Virat Kohli named ICC Male Cricketer of the Decade; Steve Smith grabs Test Player of Decade Award

Virat Kohli (Image: Reuters)

Indian skipper Virat Kohli has won the prestigious Sir Garfield Sobers Award for ICC Male Cricketer of the Decade while Australia's Steve Smith has grabbed the ICC men's Test Player of the Decade award. 

Earlier, Kohli had also won the ODI men's Player of the Decade award.

Afghanistan's leg-spinner Rashid Khan was declared as the winner of the Player of the Decade award in T20 format.

Former Indian skipper MS Dhoni won the ICC Spirit of Cricket Award of the Decade. The legendary wicketkeeper-batsman won the award for his gesture of recalling England's Ian Bell after a contentious run-out back in 2011 during India's tour of England.

Kohli, who was up against the likes of Kumar Sangakkara, AB de Villiers, R Ashwin, Dhoni and Kane Williamson among others for the two awards, was also voted as ICC's skipper of the Test team of the decade on December 27.

Besides being named captain of Test team, Kohli is the only player in the world to have been voted in the teams of the decade in all formats.

The teams of the decades were announced by the ICC ahead of the Awards of the Decade ceremony.

The ICC Awards of the Decade that recognise the best players across cricket over the past 10 years invited fans to vote for the first time. More than 1.5 million fans from across the globe participated, casting 5.3 million votes.