Indian opening batsman Rohit Sharma was on Wednesday named as the ‘2019 ODI Cricketer of the Year’ by the International Cricket Council (ICC). The ICC took to Twitter to make the announcement. “5 CWC19 centuries, 7 ODI centuries in 2019 Your 2019 ODI Cricketer of the Year is Rohit Sharma,” ICC tweeted. Sharma was at his devastating best at the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup and he was the highest run-getter in the tournament. He amassed 648 runs from nine games in the premier tournament. Earlier, India’s skipper Virat Kohli won the ICC’s ‘2019 Spirit of Cricket’ award. He bagged the prize for his gesture during the Cricket World Cup match between India and Australia. During the match, a section of the Indian crowd was seen giving hostile reception to Australia’s Steve Smith, and it was then Kohli turned away to the crowd and asked them to cheer for the Australian instead. The cricket governing body also named Australian batsman Marnus Labuschagne as the 2019 ICC Men’s Emerging Cricketer. “Marnus Labuschagne had a stunning 2019 averaging 64.94 with the bat in Test cricket. A deserving winner of the 2019 ICC Men’s Emerging Cricketer. #ICCAwards,” ICC tweeted. Labuschagne recently grabbed his career-best ranking and moved to the third place in the latest ICC Test player rankings after a match-winning double-century against New Zealand in Sydney. The 25-year-old moved up one slot after scores of 215 and 59 in the third Test. He was the highest scorer in the series with 549 runs, while his five previous Tests that include two at home against Pakistan, saw him amass 896 runs. ICC also announced Richard Illingworth as the 2019 Umpire of the Year. While Deepak Chahar’s T20I spell against Bangladesh was announced as the 2019 Best Men’s T20I Spell.
