Australia captain Pat Cummins showered high praise on the star Indian duo of Virat Kohli and Ravindra Jadeja after being awarded the ICC Men's Cricketer of the Year for 2023. Speaking to the ICC, Cummins lauded Kohli and Jadeja as consistent performers capable of rescuing their team from challenging situations.
Cummins emerged victorious over his teammate Travis Head, as well as Kohli and Jadeja, to claim the prestigious ICC Award. Reflecting on Australia's twin ICC trophy triumphs in 2023, Cummins singled out the World Cup final as the most memorable victory, given the significance of competing in India.
"It's a huge honour. It has been a big year, lots of wonderful team success. To get this individual honour is huge and I am pretty amazed. In terms of individual accolades, it is right up there," Cummins was quoted as saying by ICC.
"Kohli and Jadeja are super consistent, you can't keep them out of it, they find a way to drag their team out of trouble & win it, to be alongside those guys has been really special," Cummins said in the ICC Awards.
Notably, India's batting maestro Kohli received the ICC Men's ODI Cricketer of the Year 2023 award last week in recognition of his remarkable resurgence in ODIs last year, particularly his outstanding display at the ODI World Cup.
The ex-India captain emerged as the tournament's top run-scorer, amassing 765 runs at an impressive average of 95.62 in 11 matches. Kohli was also honoured with the Player of the Tournament award for his exceptional batting exploits.
In the ICC Men's Test Team of the Year 2023, Jadeja secured a spot. The 35-year-old emerged as India's top all-rounder last year, contributing with both bat and ball by scoring 281 runs at an average of 35.12 and claiming 33 wickets at an average of 19.39.
While the 30-year-old featured in India's playing XI during the first Test of the five-match series against England, which resulted in a 28-run loss, Kohli was absent from two Tests due to personal reasons.
Rajat Patidar, a batter representing Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and Madhya Pradesh, was brought into the squad as Kohli's replacement.
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