Ben Stokes was named the ‘Player of the year’ at the ICC Awards 2019. His World Cup Final chase will be etched forever whereas his breath-taking run chase at Leeds in the fourth innings is another memorable moment in the history of cricketer.
Stokes was most certainly the most deserving cricketer to named for this award for his contribution in 2019. He kept his cool and scored an unbeaten 84 in the final against New Zealand. He amassed 719 runs and bagged 12 wickets in 20 ODIs and in the longer format he scored 821 runs and picked up total 22 wickets in 11 Tests, including the unbeaten 135 at Leeds.
Stokes did not forget to thank his teammates for this recognition. “There is an incredible bond between teammates and to savour our achievements, whether that’s winning the World Cup Final at Lord’s or digging deep to win a Test match against Australia at Headingley. It is satisfying you can accomplish these superb highs together.” He added, “The last 12 months have been the best in my career, and I believe what we attained will be the catalyst to achieve further success over the next few years.”
Pat Cummins got the ‘Test Cricketer of the year’ award as he scalped 59 wickets in 23 innings. Nathan Lyon is the runner up in the list of most Test wickets in this calendar year with 45 wickets in 23 innings. Marnus Labuschagne was another interesting awardee in the ceremony who won the award for the ‘Emerging cricketer of the year’. After replacing Steven Smith as a concussion substitute during the Ashes, he never looked back. He ended the year with 1022 runs from 10 Test matched at a brilliant average of 68.13.
Rohit Sharma led the way for Indians at the function as he was named the ‘ODI Cricketer of the year’. Rohit scored 1490 runs in 28 ODIs at an average of 57.30 in 2019 with seven ODI hundred. Five of his ODI hundred came in the World Cup 2019 where he accumulated 648 runs and fell 25 runs short of Sachin Tendulkar’s record for most runs in a single edition of the mega tournament. Sachin had smashed 673 runs in 2003 World Cup.
Deepak Chahar’s spell of 3.2-0-7-6 against Bangladesh got the ‘T20I performance of the year’ award. Chahar’s spell included a hat-trick and also broke the record of best bowling figures in the shortest format of the game. “Taking six wickets conceding only seven runs was a dream performance for me and will always remain close to my heart,” Chahar recalled.
Virat Kohli’s gesture in the league match against Australia during World Cup helped him win the ‘ICC Spirit of Cricket Award’. The match saw Kohli opposing the crowd for being hostile towards Smith and then asking them to cheer for the Aussie star.
Kohli on receiving the award said, “I’m surprised that I have got it, after many years of being under the scanner for the wrong things. It is part of camaraderie that sportsmen must have with each other. That moment was purely understanding an individual’s situation. I don’t think a guy who is coming out of a situation like that needs to be taken advantage of. You can sledge, can have banter on the field, you say things to the opposition in wanting to beat them. But booing someone is not in the spirit of any sport, I don’t endorse it.”
ICC also announced their Test and ODI XIs of the year and the Indian captain was given the prestigious responsibility of leading both teams after his successful stint as Indian skipper in 2019.
List of ICC Awards
Player of the Year: Ben Stokes
Test Cricketer of the Year: Pat Cummins
ODI Cricketer of the Year: Rohit Sharma
Emerging Cricketer of the Year: Marnus Labuschagne
Spirit of Cricket Award: Virat Kohli
T20I Performance of the Year: Deepak Chahar’s 6/7 against Bangladesh
Umpire of the Year: Richard Illingworth
Associate Player of the Year: Kyle Coetzer
ICC ODI XI of 2019: Rohit Sharma, Jonny Bairstow, Virat Kohli (c), Joe Root, Jos Buttler, Ross Taylor, Ben Stokes, Mustafizur Rahman, Rashid Khan, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah
ICC Test XI of 2019: Mayank Agarwal, Tom Latham, Marnus Labuschagne, Virat Kohli (c), Steven Smith, Ben Stokes, BJ Watling, Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Neil Wagner, Nathan Lyon