King Kohli sweeps top 3 ICC awards

Dubai: The peerless Virat Kohli Tuesday became the first cricketer to make a clean sweep of the ICC's annual individual awards and was also named the captain of the world body's Test and ODI teams of the year, line-ups which were dominated by Indian players.

Kohli became the first player in history to win the Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy for ICC Cricketer of the Year, his second consecutive, the ICC Test and the ODI Player of the Year awards following an extraordinary 2018. Besides, the rapidly-rising wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant claimed the ICC's Emerging Cricketer of the Year award.

"Not only is Kohli the first player to win these three major ICC awards together but he has also been named the captain of the ICC Test and ODI teams of the year for a fabulous run in international cricket," the ICC said in a statement.

Kohli scored 1,322 runs at an average of 55.08 in 13 Tests with five tons during the calendar year while in 14 ODIs he amassed 1202 runs at an astonishing average of 133.55 with six centuries. He also scored 211 runs in 10 T20Is.

"It's a reward for all the hard work that you do throughout the calendar year. Having recognition at the global level from the ICC is something you feel proud of as a cricketer," Kohli was quoted as saying by the world body in a release.