Dubai, January 4
Four players Virat Kohli, Shubman Gill, Mohammed Shami and Daryl Mitchell who had an impressive Cricket World Cup in India have been shortlisted for the ICC Men's ODI Cricketer of the Year 2023 Award.
Shubman Gill (India): 1584 runs and 24 catches in 29 matches
Fairly raw on the biggest stage, Shubman Gill produced performances that would make 2023 his coming-of-age year in international cricket. His most notable performances came in the ODI format, with him finishing the year with 1584 runs at an average of 63.36.
It was the fifth-highest tally of runs by an Indian in a year in ODIs, only surpassed by the numbers racked up by Sachin Tendulkar (1996, 1998), Rahul Dravid (1999) and Sourav Ganguly (1999). With five hundreds and a strike-rate of over 100, Gill was a rock at the top of the order for India alongside skipper Rohit Sharma, and the duo put on several memorable opening stands in the year.
Gill ended the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2023 with 354 runs at an average of 44.25. Unfortunately, the opener couldn't start the World Cup for India, having been down with dengue Fever, but soon returned and hit his straps with a half-century against Bangladesh. He ended the tournament with four fifties, including an unbeaten 80, where he retired hurt midway with cramp and returned later in the final over.
Memorable PerformanceShubman Gill became the youngest double centurion in the year, slamming a terrific 208 against New Zealand in Hyderabad early in the year. Fresh off a good series against Sri Lanka that ended with a century in Thiruvananthapuram, Gill strode in with confidence in Hyderabad and went on to blitz a stunning 208 off a mere 149 balls.
During the knock, Gill also became the joint-second fastest to 1000 ODI runs. The solo show from Gill saw him contribute to nearly 60% of the team runs. Notably, no other Indian batter even scored a fifty in the innings. Studded with 19 fours and nine sixes, Gill's knock helped India to 349, a score they defended by 12 runs.
While Gill went on to make three more ODI tons in the calendar year, this double century stood out for the manner in which he single-handedly gave India a huge total with very little support from the other end.
Mohammed Shami (India): 43 wickets, 36 runs and 3 catches in 19 matches
Mohammed Shami turned around a very average first half of 2023 into a spectacle in the second half, peaking at the Cricket World Cup for India.
Despite the missing the first few games of the tournament, Shami stormed back into the playing XI and finished the tournament as the highest wicket-taker with 24 scalps at a staggering average of 10.7.
Notably, Shami took three five-wicket hauls and a four-wicket haul in the seven matches he played in the tournament. The seamer also broke the record for India's leading wicket-taker at Men's Cricket World Cups, taking his tally up to 55 wickets in just 18 games.
Only seven bowlers have taken more than 50 Cricket World Cup wickets and none have done so in as few matches as Shami.
What made Shami's tournament all the more special was that he wasn't in India's first-choice XI at the start of the event, but returned to make a huge impact in India's run to the final in the home World Cup.
Memorable PerformanceThe highlight of Shami's imperious showing in the World Cup was his record haul of 7/57 against New Zealand in the semi-final of the tournament.
Shami took the wickets of the openers in the run-chase and then returned to snare Williamson's scalp to break a promising stand with Mitchell. He went on to dismiss Tom Latham off the very next ball to break New Zealand's huge effort in Wankhede in a pretty hard chase.
With the double strike, Shami had broken the back of New Zealand's innings, but he did not settle for that, returning to dismiss the well-set Mitchell for 134 and then wiping out the tail to finish with a seven-for, the best figures by an Indian player in men's ODIs.
Virat Kohli (India): 1377 runs, 1 wicket and 12 catches in 27 matches
Virat Kohli built on his comeback in 2022 with a spectacular 2023, where he found peak form in ODIs, and capped it off with a Player of the Tournament performance at the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2023.
India's number three smashed at least a half-century in nine of his 11 innings at the World Cup, finishing with a mind-blowing 765 runs, the most ever scored by an individual batter at a men's Cricket World Cup, going past the previous record set by Sachin Tendulkar in 2003.
Kohli finished the tournament with an average of 95.62 and a strike rate of 90.31, with three centuries including one in the semi-finals against New Zealand.
He completed a record tally of 50 ODI hundreds with his knock in the semi-finals, making him the leading century-hitter in the format's history.
While he ended the tournament with another half-century in the final, it didn't lead India to a victory and the stunned silence that followed his dismissal in Ahmedabad in the final was a testimony to how big Kohli was to India's chances at the title win.
He finished the year with 1377 runs at an average of 72.47, recording six centuries and eight half-centuries in 24 innings.
Memorable PerformanceKohli reserved his best at the World Cup for the semi-final knockout clash against New Zealand. Walking in at the fall of Rohit Sharma's wicket, Kohli hit his stride immediately, remaining unmoved until after he completed a record 50th century in the format.
"It's stuff of dreams, Anushka was sitting right there, Sachin paaji was there in the stands," Kohli said later while being interviewed during the innings break.
If the setting made the knock "picture perfect" for Kohli, the occasion made it all the more important for India. Having endured heartbreak at the hands of the Kiwis four years back in England, Kohli's record ton and huge stand with Shreyas Iyer paved the way for a monumental total of 397.
Daryl Mitchell (New Zealand): 1204 runs, 9 wickets and 22 catches in 26 matches
Daryl Mitchell was in top form in ODIs in 2023, finishing the year with a whopping 1204 runs, the third-most recorded in a calendar year in the format by a New Zealand player.
Mitchell had a modest start to the year in the bilaterals in Pakistan and India, and the home series against Sri Lanka, but turned it around spectacularly with back-to-back hundreds in Pakistan in April.
He went on to hit another ton in England but saved his best for the World Cup, where he became New Zealand's middle-order lynchpin with Kane Williamson absent for a large part of the tournament.
Mitchell blitzed 552 runs at the World Cup at an average of 69 and a strike rate of over 100. His smashing performance included two hundreds against India, who boasted one of the best bowling attacks in the tournament.
Memorable PerformanceMitchell saved his best for India in the tournament, taking on their spinners with disdain and twice producing knocks that put the dominant hosts on the backfoot.
In the league game in Dharamsala, Mitchell helped set up a good total with his 130 off 127 balls, walking in to bat at a tricky situation with the team two down for 19 runs. Mitchell had very little support towards the backend of New Zealand's innings, but single-handedly carried them to a decent total, which still didn't prove to be enough.
The story wasn't too different a few days later in the semi-final, when he carried the team in a near-improbable run-chase of 398. Mitchell and Williamson combined in a crucial third-wicket partnership that kept New Zealand in the run-chase.
Even when Williamson fell, Mitchell continued to go for his shots and he was only dismissed in the 46th over, by when New Zealand had crossed the 300-run mark. Mitchell's 134 came off just 119 balls and included nine fours and seven maximums.