The Indian cricketer batsman Virat Kohli was awarded the prestigious ‘Wisden Almanack’s ODI Cricketer of the 2010’s’. Similarly, Ben Stokes was named the ‘Leading Player of the Year’ in a second consecutive year by the very prestigious publication.
The Indian captain, who is 32, has staggered a massive 12,169 runs in his career of 254 One-Day Internationals. He debuted in ODIs against Sri Lanka back in 2008 and is averaging over 60 in ODIs and has scored 42 centuries.
Kapil Dev and Sachin Tendulkar also feature in this list. Dev led India to its first-ever world cup win in 1983 and has claimed more wickets than any other bowler in his decade. He was the ‘Almanack’s ODI Player of the 1980’s’. Tendulkar was the ‘Almanack’s ODI Player of the 1990’s’. He has smashed 9 centuries in a single calendar year of 1998, which was more than any other batsmen in that year. Kohli and Tendulkar were also a part of the World Cup-winning team in 2011.
“My only intention was to make winning contributions for the team and I just strive to do that in every game. Stats just become the by-product of what you want to do on the field,” Kohli said after winning the award.
Meanwhile, Stokes, the England all-rounder, was declared ‘Leading Cricketer of the Year’ in two consecutive years. “His haul of 641 Test runs at 58 in the calendar year was more than anyone else, while his 19 wickets cost just 18 apiece. He did it all against a backdrop of personal tragedy: his father, Ged, died in December at the age of 65,” Wisden editor Lawrence Booth said.
Dom Sibley, Zak Crawley, Jason Holder, Mohammed Rizwan and Darren Stevens were named Wisden Cricketers of the Year in the 2021 edition of Wisden Almanack.
Additionally, Australia’s Beth Mooney was awarded the “Leading Women’s Cricketer in the World” while West Indian all-rounder Kieron Pollard was named the Leading T20 Cricketer in the World.
