India captain Virat Kohli has been named the One Day International cricketer of the decade for the 2010s in the 2021 edition of the Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack.
Kohli is one of five cricketers who have been named for each decade from 1971 to 2021. He was part of the team that won the 2011 World Cup at the start of the decade and went on to establish himself as one of the leading batsmen in all formats of the game, particularly in ODIs.
He scored more than 11,000 runs in the ten-year stretch, averaging over 60 and scoring 42 centuries.
Sri Lanka spin legend Muttiah Muralitharan was named the ODI Cricketer of the 2000s. He helped Sri Lanka make the World Cup final in 2011 and claimed 335 wickets in the decade, more than any other bowler has in a single decade.
Indian batting great Sachin Tendulkar and legendary former all-rounder Kapil Dev have been named for the 1990s and 1980s. Tendulkar scored nine ODI hundreds in 1998 alone, more than any other batsman in a single calendar year ever has.
Kapil, meanwhile, claimed more wickets than any other in the 1980s and scored at the highest strike rate of any batsman with more than 1000 runs. He also famously led India to a stunning win in the 1983 World Cup against the all-conquering West Indies.
West Indies batting great Viv Richards was named the ODI cricketer of the year for the 1970s, which was the first decade of the format. Richards fuelled West Indies’ dominance in the first decade of the format, scoring a century in the final of the 1970 World Cup to help them win the trophy.
