Virat Kohli adds another ICC award to his name, becomes best player in October
It was not too long ago when many were questioning Virat Kohli's place in the 2022 T20 World Cup. Many former cricketers and cricket pundits said that it is time for Virat to retire from T20I and focus more on other formats.
Then, there was a time when Virat Kohli has been the prime reason that India has reached to the semi-finals of the ongoing T20 World Cup in Australia. He has shown incredible form and is the leading run-scorer in the competition overall.
It all started with a magnificent knock against archrival Pakistan in the tournament opener at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. He scored an unbeaten 82 off 53 balls to help India win that game singlehandedly. And now, Virat has been named the "ICC Player of the Month" for October 2022.
Apart from him, there were two other nominees for this award. Those were Zimbabwe's all-rounder Sikander Raza and South Africa's star batter David Miller. But eventually, it was a former Indian captain who won this award.
On the other hand, it is Pakistan veteran all-rounder Nida Dar who has won the "ICC Women's Cricketer of the Month" because of her brilliant form in the recently concluded women's Asia Cup 2022.
Notably, Virat only played four innings in the month of October, but he has played three match-winning knocks out of those. His 82-run knock against Pakistan was certainly the best. Then he followed it with 62 not out against Netherlands and 64 not out against Bangladesh.
After winning the award, Virat said, "It is a great honour for me to have been voted the ICC Men's Player of the Month for October. Being chosen as the standout player by fans across the globe as well as the panel makes this accolade even more special for me."
Virat has also become the leading run-scorer in the history of the T20 World Cup, surpassing Mehela Jayawardene's tally of 1016 runs in 31 innings. The former Indian skipper has scored 1091 runs in 24 innings at an average of 83.92, including 13 half-centuries.