The International Cricket Council (ICC) on Thursday named India captain Virat Kohli as the ODI cricketer of the year 2017. This is the second time that Kohli has received the prestigious award. He first won it as a 24-year-old in 2012. Kohli also became the recipient of the Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy for Cricketer of the Year.
"In the five years since receiving that gong he has confirmed his reputation as the best one-day player in the world and, in the opinion of many, developed into the greatest batsman limited-overs cricket has ever seen.
"At the age of 29, he has already scored 32 ODI centuries and has his hero Sachin Tendulkar’s all-time record of 49 well and truly in his sights. It is surely just a matter of time before he surpasses the Little Master, particularly if he keeps churning out runs as he did in 2017," the ICC said in a press release.
Kohli hammered six hundreds in ODIs in 2017, averaging an astonishing 76.84 - his ODI career average now stands at 55.74, the highest ever by a batsman from a Full Member nation – with a strike rate hovering around a run a ball.
Kohli averages 65.29 when his team are batting second and 93.64 when his team successfully chases down a target.
In 2017, Kohli also overtook Ricky Ponting to go second on the list of batsmen with most ODI hundreds. With 32 hundreds, Kohli is behind Sachin Tendulkar, who has 49 tons to his name.
"Is it too premature to call him the best ever? You can probably say that right now as far as his one-day cricket is concerned," former Australia captain Ricky Ponting was quoted as saying in the ICC release.
"His one-day record is outstanding and probably better than anybody that's ever played the game given how many hundreds he's made," Ponting added.
Kohli faced competition from other ODI star performers such as Pakistan paceman Hasan Ali, Afghanistan leg-spinner Rashid Khan and his teammate Rohit Sharma. But there was only ever one winner.
