ICC announces Cricket awards for the year 2019; Stokes bags the highest honour

International Cricket council (ICC), the apex body in cricket has announced its awards for the year gone by. 

The ICC awards are presented to players who perform exceedingly well in a specific format in the entire calendar year. Just like any other year, even this time, ICC has acknowledged players for their consistent performances in the individual formats. 

Ben Stokes, the England all-rounder bagged the most prestigious Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy presented to the ICC Cricketer of the year. Stokes had a brilliant run across formats playing for England in 2019. 

He was at the heart of the success for England throughout their campaign in 2019. Stokes led the hosts to a maiden 50-over World Cup victory at Lord's.

His performances wasn't only limited to the ODIs but also saw him emerge as one of the shining stars in an otherwise disappointing year in Test cricket for his team. Stokes had a brilliant Ashes in 2019 playing one of the most memorable innings of all-time at Headingley in August 2019. 

With this distinguished honour, Stokes became only the third Englishmen to have received this award after Andrew Flintoff and Jonathan Trott. 

Australian fast bowler Pat Cummins was announced as the recipient of Test Cricketer of the year award in 2019. Cummins was the work-horse for the Kangaroos in Tests in 2019. 

The No.1 Test bowler in the world was also the highest wicket-taker in the red-ball format. With 59 wickets in just 12 matches at a highly impressive average nearing 20, Cummins was a deserving recipient of this honour. 

He became only the fourth bowler after Dale Steyn, Mitchell Jonhson, and Ravi Ashwin, to bag this award in Test cricket. 

For the ODI award, Indian vice-captain Rohit Sharma was named the ICC ODI Player of the year after his splendid run in the limited-overs internationals for India in 2019. 

The Indian opener scored an unprecedented five centuries in a single edition of the World Cup in 2019. He ended 2019 with most - 1490 runs in the entire calendar year including seven centuries to his name. 

It was a year that brought joy to the faces of millions of Indian fans despite the heartbreaking loss in the WC Semi-Final. Rohit played a central figure in India's white-ball success in 2019 and richly deserved this award for his contribution in ODI cricket. 

Indian skipper Virat Kohli was also presented with the 'Spirit of Cricket' award for 2019. His gesture for Steve Smith during the World Cup fixture against Australia drew high praise and was voted as the moment defining the Spirit of cricket. 

ICC also nominated Richard Illingworth as the Umpire of the year while Deepak's Chahar T20I figures of 6 for 7 against Bangladesh was named as the T20I performance of the year. 

Cover Image Credits: India TV