[Watch] Virat Kohli awarded ICC Men's ODI Player of the Year 2023 ahead of T20 World Cup

Star Indian batter Virat Kohli received the ICC Men's ODI Player of the Year 2023 award during a photoshoot ahead of India's T20 World Cup campaign. It was a testament to the incredible year that Kohli had with the bat.

The former Indian captain had an incredible 2023 World Cup, where he scored 765 runs, the most ever in a single edition by an individual. While the Men in Blue lost the final, Kohli won the Player of the Tournament award.

In a video posted by the ICC on Instagram, Virat Kohli can be seen posing with India's T20 World Cup jersey for the photoshoot ahead of the showpiece event. He is also seen wearing the cap of the ICC ODI Team of the Year 2023 and posing with the ICC Men's ODI Player of the Year 2023 award.

Here's the video:

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In 27 ODIs in 2023, Virat scored 1,377 runs at a mind-boggling average of 72.47 with eight fifties and six hundreds. He also went past Sachin Tendulkar to become the first batter with 50 ODI hundreds, achieving the feat against New Zealand in the 2023 World Cup semifinal.

Virat Kohli may open with Rohit Sharma at the T20 World Cup

There were several reports that Virat Kohli had asked for a short break after the IPL 2024 season before joining the Indian team in New York. He was unavailable for the warm-up game against Bangladesh on June 1. However, the warm-up tie hinted at India's opening combination.

Despite having Yashasvi Jaiswal available, India opened with Rohit Sharma and Sanju Samson. Rishabh Pant scored a fine half-century at No.3 and with the likes of Suryakumar Yadav, Shivam Dube, and Hardik Pandya to follow, the Men in Blue had planned a left-hand right-hand combination. It could well be a straight swap between Kohli and Samson when India take on Ireland on June 5.