India skipper Virat Kohli on Thursday swept the International Cricket Council (ICC) annual awards winning the prestigious Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy for being the World Cricketer of the Year 2017 as also being named ICC ODI Cricketer of the Year 2017 and the captain of both ICC Test and ODI teams.
On the other hand, Kohli's Australian counterpart Steve Smith bagged the honour of being the Test Cricketer of the Year. The 28-year-old Smith posted six centuries in just 11 Tests in 2017; three on Australia's tour of India and three in the recently-completed 4-0 Ashes triumph over England.
Moments after the awards were announced, an elated Kohli said winning the Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy felt more special after his teammate Ravichandran Ashwin bagged it last year.
It is the second time Kohli has been named as the ODI Cricketer of the Year after bagging the same honour in 2012 when he was 24 years old.
"It means a lot to win the Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy for becoming the ICC Cricketer of the Year 2017 and also the ICC ODI Player of the Year," the Delhi batsman told ICC's website.
"I won that back in 2012 also but it's the first time winning the Garfield Sobers Trophy, and it's a huge honour for me. It's probably the biggest of all in world cricket and two Indians getting it back-to-back makes it more special.
"Last time it was Ash (Ravichandran Ashwin) and this time I'm getting it, so I'm really really honoured and I'd like to thank the ICC for recognising all the hard work that we all put in for our respective sides and I want to congratulate all the other winners also," he added.
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The award, which was decided for performance based on the period between September 21, 2016 to December 31, 2017, the Indian skipper scored 2,203 Test runs at an average of 77.80. Kohli also scored eight centuries in the time period in the longest format, including five double hundreds.
In ODIs, Kohli hammered 1,818 ODI runs at an average of 82.63 including seven centuries, and 299 T20I runs at a strike rate of 153. With Kohli as skipper, India went on to register nine consecutive series win in the longest format.
Apart from Kohli, who was named as the captain for the ODI Team of the year, Rohit Sharma, who smashed a double ton against Sri Lanka in December, becoming the only batsman in the world to have three double-centuries in the format, was also included in the squad.
The only other Indian apart from the two, who made it to the team was seamer Jasprit Bumrah, who took 56 wickets in 31 matches at an average of 22.73 during 2017.
Three Indians made it to the 2017 Test team of the year -- Ravichandran Ashwin, Cheteshwar Pujara and Kohli, who was also named as the captain for the side.
Rising leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal was also recognised for his tremendous perfomance in T20 cricket and his 6-wicket haul against England in Bengaluru was recognised as the ICC T20I Performance of the Year.
Among others, Pakistan quick Hasan Ali was named the Emerging Cricketer of the Year after he helped Pakistan win the ICC Champions Trophy in June, while Afghanistan spinner Rashid Khan was named Associate Cricketer of the Year.
English women cricketer Anya Shrubsole bagged the ICC Spirit of Cricket award while South African umpire Marais Erasmus was awarded the David Shepherd Trophy for ICC Umpire of the Year.
Pakistan's ICC Champions Trophy 2017 win over arch-rivals India in June was adjudged the ICC Fans Moment of the Year. The Sarfraz Ahmed-led Men-in-Green thrashed India by 180 runs to bag the title at The Oval in London.
--IANS
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