The International Cricket Council announced the nominees for the ICC Men Cricketer of the Year 2023, the biggest individual cricketing award, on Friday.
Travis Head (Australia)
Travis Head soared even higher in 2023. Not only did the player stage a comeback during the tournament but also rendered crucial performances at the pointed end of the World Cup. Both his ODI tons in 2023 came in the global event, and he was the Player of the Match for his inimitable performances in the semi-final and the final.
Head also enjoyed tremendous success in other formats of the game. This included a prolific Test run, during which he helped Australia lift the ICC World Test Championship 2023 trophy.
Virat Kohli (India)
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.
Kohli’s very best came on the momentous occasion of the World Cup semi-final. Playing at the Wankhede, the home ground of his idol Tendulkar, who was also present at the venue, Kohli hit his 50th ODI hundred.
Ravindra Jadeja (India)
A knee injury in the 2022 Asia Cup forced Ravindra Jadeja to miss India’s initial cricketing engagements of 2023. However, he returned in style with 22 wickets in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy and played an important role in India winning the series.
With 31 ODI wickets, Jadeja shined in white-ball cricket too. He picked 16 wickets at 24.87 in the World Cup, with a career-best performance of 5/33 against South Africa at the Eden Gardens.
Pat Cummins (Australia)
Pat Cummins had a truly remarkable 2023, excelling as a player and winning several accolades as captain. Cummins’ Australia lifted themselves and garnered important milestones. It began with a vehement win over India in the WTC final at The Oval, followed by a successful Ashes defence in England, and ended with a splendid comeback in the World Cup. After losing the first two games, Australia won nine on a trot to lift the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup for a record sixth time.