Virat Kohli, who had a tremendous run in 2019, won the International Cricket Council's (ICC) spirit of cricket award on Wednesday. After winning the award, Virat Kohli said he was surprised to receive the award after being under the scanner for all the wrong reasons for so long. "I'm surprised that I have got it, after many years of being under the scanner for the wrong things," Kohli said in a statement issued by the ICC. Not just Kohli, there were many who were surprised with him grabbing this award. Amidst all this, Pakistan fast bowler Mohammad Amir was happy that the Indian skipper received this award. Reacting to Kohli's video statement tweeted by the ICC, Mohammad Amir wrote, "Great words from great player".
Mohammad Amir and Virat Kohli have provided the fans with some exciting duels on the field but off it they have been very appreciative of each other's skills.
Kohli, few years back, had described Amir as one of the toughest bowler to play against in the international circuit. The two rivals last came up against each other in the World Cup 2019. India defeated Pakistan by 89 runs via DLS method, extending their unbeaten run against their arch-rivals in the ICC's showpiece event.
Amir unequivocally said that Kohli is one of the best batsman in the world and he is someone who pushes the bowlers to always be on top of their game in order to get his prized wicket.
Soon after the World Cup 2019, Amir announced retirement from Test cricket, while Kohli enjoyed a great run as he finished the calendar year as the top run-scorer across formats.
Kohli scored 2,455 runs in 2019 while his limited-overs deputy Rohit Sharma was just behind him with 2,442 runs.
Apart from this special award, Kohli was also named the skipper of the ICC's Test and ODI teams of the year.