After leading India to a historic series win in Australia, captain Virat Kohli has scripted history by being the first player to win all the three ICC awards for 2018.
Kohli has bagged the Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy for ICC Cricketer of the Year, the ICC Men's Test Player of the Year and the ICC ODI Player of the Year awards following an extraordinary 2018.
It was a stupendous year for the skipper as he amassed 1,322 runs at an average of 55.08 in 13 Tests with five hundreds during the calendar year while in 14 ODIs he amassed 1202 runs at a barely believable average of 133.55 with six centuries. He also scored 211 runs in 10 T20Is.
Kohli reacts to the awards
"It feels amazing. It's a reward for all the hard work that you do throughout the calendar year. I feel really grateful and very, very happy with the team doing well at the same time myself performing. Having recognition at the global level from the ICC is something you feel proud of as a cricketer because you understand that there are many players playing the game," Kohli said.
"To be rewarded in this manner from amongst all of them is obviously a very proud moment for me and something that gives you more motivation to keep repeating the same things because you have to keep the standard of cricket up and keep bringing in consistent performances. From that point of view, these awards give you that extra motivation," he added.
Twitter erupts following the announcement:
2017 ICC Awards:
— Mohandas Menon (@mohanstatsman) January 22, 2019
Cricketer of the Year: Virat Kohli ??
Test Player of the Year: Steve Smith ??
ODI Player of the Year: Virat Kohli ??
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2018 ICC Awards:
Cricketer of the Year: Virat Kohli ??
Test Player of the Year: Virat Kohli ??
ODI Player of the Year: Virat Kohli ??
That's not new for King Kohli isn't it? That's his routine for the past three years!! He is the BEAST!! #ICCAwards
— Chiranth (@ChiranthJSA) January 22, 2019
It's Virat Kohli's world. We are just living in it.
— ` (@ughwhatever) January 22, 2019