Though Indian cricket has suffered a debacle by losing the second test and the series against South Africa, captain Virat Kohli has something to cheer about. He was named the ICC Cricketer of the Year. He was also named the ICC ODI Cricketer of the Year and captain of both ICC Test and ODI teams. During the qualification period from September 21, 2016 to the end of 2017, Kohli scored 2,203 Test runs at an average of 77.80, including eight centuries and 1,818 ODI runs, including seven centuries at an average of 82.63 runs.
Kohli overtakes former Australian captain Ricky Ponting to second place in the all-time ODI centurion list with his 31st hundred that came against New Zealand in Mumbai in October last year. During the course of his 32nd ODI century, again against New Zealand in Kanpur, Kohli became the fastest batsman to score 9,000 ODI runs and the most successful captain in an ODI year, surpassing Ponting. Kohli regained the No 1 spot on the ICC rankings for ODI batsmen with 889 rating points, the best ever by an Indian cricketer.
