played in 2023, Kohli scored 1,377 runs at an average of 72.47 and a strike rate of 99.13. The veteran batter hit 6 centuries and eight half-centuries during the said period with a highest score of 166.
Kohli also took his excellent form to IPL where he was the highest run scorer this year, scoring 741 runs in 15 matches at an average of 61.75 and a strike rate of over 154.
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Published: 02 Jun 2024, 09:15 AM IST