Dubai: Indian star cricketer and batting maestro Virat Kohli won the ICC men's ODI Cricketer of the Year 2023 crown for his excellent run in the format last year. He was in the forefront with a phenomenal World Cup campaign in his homeland, PTI reported.
This is the fourth such award for Kohli, who was the second most prolific run-scorer in ODIs last year behind compatriot Shubman Gill.
The former India skipper finished the year with 1,377 runs, which included six centuries and eight half-centuries.
The year will forever be remembered as the one in which Kohli surpassed the great Sachin Tendulkar's longstanding record of ODI centuries, and the award caps a memorable 12 months for the India batter, who guided the country to the World Cup final, winning the Player of the Tournament prize along the way for scoring a record 765 runs in 11 matches.
This is the seventh individual ICC award won by Kohli during his glittering career and his fourth in the ODI category after previous wins in 2012, 2017 and 2018.
He also won the Test award in 2018, while the years 2017 and 2018 saw him also win the Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy for ICC Men's Cricketer of the Year.
Kohli claimed the silverware from a shortlist that included countrymen Gill and Mohammed Shami, plus New Zealand's Daryl Mitchell.
However, Kohli lost in the race for the ICC Cricketer of the Year Award after Australian captain Pat Cummins won the title. Cummins had led his team to victory in the tournament to become World Champions. In the race for the award, there Travis Head and Ravindra Jadeja, along with Kohli and Cummins.