Kolkata: Virat Kohli might have had a torrid time this weekend as his Indian side, which had earlier remained unbeaten for 19 Test matches collapsed to one of its most embarrassing defeats at the hands of Australia. Well, not everything seems to be going wrong with the Indian captain as he was named the Captain Of The Year at the 10th Annual ESPNCricinfo Awards.
Before the Pune Test against the Aussies, Kohli had a dream run in Test cricket in which he led his team to nine wins out of the 12 Test matches it played. Also a highlight of his captaincy in Test cricket has been the fact that he led his team to the top spot in the ICC Test rankings.
An independent body comprising former cricketing legends, ESPN Cricinfo‘s senior editors, writers and global correspondents picked the winners from different categories. The body boasts the likes of greats like Mahela Jayawardene, Ramiz Raja, Ian Chappell, Isa Guha, Courtney Walsh, Sambit Bal, Simon Taufel and Mark Butcher, to name a few.
Ben Stokes, the newly appointed vice-captain of the English Test team bagged the award for the Test batting performance of the year for his spectacular attacking innings of 258 off just 198 deliveries against the Proteas in Cape Town.
Another Englishman featured in the list of awardees in the form of veteran pacer Stuart Broad whose 6/17 series winning performance against South Africa fetched him the, Test Bowling Performance of the year. The 30-year-old English speedster won this award for the second consecutive year.
South African wicket-keeper batsman Quinton De Kock won the award for the “ODI Performance of the Year” for his terrific innings of 178 against the Australians in Centurion. West Indian spin maestro Sunil Narine won the award for the “ODI Bowling Performance Of the Year” for his magical spell of 6 for 27 against South Africa in the tri-series in Guyana.
Carlos Braithwaite, who smacked four towering sixes to hand the West Indies its second T20 World Cup, won the award for the “T20 Batting Performance of the Year.” The hard-hitting all-rounder got the award for the crucial innings of 34 not out which he played against the Englishmen in the final of the World T20 in Kolkata. Bangladesh players too got their share of awards as left-arm pacer Mustafizur Rahman, who had an impressive debut in international cricket bagged the award for the “T20 Bowling Performance of the Year” for his match figures of 5 for 22 against New Zealand in the World T20.
Mehedi Hasan Miraz, who took 19 wickets in his debut series against England is the “Debutant Of the Year.” The off-spinner had a spectacular outing in the home series against England in which he contributed immensely to a historical victory for underdogs Bangladesh in the Test format.
The ESPN Cricinfo also introduced awards for women’s cricket in all the formats of the game. West Indian batswoman Hayley William’s brilliant knock of 66 off 45 deliveries against three-time champions Australia in the final of the World T20 fetched her the “Batting Performance of the Year” award. Leigh Kasperek, the off-spinner from New Zealand got the award for the “Bowling Performance Of the Year” for her breathtaking figures of 3 for 13 against the Aussies in a World T20 group match.
(With inputs from PTI)