The International Cricket Council (ICC) announced the ODI and Test team and a few other awards for the year 2018 and to no one's surprise, Indian captain Virat Kohli swept all of them. Virat Kohli was named ICC ODI captain of the year, ICC Test Captain of the year, ICC Test player of the year, ICC ODI player of the year. He also won the Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy for ICC Men’s Cricketer of the Year.
Three player of the year awards, captain of teams in both formats. He has become the first player in the history to bag all three awards. The flurry of awards reflects the kind of year Virat Kohli had in 2018. It won't be surprising if he now goes on to win the Wisden Player of the Year award as well.
Virat Kohli amassed 1,322 runs in 13 tests and 1,202 runs in 14 ODIs in 2018. India won the T20 series in England, however, lost both ODI and Test series. As a batsman, England was probably the last frontier for Kohli to conquer; something he did. While India failed to win the Test series against England, Kohli stood tall and went on to make 593 runs in 5 Test matches. His batting was impeccable, however, his decision to drop Cheteshwar Pujara from the squad for the first test match was criticised.
In South Africa, India dominated the ODI series like champions, winning the six-match series 5-1. Virat led the charge with the bat and scored 558 runs. India lost the three-match Test series to South Africa 2-1. Once again Virat's decision to drop vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane backfired. India was able to win the T20 series in South Africa 2-1.
For India, the Australia tour was the most successful. For the first time in history, India beat Australia in a Test series. India clinched the series 2-1, with the last match ending in a draw. Virat was again among the top run scorers. This was hailed as the most historic win by an Indian team on Australian soil. Not just this, Kohli led India to its first ever bilateral series win over Australia in their backyard. So impressive was his performance that former Australian captain Michael Clarke hailed Virat as the greatest one day batsman of all times. Dean Jones compared the Indian team of the great West India side of yesteryears.
The whole year was all about Virat Kohli and the clean sweep at ICC awards bears testimony to his performance in 2018.
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