ICC names India’s Virat Kohli, Australia’s Ellyse Perry 'Cricketers of the Decade'

• India's Virat Kohli was given 'Cricketer of the Decade' as well as "Men’s ODI Cricketer of the Decade" award
• Australia's Ellyse Perry won the women's "Cricketer of the Decade" title and "Women’s ODI Cricketer of the Decade"award
• No Pakistani cricketer could win any of the ICC's awards in any category

India’s Virat Kohli and Australia’s Ellyse Perry have been named by International Cricket Council (ICC) as men’s and women’s "Cricketers of the Decade."

The announcement was made to mark the end of the ICC's awards of decade ceremony which ignored Pakistani cricketers in every category.

The individual awards were announced a day after the ICC named teams of decades which received criticism on social media by fans from all over the world for missing out some of the biggest names of the game in the respective categories.

Related: IPL team announced instead of ICC Teams of the Decade: Shoaib Akhtar

Virat Kohli scored 20,396 runs in all international cricket during the time period, which is more than any other cricketer. Kohli was also part of team India that won the ICC CWC 2011 and ICC Champions Trophy 2013. He won India’s Sir Garfield Sobers Award for ICC Male Cricketer of the Decade

Australian all-rounder, Ellyse Perry was declared the Female Cricketer of the Decade to win the Rachael Heyhoe-Flint Award. 

She had scored 4,349 runs with four centuries and took 213 wickets in all international cricket during the decade – which was also the most wickets taken by any player.

She also went on to win the ICC Women’s ODI Cricketer of the Decade as well as the ICC Women’s T20I Cricketer of the Decade.

Kohli was also awarded the ICC Men’s ODI Cricketer of the Decade while Steve Smith bagged the ICC Men’s Test Cricketer of the Decade for scoring 7,040 runs in 69 Tests in the period at an average of 65.79 with 26 centuries. 

Smith – who also remained banned from the game for ball-tampering during the eligibility period – beat Pakistan’s Yasir Shah, New Zealand’s Kane Williamson, England’s James Anderson, Sri Lanka’s Rangana Herath, England’s Joe Root, and India’s Kohli.

Read more: Pakistanis react to Green Shirts' exclusion from ICC Teams of the Decade

Afghanistan’s Rashid Khan, surprisingly, got the ICC Men’s T20I Cricketer of the Decade award, for taking 89 wickets at an average of just 12.62 apiece with an economy rate of 6.14 runs per over in 48 matches during the decade. 

Rashid Khan – who got most of his wickets against minnows and associate teams, defeated Chris Gayle, Aaron Finch, Virat Kohli, Lasith Malinga, Rohit Sharma and Imran Tahir.

India’s MS Dhoni, meanwhile, won the ICC Spirit of Cricket Award of the Decade, chosen by fans unanimously for his gesture of calling back former England batter Ian Bell following a disputable runout at Trent Bridge in 2011. 

Read more: Misbah, Yasir only Pakistanis nominated for 'ICC Awards Of The Decade'

Pakistan’s Misbah ul Haq was also nominated for this category but he didn’t get enough support from the fans.