Kohli on Cloud Nine

No cricketer has won all three ICC “Oscars” in the same year as Virat Kohli has done in 2018. The Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy for Cricketer of the Year and the ICC Test and ODI player of the year awards, besides leading both the virtual Test and ODI teams of the world, fell upon the Indian captain. The awards aren’t based on empirical studies, but the statistics —1,322 runs in 13 Tests at 55.08 average, and 1,202 runs in 14 ODIs at 133.55 — reflect his pre-eminence in all formats, including T20. Kohli’s excellence when Team India played mostly overseas — in South Africa, England and Australia — stood out as the team flourished, with unprecedented triumphs in the Test and ODI series in Australia.

Comparisons to Sachin Tendulkar, the pre-eminent performer of the earlier era, are inevitable. While judgment, like those of 36 cricket personalities who picked the ICC awardees, are bound to help spur such arguments, it appears Kohli as a batsman may have to go a longer way to surpass Sachin. But where Kohli stands apart is that he’s also shouldered the task of leading Team India willingly, not letting the captaincy affect his batting form, and has led from the front.

The modern era’s exceptional rewards have also come his way as Kohli was declared India’s number one celebrity earner, with his endorsement income going through the roof. Beyond material rewards, what Kohli has done is help sustain India’s top rank in Tests and number two in ODIs and T20 with a singular focus. Minor fallibilities in selection judgment may be the only thing that blotted his copybook in an astonishing year of success.