ICC Awards 2020: Virat Kohli, Steve Smith win top honors

Virat Kohli has emerged as the clear jury favourite with winning the Sir Garfield Sobers Award for ICC Male Cricketer of the Decade. 

Kohli had scored 20,396 runs in all international cricket during the time period, which is more than anyone else, was also part of team India that won the ICC CWC 2011 and ICC Champions Trophy 2013. He was also named ICC Cricketer of the Year in both 2017 and 2018.

All-rounder, Ellyse Perry was a clear favourite in the Female Cricketer of the Decade category and won the Rachael Heyhoe-Flint Award, as she had scored 4,349 runs with four centuries and took 213 wickets in all international cricket during the decade – which was also the most wickets taken by any player. Perry was also part of the Australian team that won ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup in 2013 and ICC Women’s T20 World Cup in 2012, 2014, 2018 and 2020 and also won the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Award for leading Women’s Cricketer in 2017 and 2019. She also went on to win the ICC Women’s ODI Cricketer of the Decade as well as the ICC Women’s T20I Cricketer of the Decade.

Kohli was also awarded the ICC Men’s ODI Cricketer of the Decade, whilst Steve Smith bagged the ICC Men’s Test Cricketer of the Decade for scoring 7,040 runs in 69 Tests in the period at an average of 65.79 with 26 centuries. He was also named the ICC Player of the Year in 2015 and ICC Test Player of the Year in 2015 and 2017. In the MRF Tyres ICC Test Player Rankings, his points tally was of 947 at the end of 2017 which is the second-highest in the history of the ICC Test batting rankings history.

Rashid Khan took home the ICC Men’s T20I Cricketer of the Decade award, for taking 89 wickets at an average of just 12.62 apiece with an economy rate of 6.14 runs per over in 48 matches during the decade. These are more wickets than anyone else despite starting in 2015. He went on to become the first bowler to take four wickets in four balls in T20I cricket when he performed the feat against Ireland at Dehradun in 2019. He is also the fastest bowler to reach 50 wickets in T20I cricket in terms of time, taking just 2 years 20 days to reach the landmark.

MS Dhoni won the ICC Spirit of Cricket Award of the Decade, chosen by fans unanimously for his gesture of calling back former England batter Ian Bell following a disputable runout at Trent Bridge in 2011. 

The ICC Awards of The Decade that recognise the best players across Cricket over the past 10 years, invited fans to vote for the first time by selecting the winners across categories including the Sir Garfield Sobers and Rachael Heyhoe Flint Awards, which celebrate the best overall player from the men’s and women’s game over the past decade. Fans provided 100% of the vote for the ICC Spirit of Cricket Award of the Decade, from a list of the past winners since 2011. More than 1.5 million fans from across the globe participated casting 5.3 million votes.

The nominees for each of the categories had been determined by the Awards Nominations Committee according to on-field performances and overall achievements for at least five years during the period.

The list includes journalists, statisticians, analysts and former cricketers, and broadcasters from all across the globe such as: Alan Wilkins, Alison Mitchell, Athar Ali Khan, Azad Majumder, Benedict Bermange, Dan Brettig, Danny Morrison, Daren Ganga, Emal Pasarly, Ian Bishop, Ian Callender, Ian Smith, Isobel Joyce, Julian Guyer, Lawrence Booth, Lesley Murdoch, Lisa Sthalekar, Mark Geenty, Mehluli Sibanda, Mohammad Isam, Natalie Germanos, Neeru Bhatia, Neil Manthorp, Paul Radley, Peter Della Penna, Peter Lalor, Ramiz Raja, Rex Clementine, Rizwan Ali, Russel Arnold, Saadi Thawfeeq, Sambit Bal, Shahid Hashmi, Sharda Ugra, Shaun Pollock, Stephon Nicholas, Tim Cutler and VVS Laxman. Furthermore, Anjum Chopra, Snehal Pradhan and Isabelle Westbury voted for individual categories but did not vote for any of the ICC Teams of the Decade categories.

The nominees for each of the categories were determined by the Awards Nominations Committee according to on-field performances and overall achievements for at least five years during the period.

The complete list of winners of the ICC Awards of the Decade is as follows:

- Virat Kohli wins the Sir Garfield Sobers Award for ICC Male Cricketer of the Decade
- Ellyse Perry wins the Rachael Heyhoe-Flint Award for ICC Female Cricketer of the Decade
- Steve Smith is ICC Men’s Test Cricketer of the Decade
- Virat Kohli is ICC Men’s ODI Cricketer of the Decade
- Ellyse Perry is ICC Women’s ODI Cricketer of the Decade
- Rashid Khan is ICC Men’s T20I Cricketer of the Decade
- Ellyse Perry is ICC Women’s T20I Cricketer of the Decade
- Kyle Coetzer is ICC Men’s Associate Cricketer of the Decade
- Kathryn Bryce is ICC Women’s Associate Cricketer of the Decade
- MS Dhoni wins ICC Spirit of Cricket Award of the Decade

-ICC