The International Cricket Council (ICC) has unveiled the names of four players who have been nominated for the ICC Men’s ODI Cricketer of the Year 2023 award. Out of the four players shortlisted, three are from India and one from New Zealand.
The lone Kiwi player to be nominated is Daryl Mitchell, who had an outstanding year in ODIs in 2023. He scored 1204 runs and picked 9 wickets in 26 matches. He hit a total of 5 centuries and 3 fifties at a strike rate of 100.24. He also took 22 catches.
In the ODI World Cup 2023, Mitchell hit two centuries, both against India, and accumulated 552 runs at the World Cup at an average of 69 and a strike rate of over 100.
Young Shubman Gill had a standout year in 2023 in ODIs, scoring 1584 runs in 29 matches with 5 centuries and 9 fifties to his name. His highest score was 208 and he averaged 63.36 with a strike rate of 105.45.
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His tally of runs in ODIs in 2023, is the fifth-highest tally of runs by an Indian in a year after Sachin Tendulkar (1996, 1998), Rahul Dravid (1999), and Sourav Ganguly (1999).
Despite missing the first two matches of the World Cup 2023, Gill managed to make 354 runs at an average of 44.25. He ended the tournament with four fifties, including an unbeaten 80, against New Zealand in the first semi-final.
The next nominee is the legendary India batter Virat Kohli, who had an exemplary year in 2023 in ODIs.
Fresh after breaking his drought of runs and centuries in international cricket, Kohli reeled off 1377 runs in 27 ODI matches with 6 centuries and 8 fifties to his name. He averaged 72.47 and had a strike rate of 99.13, with a best score of 166*.
However, his best performance came in the World Cup 2023, where he smashed Sachin Tendulkar’s record for most runs in a single edition (673) and made 765 runs in 11 matches with 3 centuries and 6 fifties to his name.
To add more glory, Kohli also completed 50 ODI centuries, going past Sachin Tendulkar’s record of 49 tons, a feat he achieved in the World Cup semi-final match against New Zealand.
The final nominee for the ICC Men’s cricketer of the year 2023 in ODIs is India pacer Mohammad Shami. Shami ended 2023 with 43 wickets in 19 matches with a best bowling of 7/57 at an economy of 5.32. He picked 4 five-wicket hauls.
More than half of those wickets for Shami came in the World Cup 2023, where he picked 24 scalps in just 7 matches with a best bowling of 7/57, which is also the best bowling figures in ODIs by an Indian.
Shami took three five-wicket hauls and a four-wicket haul in the seven matches in the World Cup and now has 55 wickets in the tournament history in just 18 matches.
(ICC inputs)
