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Every cricketer's dream is to play for his country but when his game is appreciated at the international level and he is honored with the biggest award of that game, then it shows the ability, dedication and hard work of that player.
Similarly, considering the performance throughout the year in cricket, the international body of cricket honors the players with ICC Award every year.
It is part of the ICC Awards and is one of the most prestigious individual accolades in cricket, recognizing outstanding consistency, impact, and contributions to the sport at the international level.
The recipient is awarded the Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy, named after the legendary West Indies all-rounder.
In this article, we will take a look at the Indian cricketers who have won ICC Cricketer of the Year Award (Men's and Women's) so far.
ICC Cricketer of the Year Award (Men's and Women's) | Indian cricketer
Rahul Dravid | 2004
Former India captain Rahul Dravid won the two prestigious awards in the year 2004. He was the first Indian to secure any ICC awards.
Fondly dubbed as ‘The Wall’ by fans, Dravid’s heroics in the longest format of the game are known to all, and he put out one of his finest performances in 2004.
The former India head coach played 12 Tests that year, scoring 946 runs at an average of 67.6, including two centuries and four fifties.
His highest score in Test cricket that year came against Pakistan in Rawalpindi as he notched up a humungous 270(495), helping India get to a first-innings total of 600 after the hosts’ 224.
Overall, Dravid finished with 1971 runs in 43 international matches, Tests and ODIs combined.
He hit three hundreds and a massive 14 half-centuries, hitting 207 fours and five sixes.
Since the T20I format wasn’t introduced in 2004, Dravid finished with 1025 runs in 31 ODIs.
Also Read: ICC Men's Cricketer of the year since 2004
Jhulan Goswami | 2007
Jhulan Goswami has become the first player from India to take the ICC Women's Player of the Year award in 2007.
Goswami was also India's only representative in the individual player awards, with no representation from the men in the shortlist.
She edged out Australia's Lisa Sthalekar and England's Claire Taylor.
The title was just reward for her bowling average of 12.40 in Tests and 21.80 in ODIs and, since Australia's Cathryn Fitzpatrick retired earlier this year, Goswami has also become the fastest female bowler in the world.
She may have pace, but she has the accuracy to match, with an economy rate of 2.10 in Tests and 3.17 in ODIs.
Goswami is the second winner of the award after Karen Rolton won the prize in 2006.
Sachin Tendulkar | 2010
Batting legend Sachin Tendulkar won the ICC Cricketer of the Year award in 2010.
Tendulkar fought off competition from Sehwag, Hashim Amla and Graeme Swann, the other nominees in the Cricketer of the Year category.
During the period Tendulkar scored 1064 runs at an average of 81.84 in ten Tests.
He made 914 runs in 17 ODIs at 65.28, and also scored the format's first double-century against South Africa in Gwalior.
Tendulkar was 37 years old in 2010, and he holds the record for being the oldest cricketer to win the Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy.
Ravichandran Ashwin | 2016
Former India all-rounder Ravichandran Ashwin, who very recently announced his retirement from international cricket, won the esteemed awards in the year 2016.
Ashwin played his last international game against Australia and ended his career after the third Border Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25 Test at The Gabba.
Ashwin finished the year 2016 with 72 wickets in just 12 Tests, including eight five-wicket hauls and three 10-wicket hauls.
He also added 612 runs to his account, including two half-centuries.
Ashwin played only two ODIs and picked up two wickets while he played 17 T20Is, taking 23 scalps and registering bowling figures of 4/8 that year.
Overall, the now 38-year-old played 31 international matches and picked up 97 wickets.
Virat Kohli | 2017
Indian former Test skipper Virat Kohli has won the ICC Men's Cricketer Of The Year award first time in 2017 for his brilliant run at international cricket.
Kohli has aggregated 1059 runs in 10 tests, while he smashed 1460 runs in 26 ODIs.
Kohli has smashed 11 hundred including three double hundreds across formats in the year 2017.
Meanwhile, with 299 T20I runs, Virat Kohli has aggregated 2818 runs in 2017 across formats.
He has also registered 27,324 runs so far during his international cricket career.
Therefore for his brilliant performance throughout the year, he has been rewarded with the ICC Men's Cricketer Of The Year award.
Also Read: ICC Men's Cricketer of the year winners of last ten years
Virat Kohli | 2018
Yes, you read it write it's again Virat Kohli who has won the award back to back in 2017 & 2018.
Former Indian skipper Kohli has also broken the record of Sachin Tendulkar to become the fastest to score 10000 runs in ODI cricket this year.
Kohli has aggregated 2735 runs across formats in 2018 including 11 hundred to his name. The former Indian white-ball captain has also retained the Border Gavaskar Trophy in the same year.
Kohli has ended the year as the number 1 batsman in Tests and ODIs.
Therefore, he received the award from ICC as the men's cricketer of the year 2018.
Smriti Mandhana | 2018
Smriti Mandhana has won the ICC's Women's Cricketer of the Year Award in 2018.
Mandhana, who was named ICC Women's Cricketer of the Year and ODI Cricketer of the Year in 2018, pipped fellow opening batters Beaumont, Lizelle Lee of South Africa, and Gaby Lewis of Ireland to the honour.
Jhulan Goswami, who won the same award in 2007, is the only other Indian woman to ever win an ICC annual award.
In 2018, Mandhana had finished atop the run chart in women's ODIs with 669 runs at an average of 66.90 and was the third-highest scorer in T20Is with 622 runs at a strike rate of 130.67.
Jasprit Bumrah | 2024
Jasprit Bumrah was awarded the ICC Men's Cricketer of the Year in 2024 due to his outstanding performances in all formats of the game.
Bumrah also became the first Indian pacer to win the award and was instrumental in India's success in the home Test series against England and Bangladesh.
He also played a crucial role in the T20 World Cup win for his side.
Bumrah beat tough competition from Travis Head, Joe Root and Harry Brook to win the prestigious award.
The pacer became the 5th Indian to win the award after Rahul Dravid (2004), Sachin Tendulkar (2010), Ravichandran Ashwin (2016) and Virat Kohli (2017, 2018).
Bumrah also won the ICC men's Test Cricketer Of The Year award as well after being the standout performer for India during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25, where he picked up 32 wickets.
The Indian pacer started the year with a terrific performance against England at home before he switched his attention to the T20 World Cup.
Bumrah ended the tournament with 15 wickets and an average of 8.26 as India defeated South Africa in the final to lift the trophy.
The Indian pacer was adjudged as the Player Of the Tournament for his performance.
Bumrah's performance in Tests made him really stand out from the rest of the nominees. The pacer picked up 71 wickets in 13 matches, the highest by any bowler in 2024.
