Indian captain Virat Kohli, for the third consecutive time, has been named as The Wisden Almanack’s Leading Cricketer of the Year for 2018. Kohli is also one of the five Wisden Cricketers of the year alongside Tammy Beaumont, Jos Buttler, Sam Curran and Rory Burns. Smriti Mandhana has been named the Women’s Leading Cricketer of the Year for 2018.
Don Bradman (10 times) and Jack Hobbs (8 times) are the only two cricketers who have bagged the Cricketer of the Year award on more than three occasions.
Kohli, who amassed 2735 runs across all formats in 2018, was in the form of his life during the tour of England – where in 2014 had seen him produce one of his worst displays in Test cricket. On the tour of England this time around, Kohli scored 593 runs and eventually finished the year with five Test centuries.
Left-handed Mandhana, who was named the Leading Women’s Cricketer of the Year, scored 669 and 662 runs in ODIs and T20Is during 2018. Her brilliant form also saw her clock 421 runs in the Women’s Super League with an astonishing strike rate of 174.68.
