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India's swashbuckling opener Rohit Sharma was on Wednesday named the ICC's '2019 ODI Cricketer of the Year' for his incredible run of form through the year while India skipper Virat Kohli bagged the 'Spirit of Cricket' title for his gesture while stopping fans from booing Australia's Steve Smith during their World Cup match at the Oval.
England's World Cup-winning all-rounder Ben Stokes got the 'Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy' for Player of the Year. The 32-year-old Rohit had a memorable 2019 when he scored 10 hundreds across formats, including five in the World Cup.
The 32-year-old Rohit aggregated 1409 runs from 28 matches with seven hundreds in the ODI format in 2019.
He hit a purple patch in the World Cup amassing 648 runs in nine games at an average of 81.00 with five hundreds and a half-century. Rohit also became the first batsman in World Cup history to score five centuries in a single edition.
"It is great to be recognised in this fashion. We are very happy with the way we performed as a team in 2019. We could have done better but we have a lot of positives and a lot to look forward to in 2020," Rohit said.
India captain Virat Kohli was named skipper of both the Test and ODI teams of the year by ICC. He was also honoured with the ‘Spirit of Cricket’ award and said he was surprised to win the category.
He explained his reasons for backing Smith the way he did, during the 2019 ICC World Cup.
"You can sledge, can have have banter on the field, you say things to the opposition in wanting to beat them. But booing someone is not in the spirit of any sport, I don't endorse it," Kohli added.
England’s World Cup-winning all-rounder Stokes got the biggest prize — the ‘Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy’ for Player of the Year, while Australia fast bowler Pat Cummins was named the Test Player of the Year.
Stokes was rewarded after a fabulous 12 months that saw him play a decisive role in England's dramatic victory at the World Cup final along with a host of other memorable performances, including an epic Ashes hundred.
Cummins grabbed 59 wickets in 12 Test matches during the period and finished the year as the top-ranked bowler in the Test rankings.
Marnus Labuschagne was an easy winner of the Emerging Player award after scoring 1,104 runs in 11 Tests, which saw him zoom in the ICC Test Player Rankings from 110 at the start of the year to fourth by the end of the year.
England umpire Richard Illingworth became the seventh person to win the David Shepherd Trophy for Umpire of the Year.
India seamer Deepak Chahar, who won the T20 International Performance of the Year, said his haul of six for seven against Bangladesh in Nagpur, which included a hat-trick, would always be cherished by him. "Taking six wickets conceding only seven runs was a dream performance for me and will always remain close to my heart," Chahar said.
ICC Test Team of the Year (in batting order): Mayank Agarwal, Tom Latham, Marnus Labuschagne, Virat Kohli (captain), Steve Smith, Ben Stokes, BJ Watling (wicketkeeper), Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Neil Wagner, Nathan Lyon.
ICC ODI Team of the Year (in batting order): Rohit Sharma, Shai Hope, Virat Kohli (captain), Babar Azam, Kane Williamson, Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler (wicketkeeper), Mitchell Starc, Trent Boult, Mohammed Shami, Kuldeep Yadav
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