Virat Kohli wins Wisden's Leading Cricketer award
Getty Images
Indian skipper Virat Kohli has been named as the Leading Cricketer in the World in the 2017 edition of Wisden Cricketers' Almanack, for his performances in 2016. Kohli is only the third Indian to win the prestigious honor since its inception in 2003 behind Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar.
Wisden editor Lawrence Booth wrote that Kohli had “the year of his dreams averaging more with the bat in each of the three formats than anyone: 75 in Tests, 92 in one-day internationals and 106 in Twenty20 internationals".
Under Kohli’s stewardship, India completed a clean sweep against New Zealand in the Test series, wins against England in all three formats. Kohli’s knock of 235 in the fourth Test against England in Mumbai was singled out by Booth, who called Kohli "the spiritual successor to Sachin Tendulkar".
Interestingly, Kohli is only the third Indian to be bestowed with the honor behind Virender Sehwag, who won it in 2008 and 2009 and Tendulkar himself, who won it in 2010. The award was introduced in 2003 and takes into consideration all three formats of the international game in the preceding calendar year. The women’s award was won by Australia's, Ellyse Perry.
