ICC Cricketer of the Year Nominees: Virat Kohli And One Other Indian Nominated in Men's Category; Two Australians in Women's Shortlist

The much-awaited nominee list for the ICC Cricketer of the Year in 2023 is finally out for both the Men and Women’s categories. A star-studded lineup consisting of undeniable superstars from both the men’s and women’s game has been released following an eventful year of high-intensity cricket.

Nominees for ICC Men’s Cricketer of the Year 2023:

In understandable fashion, players from the two most dominant sides in cricket have made the final cut, as four players in total have been named for the esteemed Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy.

The final list for the nominees include two players each from both sides which made the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 final — India and Australia.

Two sensational batters

Star all-rounder

All-conquering bowler and captain

Presenting the shortlist for Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy for ICC Men’s Cricketer of the Year 2023 #ICCAwardshttps://t.co/vRuewi0J8G

— ICC (@ICC) January 5, 2024

The players nominated include talisman batter Virat Kohli, the ever-reliable all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja, the swashbuckling opener Travis Head and the WC-winning skipper Pat Cummins.

A member of the ICC Men’s ODI Team of the Year 2022, Travis Head soared even higher in 2023. It wasn’t a year without challenges, for the Southpaw had to contend with a fractured hand that threatened to rule him out of the World Cup. But his dynamic performances across all formats earned him his spot in the list.

Need one say much about the evergreen Virat Kohli? After returning to form in style with his exploits in the second half of 2022, Virat Kohli continued churning out runs across the Test and ODI formats, as he broke records galore with his batting exploits and ended his ODI year with a Player of the Tournament title for his historic batting campaign in the 2023 World Cup.

A knee injury in the 2022 Asia Cup forced Ravindra Jadeja to miss India’s initial cricketing engagements of 2023. However, the left-arm spinners returned in style. He picked 22 wickets in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy and played an important role in India winning the series, where he shone with 10/110, a career-best effort for him in Tests, and won the Player of the Match award in this Test too.

Pat Cummins has been without doubt the most successful captain across all formats, leading the mighty Australians to huge victories both in the WTC final and the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 final.  In the ODIs, he played several crucial knocks lower down the order, while also making crucial breakthroughs in his economic spells. And in Tests, Cummins signed off a remarkable year with his second ten-wicket haul to help Australia win the Test series against Pakistan.

Nominees for ICC Women’s Cricketer of the Year 2023:

The Women’s list had a handful of familiar faces, who had already been nominated for the ODI Cricketer of the Year honours, with the exception of one new face.

The final four for the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy included Chamari Athapaththu, Ashleigh Gardner, Nat Sciver-Brunt and Beth Mooney.

What more can one say about the Swiss Army knife, that is Ashleigh Gardner? Runs with the bat, wickets with the ball was the mantra of the esteemed all-rounder, who excelled for the Aussies across all formats this year.

Sri Lanka skipper Chamari Athapaththu continued to showcase why she is the ultimate batter and leader for her side, as she notched up 415 runs in a mere 8 matches for her side through the year in ODIs. She also led Sri Lanka to a silver medal in the Asian Games.

Despite having played a mere 6 matches in the year, one could not ignore the brilliance of the English skipper. Sciver-Brunt scored 393 runs and picked up 3 wickets as well in her exploits this year, and played a vital role in England’s triumph at the Women’s Ashes, where she smashed a couple of centuries and ran away with the Player of the Series award.