Individual award: Virat Kohli won the ICC Spirit of Cricket Award for 2019, announced at the ICC Awards on 15 January 2020. The award recognised his gesture during the 2019 Cricket World Cup of asking India supporters to stop booing Steve Smith and applaud him instead; it is not an IPL team Fair Play Award.
About
Virat Kohli is an Indian right-handed batter. The ICC lists his role as Batter and records a right-arm-medium bowling style, while Cricket Australia likewise identifies him as a right-handed bat and right-arm-medium bowler.
Sources checked 14 Oct 2026. Highlights are dated records.
About Virat Kohli
Virat Kohli is an Indian right-handed batter. The ICC lists his role as Batter and records a right-arm-medium bowling style, while Cricket Australia likewise identifies him as a right-handed bat and right-arm-medium bowler.
Born in Delhi on 5 November 1988, Kohli first represented India at Under-19 level in 2006. Cricket Australia records his senior debuts as 18 August 2008 in ODIs, 12 June 2010 in T20Is and 20 June 2011 in Tests.
His batting career developed across all three international formats. Cricket Australia's player story notes that he reached the top of the ICC batting rankings in each format and highlights his 2014–15 Australian Test summer, when he scored 692 runs in four Tests.
Kohli held India's captaincy across international formats during his career. Cricket Australia's profile describes the leadership transition to Rohit Sharma in 2022. These are historical leadership roles, not a claim about current captaincy.
The fair-play distinction centres on a specific 2019 World Cup action. During India's match against Australia at The Oval, Kohli asked Indian fans to stop jeering Steve Smith, urged them to applaud him, shook his hand between overs and later apologised on behalf of the crowd. The ICC subsequently named Kohli the 2019 Spirit of Cricket Award winner, with the announcement dated 15 January 2020. This fair play profile keeps the award's official name—ICC Spirit of Cricket Award—rather than treating it as the IPL's team prize.
Fair play recognition and career milestones
Entries are ordered by their own dates. They describe verified records in this profile, not a live career-statistics feed or a guarantee of current selection.
ICC Spirit of Cricket Award
Kohli won the individual ICC Spirit of Cricket Award for 2019 for asking India supporters to stop booing Steve Smith during the World Cup and applaud him instead. The award announcement was made on 15 January 2020.
At India's World Cup match against Australia at The Oval, Kohli signalled to supporters to applaud Steve Smith rather than jeer him, then shook Smith's hand between overs.
Dated milestone: Arshdeep Singh became the first India men's bowler to reach 100 T20I wickets on 19 September 2025, dismissing Oman's Vinayak Shukla in the Asia Cup. This is a historical landmark, not a current career total.
About
Arshdeep Singh is an Indian left-arm medium-fast bowler whose international profile is built around wicket-taking in T20 cricket. The ICC lists him as a bowler, a left-handed batter and a player who made his international debut in 2022.
A season milestone for Chennai Super Kings in IPL 2025, not a career total. The Times of India season table records 357 runs in 14 matches, with a 32.45 average and 132.22 strike rate.
About
Shivam Dube is an India international all-rounder from Mumbai who bats left-handed and bowls right-arm medium pace. The ICC lists his international debut year as 2019.
Photo: International Cricket Council
