Kohli dominates ICC decade honours, Dhoni fetches ‘Spirit of Cricket’ honour

DUBAI, Dec 28: India captain Virat Kohli on Monday headlined the ICC top honours for the decade, winning the Sir Garfield Sobers award for the best male cricketer of the past 10 years. Kohli was also picked for the ODI Cricketer of the Decade award.
Former India skipper M S Dhoni won the ‘ICC Spirit of Cricket Award of the Decade’, chosen by fans for his gesture of calling back England batsman Ian Bell after a bizarre run out in the Nottingham Test in 2011.
The International Cricket Council (ICC) made the announcements via twitter, bestowing the top honours on Kohli, who scored 66 out of his 70 international hundreds, in the “ICC Awards” period.
The other nominees of the ICC Male Cricketer of the Decade were R Ashwin, Joe Root, Kumar Sangakkara, Steve Smith, Ab de Villiers and Kane Williamson.
On Sunday, Kohli was the lone player to be named in teams of the decade across formats and was named captain of the Test all-stars. He is already India’s most successful captain in the longest format with 33 Test victories.
For the ODI honour, Kohli was the only player with 10,000 plus runs in the “ICC Awards” period including 39 hundreds and 48 fifties at an average of 61.83.
The world governing body named Australian batting mainstay Steve Smith the Test Cricketer of the Decade and Afghanistan star Rashid Khan as the T20 Cricketer of the Decade.
Australia’s Elysse Perry swept the women’s awards, securing the ICC Female Cricketer of the Decade honours alongside ODI and T20 Cricketers of the Decade award.
The award winners:
Virat Kohli (Sir Garfield Sobers Award for ICC Male Cricketer of the Decade), Ellyse Perry (Rachael Heyhoe-Flint Award for ICC Female Cricketer of the Decade), Steve Smith (ICC Men’s Test Cricketer of the Decade) Virat Kohli (ICC Men’s ODI Cricketer of the Decade), Ellyse Perry (ICC Women’s ODI Cricketer of the Decade), Rashid Khan (ICC Men’s T20I Cricketer of the Decade), Ellyse Perry (ICC Women’s T20I Cricketer of the Decade), Kyle Coetzer (ICC Men’s Associate Cricketer of the Decade), Kathryn Bryce (ICC Women’s Associate Cricketer of the Decade), and MS Dhoni (ICC Spirit of Cricket Award of the Decade). (PTI)