INDIA Lifts ICC Champions Trophy 2013

India once again proved everyone that they are the real champions after defeating England in ICC Champions Trophy final and retains the No 1 spot in One-Day International team list. India has won all five of their matches after a pair of warm-up victories in this Champions Trophy, thereby backing up their 2011 World Cup win with another ODI trophy. India has won six games in succession in the ICC Champions Trophy and also is the first team to win the final of the ICC Champions Trophy batting first.

This is the rightly balanced team with an average age of 26-27 and energetic lads like Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, Ravindra Jadeja, Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan and Dinesh Karthik who have show and n the world what they are capable of, it came to such a point that the international media covering the tournament labeled the Indians the best fielding unit in the world — something unheard of in the past. 

MS Dhoni (31), the oldest of current team is the first captain to win all three ICC trophies - ICC World Cup, ICC World Twenty20 and the ICC Champions Trophy. Shikhar Dhawan has established an Indian record for the highest run-aggregate with strike rate of 100-plus in an ICC Champions Trophy competition - 363 runs (ave.90.75) in five matches, including two hundreds and a fifty. He has also received his first Player of the series award in ODIs. Ravindra Jadeja is the leading wicket-taker with 12 wickets at 12.83 runs apiece. He is the MOM of the final and is his fourth MOM award against England is his seventh in ODIs.

ICC ANNUAL AWARDS – 2012

ICC annual awards function was held in Colombo on Saturday to honour the best cricketers of the world in 2011-2012. India's Virat Kohli named the ‘ODI Cricketer of the Year’ for his splendid performance compiling 1,733 runs at an outstanding average of 66.65, including eight centuries and six half-centuries in 31 ODIs with highest score of 183 against Pakistan in the Asia Cup.

Sri Lanka’s Kumar Sangakkara won three awards - the prestigious Cricketer of the Year, Test Cricketer of the Year and the People's Choice prize. He had received the People's Choice award last year as well. Sangakkara scored 1,444 runs at an average of 60.16, including five centuries and five half-centuries in 14 test matches. He also played 37 ODIs, scoring 1,457 runs at an average of 42.85, with three centuries and nine half-centuries. He has also effected 42 dismissals in the ODIs.

West Indies spinner Sunil Narine was named as the Emerging Cricketer of the Year. He took 12 Test wickets at an average 31.50 in three Tests, while in the 15 ODIs he played in he claimed 28 wickets at an average of 18.82. South Africa's Richard Levi won the ICC Twenty20 International Performance of the Year in recognition of his 51-ball 117 not out against New Zealand. India’s Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who was included in the team for a fifth year in succession, was named the captain of the team.

Previous winners of Cricketer of the Year award - Rahul Dravid (2004), Andrew Flintoff and Jacques Kallis (joint winners in 2005), Ricky Ponting (2006 and 2007), Shivnarine Chanderpaul (2008), Mitchell Johnson (2009), Sachin Tendulkar (2010) and Jonathan Trott (2011).

Cricketer of the Year: Kumar Sangakkara (SL)

Test Cricketer of the Year: Kumar Sangakkara (SL)

ODI Cricketer of the Year: Virat Kohli (Ind)

T20 International Performance of the Year: Richard Levi (RSA)

Spirit of Cricket Award: Daniel Vettori (NZ)

Emerging Cricketer of the Year: Sunil Narine (WI)

Umpire of the Year: Kumar Dhamasena (SL)

Women's ODI Cricketer of the Year: Stafanie Taylor (WI)

Women’s T20I Cricketer of the Year: Sarah Taylor (Eng)

Associate and Affiliate Cricketer of the Year: George Dockrell (Ire)

ICC one-day Team of the Year: Gautam Gambhir, Alastair Cook, Kumar Sangakkara, Virat Kohli, M.S. Dhoni (capt. & wk), Michael Clarke, Shahid Afridi, Morne Morkel, Steven Finn, Lasith Malinga and Saeed Ajmal. 12th man: Shane Watson.