Mithali Raj and Jhulan Goswami nominated for the ICC decade awards

The International Cricket Council (ICC) honours the players with awards at the end of each year, but as 2020 marks the end of a decade, this year the awards focuses on the performance of the cricketers in the entire decade.

The Indian skipper and the highest run-scorer in women’s ODIs, Mithali Raj has been nominated for the ICC player of the decade award. Raj has been the stalwart of the Indian team since she made her debut way back in the 1999. Unsurprisingly, she is the only Indian women to be nominated for the Player of the Decade category.

Mithali Raj (Image: ICC)

Besides, Raj along with fellow mate Jhulan Goswami have also been nominated for the Women’s ODI Player of the Decade award.

Raj has had a brilliant run in ODIs during decade – most notably going to the top spot of run-getters in Women’s ODIs, leading India to the 2017 World Cup final and becoming the only women cricketer to register seven successive half century plus scores in ODIs.

Women's Cricket | Jhulan Goswami, the highest wicket-taker in women's ODIs, wants to have another crack at cricket's biggest prize - the World Cup. Will she make it? pic.twitter.com/FUTroCbcxx

— The Bridge (@TheBridge_IN) August 11, 2020

On the other hand, Goswami has been the Indian bowling spearhead since her debut in 2002. The fiery pacer has a total of 225 wickets in 182 ODIs – the most in Women’s ODIs. The 5’11” bowler also led the Indian attack in the 2017 ICC World Cup during their run to the final, scalping 10 wickets in nine matches at an economy of 4.14 runs per over.

The men’s section saw Indian skipper Virat Kohli dominating the nominations as he was

nominated for all the awards including ICC Player of the Decade, ICC ODI Player of the Decade, ICC T20I Player of the Decade and ICC Spirit of Cricket Award for the Decade. Virat Kohli was joined by veteran off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin for Player of the Decade, Rohit Sharma for ODI and T20I Player of the Decade and former Indian skipper – Mahendra Singh Dhoni for ODI Player of the Decade and the Spirit of Cricket Award.

Full List of Nominees

ICC Men’s Player of the Decade: Virat Kohli, Ravichandran Ashwin, Joe Root, Kumar Sangakkara, Steve Smith, AB de Villiers, Kane Williamson

ICC Women’s Player of the Decade: Mithali Raj, Ellyse Perry, Meg Lanning, Suzie Bates, Stefanie Taylor, Sarah Taylor

ICC Test Player of the Decade: Virat Kohli, James Anderson, Rangana Herath, Joe Root, Yasir Shah, Steve Smith, Kane Williamson

ICC Men’s ODI Player of the Decade: Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Lasith Malinga, Kumar Sangakkara, Mitchell Starc, AB de Villiers

ICC Women’s ODI Player of the Decade: Mithali Raj, Jhulan Goswami, Ellyse Perry, Meg Lanning, Suzie Bates, Stefanie Taylor

ICC Men’s T20I Player of the Decade: Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Aaron Finch, Chris Gayle, Rashid Khan, Lasith Malinga, Imran Tahir

ICC Women’s T20I Player of the Decade: Meg Lanning, Sophie Devine, Ellyse Perry, Deandra Dottin, Alyssa Healy, Anya Shrubsole

ICC Spirit of Cricket Award for the Decade: Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Daniel Vettori, Kane Williamson, Misbah-ul-Haq, Katherine Brunt, Brendon McCullum, Anya Shrubsole,

Mahela Jayawardene, Virat Kohli

ICC Men’s Associate Player of the Decade: Richie Berrington, Peter Borren, Kyle Coetzer, Paras Khadka, Callum Macleod, Asad Vala

ICC Women’s Associate Player of the Decade: Nattakan Chantam, Sornnorin Tippoch, Chanida Suttihiruang, Kathryn Bryce, Sarah Bryce, Sterre Kalis

Also read: Shantha Rangaswamy – The pioneering figure of women’s cricket in India