Dubai: It turned out to be double delight for Ravichandran Ashwin at the ICC Annual Awards here Thursday as he became only the third Indian player ever to win the Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy after being named the ICC ‘Cricketer of the Year’ besides the ICC ‘Test Cricketer of the Year’. He is the 12th player overall to win the prestigious Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy.
Ashwin follows in the footsteps of Rahul Dravid (2004) and Sachin Tendulkar (2010), while other recipients of the Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy include Andrew Flintoff and Jacques Kallis (joint-winners in 2005), Ricky Ponting (2006 and 2007), Shivnarine Chanderpaul (2008), Mitchell Johnson (2009 and 2014), Jonathan Trott (2011), Kumar Sangakkara (2012), Michael Clarke (2013) and Steve Smith (2015).
Ashwin was also adjudged the ICC ‘Test Cricketer of the Year’, which made him only the second India player after Dravid (2004) to bag the two coveted prizes in the same year.
During the voting period, which ran September 14, 2015 to September 20, 2016, the 30-year-old off-spinner from Chennai played eight Tests in which he took 48 wickets and scored 336 runs. Ashwin also claimed 27 wickets in 19 T20Is.
Ashwin had finished 2015 as the No.1 ranked Test bowler in the world, a position he twice reclaimed in 2016.
Reacting to the news, a delighted Ashwin said, “It’s an absolute pleasure to be awarded with this great honour. It feels great to follow the likes of Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid in being named as the ICC ‘Cricketer of the Year’. To also win the ICC ‘Test Cricketer of the Year’ makes the feeling even better.”
The lanky off-spinner-turned all-rounder also said that he had to thank a lot of people for winning both the awards. “The achievements in the last couple of years have been possible due to the efforts of many whom I want to thank,” said Ashwin. “They have helped me in maintaining my level of performance and consistency. They are the persons behind my success.
“I’d like to dedicate this award to my family. I’d like to thank ICC and most importantly my teammates, also the support staff for our success. We’ve had a great transition in Tests ever since Mahendra Singh Dhoni hung up his boots. A young (Test) captain (Virat Kohli) has taken over, under him we are on the right track, and we now have a new bunch of boys,” he added.
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