2023 was a splendid year for ODI cricket as we witnessed the incredible marquee event which was the 2023 Men's Cricket World Cup, which was won by Australia with hosts India finishing as runners-up.
The International Cricket Council (ICC) first introduced the ICC Men's ODI Cricketer of the Year Award in 2004, with the first winner being Andrew Flintoff. Current holder of the award is Pakistan's Babar Azam.
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Former South African cricketer AB de Villiers and Indian batting legend Virat Kohli have won the award the most times, winning it thrice.
The Sporting News takes a look at the nominees of the 2023 ICC Men's ODI Cricketer of the Year Award.
MORE: Who will win the ICC Men's Cricketer of the Year Award 2023?
Who are the nominees of the 2023 ICC Men's ODI Cricketer of the Year Award?
The nominees of the ICC Men's ODI Cricketer of the Year Award are:
- Shubman Gill (India)
- Virat Kohli (India)
- Mohammed Shami (India)
- Daryl Mitchell (New Zealand)
How did the nominees of the 2023 ICC Men's ODI Cricketer of the Year Award perform?
Before we pass our verdict on who should be winning the 2023 ICC Men's ODI Cricketer of the Year Award, let's take a look at how the nominees performed.
Shubman Gill
Gill was the highest run-getter in ODIs in 2023, amassing an impressive 1584 runs with an average of over 60. While he did not have a great 2023 World Cup, he was at the top of the ICC Men's ODI Rankings for Batsmen, while also bagging two ICC Men's Player of the Month awards. Oh, he also scored a double century in early 2023.
| Matches | Innings | Runs | Average | S.R. | 50s | 100s | HS |
| 29 | 29 | 1584 | 63.36 | 105.45 | 9 | 5 | 208 |
Virat Kohli
The 35-year-old run machine had a stellar 2023 as he scored the most centuries by any player in ODIs, brought up his 50th ODI ton, created the record of the most runs in a single World Cup campaign by scoring 765, and also won the Player of the Tournament. Kohli was only behind his teammate Gill in terms of the number of ODI runs he scored. What a year for King Kohli!
| Matches | Innings | Runs | Average | S.R. | 50s | 100s | HS |
| 27 | 24 | 1377 | 72.47 | 99.13 | 8 | 6 | 166* |
Mohammed Shami
After being left out of the first four games of India's 2023 World Cup campaign, Shami made a huge statement as he went on to finish as the highest wicket-taker of the tournament with 24 wickets from just seven games. One can only wonder how many he would have bagged had he not missed a single game.
In 2023, Shami picked up 43 wickets from 19 ODIs, the third-most in 2023 behind teammates Kuldeep Yadav (49) and Mohammed Siraj (44). He had the best average and strike rate of any bowler from a Test-playing nation, and bagged the most fifers in 2023 (4).
| Matches | Wickets | Average | S.R. | Econ. | 5-fers | Best |
| 19 | 43 | 16.46 | 18.53 | 5.32 | 4 | 7-57 |
Daryl Mitchell
Having made his debut in ODIs in 2021, Mitchell had by far the best year of his career as he scored 1204 ODI runs at an average of over 50 and a strike rate of 100+. The Kiwi batsman finished as the fourth-highest run-getter in one-dayers in 2023 and almost single-handedly took New Zealand to their third successive World Cup final. Almost. He scored five centuries, joint-second most by any player.
| Matches | Innings | Runs | Average | S.R. | 50s | 100s | HS |
| 26 | 25 | 1204 | 52.35 | 100.24 | 3 | 5 | 134 |
Who is the most deserving candidate to win the ICC Men's ODI Cricketer of the Year Award?
Choosing between players with the most runs, most wickets, and most centuries can be a tricky task. All four - Gill, Kohli, Shami, and Mitchell - are deserving players to win this award.
However, we believe that Kohli just slightly edges them all and should be the primary contender to win a record-fourth ICC Men's ODI Cricketer of the Year Award.
Kohli not only broke a ton of records, but he also showed a level of consistency that was a notch above other players.
Who are you backing to win this award, though?
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