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Virat Kohli named in Wisden's Five Cricketers of the Decade

Virat Kohli named in Wisden's Five Cricketers of the Decade with others being Steve Smith, AB de Villiers, Dale Steyn and Ellyse Perry

Virat Kohli named in Wisdens Five Cricketers of the Decade with others being Steve Smith, AB de Villiers, Dale Steyn and Ellyse Perry

Mumbai, December 26: Virat Kohli was named in Wisden's Five Cricketers of the Decade and termed the Indian captain as a player quite unlike any other. Kohli tasted success as a player and as a captain in 2019 as India ended the year unbeaten in bilateral series home and away.

It wasn't quite a surprise then to see Kohli among the greats of the decade and it will be a boost for him to lead India into 2020 as important assignments like ICC T20 World Cup in Australia in October.

1. Virat Kohli

1. Virat Kohli

Kohli ended the year 2019 with 2370 runs at 64.05 across the formats. It was the fourth consecutive time, Kohli ended the year with more than 2000 runs in all formats of the game. "His genius has been to rise, time and again, to the challenge. Between the end of the England tour in 2014 and the second Test against Bangladesh at Kolkata in November, Kohli averaged 63, with 21 hundreds and 13 fifties," said Wisden about Kohli.

"It left him with a unique set of statistics - the only batsman to average at least 50 in all three international formats. Even Steve Smith was moved to remark recently that there is no one quite like him. "In many ways, there isn't. Since the retirement of Sachin Tendulkar and the gradual waning of MS Dhoni, no cricketer in the world has operated under such daily pressure as Kohli," Wisden added.

2. Steve Smith

2. Steve Smith

Australian batsman Smith too went through a marvellous decade particularly in Test cricket, where he has made 7127 runs from 72 Tests at 63.63 with 26 hundreds, the highest average among active cricketers. He was given a one-year ban for his involvement in the Cape Town ball-tampering scandal but was returned to top cricket during the Ashes series earlier this year. Smith played a massive role in Aussies retaining the Urn scoring upwards of 700 runs in the series.

3. Dale Steyn

3. Dale Steyn

The premier fast bowler of the last decade was undoubtedly Steyn. Not just in South African conditions, but in the sub-continent too the fast bowler maintained his strike-rate and it was a big contributing factor in Proteas drawing two series in a row in India in the mid 2000s. Steyn ended his Test career in 2019 after playing 93 Tests and took 439 wickets at an average of 22.6 and a fine strike rate of 42.4 and has taken five-wickets in an innings 26 times.

4. AB de Villiers

4. AB de Villiers

The second South African in the five cricketers list after Steyn, AB de Villiers has left an indelible mark on the game with his innovative stroke-play and none has taken your breath away with that 360 degree shot-making. ABD played 114 Tests and made 8765 runs at 50.7 with 22 hundreds and from 228 ODIs, he made 9577 runs at 53.5 with 25 centuries and maintained a strike-rate of 101. AB retired from cricket last year but efforts are on to make him do a comeback with the T20 World Cup in mind. ABD is active in several T20 leagues across the world.

5. Ellyse Perry

5. Ellyse Perry

The 29-year-old Australian woman cricketer has made quite an impact across the format as an all-rounder in the last decade. Perry has played 8 Tests, 112 ODIs and 111 T20Is for Australia. In Tests, she has made 624 runs at 78 and took 31 wickets and in ODIs, she has amassed 3022 runs at 52.10 and grabbed 152 wickets, In the shortest format of the game, Perry scored 2053 runs and took 106 wickets.

Story first published: Thursday, December 26, 2019, 11:19 [IST]
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